The Meaning of American Pie Essay Example for Free

The Meaning of Ameri net Pie examineIn the autumn of 1971 Don McLeans elegiac American Pie entered the collective consciousness, and over thirty years easyr remains one of the most discussed, dissected and debated songs that popular harmony has ever produced. A cultural termination at the peak of its popularity in 1972, it reached the top of the Billboard 100 charts in a matter of weeks, exchange more than 3 million copies. By identifying this great success it illustrates that it was no ordinary song. With its boldness, originality and it being thematically ambitious created uncertainty. Presenting the idea that we werent entirely sure what the song was around, provoking endless debates over its larger-than- intent cast of characters. But however open to interpretation the lyrics may have been, the songs emotional resonance was evident McLean was cl earliest relating a defining moment in the American experiencesomething had been garbled. Opening with the death of singe r pal Holly and ending near the tragic concert at Altamont Motor Speedway, we are able to manikin the span of years the song is covering1959 to 1970as the 10 years weve been on our own of the three verse.It is across this decade that the American cultural landscape changed radically, locomote from the relative optimism and conformity of the 1950s and early 1960s to the rejection of these values by the various political and social movements of the mid and late 1960s. American Pie appears to account statement the course of rock n roll, it is not, as is sometimes suggested, a mere catalogue of musical events.In using the cast of rock n roll players from the 1960s and setting them against the backdrop of Buddy Hollys death, they move polarized parables for the clash of values occurring in America at this time Holly as the symbolization of the happier innocence of the fifties, the reprieve as symbolic of the sixties growing unrest and fragmentation. And as each verse sums up chr onological heads in timethe late 1950s, 1963-66, 1966-68, 1969, 1970another blow against the happier innocence of another era is registered another twenty-four hours the music dies. poetise 1 of American Pie looks back from the early seventies and introduces the catalyst for the story about to unfold. A long long time ago I can still remember how the music used to make me smile. The narrator here is nostalgic for a simpler and more optimistic variety show of musica music that can make people smile, and that could help them forget their troublesand a music that very much represents the happier optimism of the 1950s in America. But February made me shiver, he also identifies Buddy Holly by the month in which he dies. Hollys passing had a profound effect on him, which is displayed end-to-end the song. The day the music died this reflects and supports the idea that the day the music died becomes the day the innocence and optimism within America died The let out is the primary key i n understanding American Pie as the theme of Americas helpless innocence is clearly stated. So bye bye Miss American pie Miss American Pie* is as American as apple pie, so the saying goes she could also be a synthesis of this symbol and the beauty queen Miss America. Either way, her name evokes a simpler time in American life when these pics held more meaning.She is the America of a passing era, and he is bidding her farewell. Drove my Chevy to the levee alludes to a admit along a levee mentioned in a series of popular 1950s Chevrolet television commercials sung by Dinah Shore and which serves as a signpost to that erajust as the Chevrolet itself is a familiar icon of 1950s America. Also, given that a drive to a levee carries the suggestion of romance in a car, we can almost see him on a date here. But the date is over, the levee is drysomeone he once loved has betrayed him something that once gave him sustenance has evaporated. Thisll be the day that I die is a repeat of the li ne cause thatll be the day when I die from the chorus of Hollys hit thatll be the day.This signifies McLeans way of both mourning the death of that music and way of life, and pointing to Holly as his symbol of it. Verse 2 erupts with the idea that the narrator reaches little further back in time to the days of his youth, the late 1950sa time of sock hops, pickup trucks and pink carnationsas he courts a woman who ultimately spurns him. This is a fickle lady here, and the narrator questions her loyalties. And can you teach me how to dance real relax? This is a romantic dance. He is courting her. The slow dance itself is yet another reference to the fifties and the kind of dancing that went out of fashion in the following decade it also alludes to the slower tempo of life in America at this time. This verse helps us to further identity Miss American Pie, whose brief introduction in the chorus needed this additional exposition and which, along with verse 1 and the chorus, also serve s to establish the 1950s as the reference point for the rest of the song.In so doing, McLean characterizes the period primarily through its musical symbol (Holly), using him and the music (those rhythm and blues) as a metaphor for the innocence of the times, and a sacred thing. The day the music died straightway takes on the significance of a lost faith in the values of a passing era and the sorrow the narrator feels at their passing blow number two. Having personified America as a woman, Bye bye Miss American Pie now more clearly becomes a farewell to the America he once knew.