Editing American Pie (song) (section)

===Interpretations===
{{Quote box|quote=The sense of disillusion and loss that the song transmits isn't just about deaths in the world of music, but also about a generation that could no longer believe in the utopian dreams of the 1950s...  According to McLean, the song represents a shift from the naïve and innocent '50s to the darker decade of the '60s |author=Alva Yaffe, Musicholics |source=<ref name= "musicholics" />|align=right|salign=right|width=50%}}

{{Quote box|quote=Don called his song a complicated parable, open to different interpretations. "People ask me if I left the lyrics open to ambiguity. Of course I did. I wanted to make a whole series of complex statements. The lyrics had to do with the state of society at the time."|author=Super seventies |source=<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://www.superseventies.com/1972_1singles.html|title= "American Pie" – Don McLean|website= Super seventies|access-date= June 18, 2021|archive-date= June 22, 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210622210237/https://superseventies.com/1972_1singles.html|url-status= live}}</ref>|align= right|salign=right|width=50%}}

The song has nostalgic themes,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3y4d-kAcP80C&pg=PA102|title=Continuities in Popular Culture: The Present in the Past & the Past in the Present and Future|first1=Ray Broadus|last1=Browne|first2=Ronald J.|last2=Ambrosetti|date=May 11, 1993|publisher=Popular Press|isbn=978-0-87972-593-8|access-date=May 11, 2019|via=Google Books|archive-date=November 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129222345/https://books.google.com/books?id=3y4d-kAcP80C&pg=PA102|url-status=live}}</ref> stretching from the late 1950s until late 1969 or 1970. Except to acknowledge that he first learned about [[Buddy Holly]]'s death on February 3, 1959 – McLean was age 13 – when he was folding newspapers for his paper route on the morning of February 4, 1959 (hence the line "February made me shiver/with every paper I'd deliver"), McLean has generally avoided responding to direct questions about the song's lyrics; he has said: "They're beyond analysis. They're poetry."<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.don-mclean.com/?p=68|page=68|title=American Pie|website= Don-McLean.com|access-date=February 10, 2009|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090212174758/http://don-mclean.com/?p=68|archive-date=February 12, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> He also stated in an editorial published in 2009, on the 50th anniversary of the [[The Day the Music Died|crash]] that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson (all of whom are alluded to in the final verse in a comparison with the Christian [[Holy Trinity]]), that writing the first verse of the song exorcised his long-running grief over Holly's death and that he considers the song to be "a big song... that summed up the world known as America".<ref>{{cite news|last=McLean|first=Don|title=Commentary: Buddy Holly, rock music genius|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/02/01/mclean.buddy.holly/|access-date=November 28, 2011|work=CNN|date=February 1, 2009|archive-date=March 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210306194143/http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/02/01/mclean.buddy.holly/|url-status=live}}</ref> McLean dedicated the ''American Pie'' album to Holly.

