Bad news on the doorstep, I couldn’t take one more step.” These lines depict McLean as he learns of and accepts the death of a man he thought of as a role model, Buddy Holly. Don McLean was a 13-year-old paper boy when this occurred and as said at the beginning of the song, “But February made me shiver, with every paper I’d deliver. The crash was the final blow to this music because these three were the only significant artists in the industry at that time. During the song, he states, “But something touched me deep inside, the day the music died.” In this line, he references the plane crash that killed all three famous singers soon after, February 3, 1959, became referenced as “The Day The Music Died.” The music that died is said to be the standard rock & roll song. For McLean, it began with what he said to be the end of the happy ’50s, the tragic plane crash of Buddy Holly, JP “The Big Bopper,” and Richie Valens on February 3, 1959. McLean wrote the song as a reflection of what was occurring in America during the 1960s with things such as the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, anti-war protests, and political assassinations. Don McLean’s so-called One-Hit-Wonder has remained prevalent since it came out, with people having memorized the song word-for-word, yet, only some understand the meaning behind those lyrics. The song “American Pie” itself was released in 1971 and, along with its album, reached #1 in the U.S. The song speaks of the nostalgia that comes along with closing a chapter in time, a chapter that was good, youthful, and innocent. “American Pie” by Don McLean, in a multitude of ways, reasons American memories and lives are closely interlaced with the music of the time period. Aesthetic pieces, most often songs and poems, argue a message both in the lyrics and in the meaning within them.

Within every part of our lives, we are consistently making a point, arguing a belief, or rebutting some other aspect of our reality.

American pie song references