The Day the Music Died

I was driving the other day listening to the radio station that plays classic rock and folk music (no I don’t do streaming) when a “golden oldie’ played. The song was American Pie by Don Maclean, released in 1971 If you have never heard this song check it out on Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yHTpGog0IY . MacLean’s story of America during the 1950s and 1960s pretty much mirrored my life and concerns about America’s involvement in the Vietnam war. Maybe it also has a message about the divided world we live in now as well. As we say goodbye, at least temporarily, to Michelle and Gaia I thought I might return to the theme of oldies but goodies music from my past.

“American Pie” is partly biographical and partly the story of America during the idealized 1950s and the bleaker 1960s. It was initially inspired by Don’s memories of being a paperboy in 1959 and learning of the death of Buddy Holly. “American Pie” presents an abstract story of McLean’s life from the mid-1950s until the end of the 1960s, and at the same time it represents the evolution of popular music and politics over these years, from the lightness of the 1950s to the darkness of the late 1960s, but metaphorically the song continues to evolve to the present time.?

It is not a nostalgia song. “American Pie” changes as America, itself, is changing. For McLean, the transition from the light innocence of childhood to the dark realities of adulthood began with the deaths of his father and Buddy Holly and culminated with the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, which was the start of a more difficult time for America. During this four-year period, Don moved from an idyllic childhood, through the shock and harsh realities of his father’s death in 1961, to his decision, in 1964, to leave Villanova University to pursue his dream of becoming a professional singer.” https://donmclean.com/about-american-pie/

I don’t think I will ever forget these lyrics. Like most golden oldies, they are forever music for me and a part of my childhood and part of my DNA. The song goes on for eight and a half minutes with each refrain a story to remember.

A long, long time ago, I can still remember how that music used to make me smile

And I knew if I had my chance that I could make those people dance

And maybe they’d be happy for a while

But February made me shiver, with every paper I’d deliver

Bad news on the doorstep I couldn’t take one more step

I can’t remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride

But something touched me deep inside, the day the music died.

So, bye, bye, Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee

But the levee was dry

And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye

Singin’ this will be the day that I die,

This will be the day that I die.

In an interview McLean recollected “I saw the implication of America going bye-bye, since by 1971 we were a horribly divided country with tremendous anger being directed at the government over the Vietnam War, whether for or against it. Death was everywhere. Spin control had not been invented, and things had spun totally out of control. Was America dying? My country is always reconstituting itself and being reborn.”

McLean grew up as part of the American middle-class society of the 1950s, and it was no accident that the only trip he took with his father had been to Washington D.C. His father wanted him to feel the grandeur, power, and history of his country. In contrast, the country that America had become was deeply upsetting to Don.

“To many of my generation, brought up on Norman Rockwell and Christmas and Hop along Cassidy and the Lone Ranger, America must always occupy the high moral ground. We are heroes. As Roosevelt would say, ‘We face the future with confidence. We are Americans.’”

The image of America evolving from a savior of the free world during World War II, to a bullying military giant in Vietnam, meant to McLean, and to many of his generation, that his country was most definitely lost. It sure feels that way these days, doesn’t it?

The current generation (maybe two now as I am growing old) looks at this period as history that maybe is not very relevant to their lives. Their golden oldies are different than mine. Their childhood memories are also different than mine. I dodged (legally) the draft with a college deferment and when I graduated the Vietnam war was nearly over and the draft was almost unnecessary as well. But the Vietnam War was my defining political moment, just as 9-11 will be for some and Afghanistan will be for others.

The core question is really do you see brighter days ahead or darker days. Is your music found in the golden oldies hits and past memories or ahead of you in future concerts and performers and with new friends and lovers? I can only hope for you that the music never dies.

I met a girl who sang the blues, and I asked her for some happy news

But she just smiled and turned away

I went down to the sacred store where I'd heard the music years before

But the man there said the music wouldn't play

And in the streets, the children screamed

The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed

But not a word was spoken

The church bells all were broken

And the three men I admire most

The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost

They caught the last train for the coast

The day the music died