Some commentators have identified the song as outlining the darkening of cultural mood, as over time the cultural vanguard passed from [[Pete Seeger]] and [[Joan Baez]] (the "King and Queen" of folk music), then from [[Elvis Presley]] (known as "the King" of Rock and Roll), to [[Bob Dylan]] ("the Jester" – who wore a jacket similar to that worn by [[cultural icon]] [[James Dean]], was known as "the voice of his generation" ("a voice that came from you and me"),<ref>Maslin, Janet in Miller, Jim (ed.) (1981), ''The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll'', p. 220</ref> and whose [[Bob Dylan#Motorcycle accident and reclusion|motorcycle accident]] ("in a cast") left him in reclusion for many years, recording in studios rather than touring ("on the sidelines")), to [[The Beatles]] ([[John Lennon]], punned with [[Vladimir Lenin]], and "the Quartet" – although McLean has stated the Quartet is a reference to other people<ref name="Axelrod">{{Cite web|date=March 29, 2017|title=Don McLean explains why he won't reveal the meaning of "American Pie"|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/don-mclean-explains-why-he-wont-reveal-the-meaning-of-american-pie/|website=CBS News|access-date=March 30, 2017|quote="But the quartet practicing in the park, that's not the Beatles?" Axelrod asked. "No," McLean replied.|archive-date=March 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330024905/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/don-mclean-explains-why-he-wont-reveal-the-meaning-of-american-pie/|url-status=live}}</ref>), to [[The Byrds]] (who wrote one of the first [[psychedelic rock]] songs, "[[Eight Miles High]]", and then "fell fast" – the song was banned, band member [[Gene Clark]] entered [[drug rehabilitation|rehabilitation]], known colloquially as a "fallout shelter", and shortly after, the group declined as it lost members, changed genres, and alienated fans), to [[The Rolling Stones]] (who released ''[[Their Satanic Majesties Request]]'' and the singles "[[Jumpin' Jack Flash]]" and "[[Sympathy for the Devil]]" ("Jack Flash", "Satan", "The Devil"), and used [[Hells Angels]] – "Angels born in Hell" – as [[Altamont Free Concert|Altamont]] event security, with [[Killing of Meredith Hunter|fatal consequences]], bringing the 1960s to a violent end<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-altamont-festival-brings-the-1960s-to-a-violent-end|title= Murder at the Altamont Festival brings the 1960s to a violent end|website= History.com|date= November 13, 2009|access-date= June 20, 2021|archive-date= June 29, 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210629003230/https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-altamont-festival-brings-the-1960s-to-a-violent-end|url-status= live}}</ref>), and to [[Janis Joplin]] (the "girl who sang the blues" but just "turned away" – she died of a [[heroin overdose]] the following year).

It has also been speculated that the song contains numerous references to post-[[World War II]] American political events, such as the [[assassination of John F. Kennedy]] (known casually as "Jack"), First Lady [[Jacqueline Kennedy]] ("his widowed bride"),<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/08/gloomy-don-mclean-reveals-meaning-of-american-pie-and-sells-lyrics-for-1-2-million/ |title=Gloomy Don McLean reveals meaning of 'American Pie' |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=May 4, 2023 |archive-date=March 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180309034527/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/08/gloomy-don-mclean-reveals-meaning-of-american-pie-and-sells-lyrics-for-1-2-million/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and subsequent killing of [[Lee Harvey Oswald|his assassin]] (whose courtroom trial obviously ended as a result ["adjourned"]),<ref name="whrc">{{Cite web|url= http://www.whrc-wi.org/americanpie.htm|title= "American Pie" Lyrics – What Do They Mean?|website= WHRC WI|access-date= June 18, 2021|archive-date= July 17, 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210717023541/http://www.whrc-wi.org/americanpie.htm|url-status= live}}</ref> the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] ("Jack be nimble, Jack be quick"),<ref name= "tonybarrell">{{Cite web|url=https://www.tonybarrell.com/the-american-pie-enigma/|title=The American pie enigma|first=Tony|last=Barrell|date=March 26, 2015|access-date=July 10, 2021|archive-date=July 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210710112437/https://www.tonybarrell.com/the-american-pie-enigma/|url-status=live}}</ref> the [[Murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner|murders of civil rights workers]] [[James Chaney]], [[Andrew Goodman (activist)|Andrew Goodman]], and [[Michael Schwerner]],<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.rareexception.com/Garden/Pie.php| title= Understanding the lyrics of American Pie: The analysis and interpretation of Don McLean's song lyrics |access-date=July 20, 2013|last=O'Brien|first=P.|date=March 3, 1999|work=The Octopus's Garden|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407124608/http://www.rareexception.com/Garden/Pie.php|archive-date=April 7, 2013}}</ref> and elements of culture such as [[sock hop]]s ("kicking off shoes" to dance, preventing damage to the varnished floor), [[cruising (driving)|cruising]] with a [[pickup truck]],<ref name="whrc" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.edlis.org/twice/threads/american_pie.html|title=American Pie|work=Edlis|access-date=March 30, 2017|archive-date=April 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414174229/http://www.edlis.org/twice/threads/american_pie.html|url-status=live}}</ref> the rise of the political protest song ("a voice that came from you and me"), [[Counterculture of the 1960s|drugs and the counterculture]], the [[Manson Family]] and the [[Tate–LaBianca murders]] in the "summer swelter" of 1969 (the Beatles' song "[[Helter Skelter (song)|Helter Skelter]]") and much more.<ref name="Axelrod"/>

