That would be ten years since the Buddy Holly plane crash, hence the line about people being on their own for ten years.
McLean most likely began writing this song in 1969, as it was released in 1971. “ Now, for ten years, we’ve been on our own, And moss grows fat on a rollin’ stone.” The rest of the verse is about McLean trying to win the heart of the legendary ‘Miss American Pie’ while making 1950s musical references. The Monotones released “The Book Of Love,” while Don Cornell released “The Bible Tells Me So.” Instead, McLean refers to several songs from his favorite musical era. The opening line of this verse is one of the most frequently misinterpreted, with many people assuming there is a deeper meaning. “Did you write the book of love, And do you have faith in God above, If the Bible tells you so?” The “good old boys” drinking “whiskey and rye” are seen as a symbol of the excess and decadence of the era, while “This’ll be the day that I die” is a reference to the end of an era. “Miss American Pie” represents the American Dream, and the “levee” describes the social fabric of America. The “good old boys” drinking “whiskey and rye” are a reference to the song “Whiskey and Rye” by the Big Bopper, while “This’ll be the day that I die” is a reference to the Buddy Holly song “That’ll be the Day.”Īnother interpretation is that the song is a commentary on American culture’s and society’s decline in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Even though neither Jagger nor any of the other members of the Rolling Stones had any idea that someone had just been killed 20 feet away, their seeming callousness by continuing their set was seen as a punctuation mark that close out the 1960s in much the same way as the tragic plane crash closed out the 1950s in the mind of McLean.“Miss American Pie” represents America, while “the levee” means the music industry. The catastrophe that was the Altamont Music Festival on December 6, 1969, where a group of Hells Angels were hired to provide security for the event for $500 worth of beer, involved one of the Hells Angels murdering 18-year-old Meredith Hunter for brandishing a gun. Satan Laughing With Delight at Altamontĭespite McLean’s protestations to the contrary, it seems to follow that Jagger would be the ultimate villain in the song. His main thrust to the lyrics was lamenting the loss of the American Dream at both the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 and “ The Day the Music Died,” the plane crash in 1959 that took the lives of Richie Valens, Buddy Holly, and The Big Bopper. Is Bob Dylan really “The Jester?” Did McLean hate Mick Jagger so much that he made him “Satan?” Is the “girl who sang the blues” really Janis Joplin? For the record, pardon the pun, McLean has disavowed each of these theories. In the 52 years since Don McLean recorded “American Pie,” there have been countless theories about what the lyrics mean.
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