Apparent allusions to  notable 50s songs include [[Don Cornell]]'s ''[[The Bible Tells Me So]]'' ("If the Bible tells you so?"), [[Marty Robbins]]' ''[[A White Sport Coat]]'', the lonely teenager ("With a pink carnation") mirroring Robbins' narrator who is rejected in favor of another man for the prom, and [[The Monotones]]' ''[[The Book of Love (The Monotones song)|The Book of Love]]''  ("Did you write the book of love").<ref>{{cite book|last1=Shuck|first1=Raymond|title=Do You Believe in Rock and Roll?: Essays on Don McLean's "American Pie" |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ri4TR522ONQC|year=2012|isbn=978-0-786-47105-8|pages=55, 56 & 57|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]}}</ref>

Many additional and alternative interpretations have also been proposed.

For example, Bob Dylan's first performance in Great Britain was also at a pub called "The King and Queen", and he also appeared more literally "on the sidelines in a (the) cast" – as one of many stars [[List of images on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band|at the back far right of the cover art]] of the Beatles' album ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'' ("the Sergeants played a marching tune").<ref name="tonybarrell" />

The song title itself is a reference to [[apple pie]], an unofficial [[Apple pie#In American culture|symbol of the United States]] and one of its signature [[comfort foods]],<ref name=Pinch>{{cite web |last1=D'Aiutolo |first1=Olivia |title=A Pinch of History: Amelia Simmons's Apple Pie |url=https://hsp.org/blogs/fondly-pennsylvania/a-pinch-of-history-amelia-simmonss-apple-pie |website=Fondly, Pennsylvania |publisher=Historical Society of Pennsylvania |access-date=June 11, 2018 |date=August 17, 2015 |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112033656/https://hsp.org/blogs/fondly-pennsylvania/a-pinch-of-history-amelia-simmonss-apple-pie |url-status=live }}</ref> as seen in the popular expression "As American as apple pie".<ref name="dictionary">{{cite journal| url=http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/as-american-as-apple-pie| title=Definition of "as American as apple pie"| journal=Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus| author=Cambridge University Press| year=2011| access-date=June 20, 2021| archive-date=August 11, 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150811010020/http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/as-american-as-apple-pie| url-status=live}}</ref> By the twentieth century, this had become a symbol of American prosperity and national pride.<ref name="dictionary" />

The original [[United Artists Records]] inner sleeve featured a [[free verse]] poem written by McLean about [[William Boyd (actor)|William Boyd]], also known as [[Hopalong Cassidy]], along with a picture of Boyd in full Hopalong regalia. Its inclusion in the album was interpreted to represent a sense of loss of a simplistic type of American culture as symbolized by Hopalong Cassidy and by extension [[black and white television]] as a whole.<ref>{{cite web|last=Fann|first=James M.|title=Understanding AMERICAN PIE|date=December 10, 2006|access-date=April 3, 2013|url=http://understandingamericanpie.com/hoppy.htm|archive-date=October 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016143326/http://understandingamericanpie.com/hoppy.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Mike Mills]] of [[R.E.M.]] reflected: "'American Pie' just made perfect sense to me as a song and that's what impressed me the most. I could say to people this is how to write songs. When you've written at least three songs that can be considered classic that is a very high batting average and if one of those songs happens to be something that a great many people think is one of the greatest songs ever written you've not only hit the top of the mountain but you've stayed high on the mountain for a long time."<ref name="skydoc">{{cite AV media|title=Don McLean: An American Troubadour|medium=Television production|publisher=Sky Arts 1|location=UK|year=2013}}</ref>