You know the song. It’s iconic. But according to the author and singer of American Pie, the music really died because Buddy Holly just wanted some clean clothes. Touring the country on unheated buses in 1959, singer Buddy Holly was tired of his dirty laundry, so he chartered a plane on to fly from Clear Lake, Iowa, to Fargo, N.D., where he hoped he could make a date with a washing machine. On the plane were also singer Ritchie Valens and, Waylon Jennings fatefully gave up his seat to J.P. Richardson, a.k.a. “the Big Bopper.” Bad weather and a pilot not certified to fly in. The plane crashed, killing everyone. Holly was just 22, Valens was just 17.
Thirteen years later, Don McLean wrote a song about the tragedy: American Pie. Now, the original 16-page working manuscript of the lyrics has been sold at auction for $1.2 million. At more than 800 words, the full meaning of the lyrics. McLean said in a Christie’scatalogue ahead of the sale;
“I thought it would be interesting as I reach age 70 to release this work product on the song American Pie so that anyone who might be interested will learn that this song was not a parlor game. It was an indescribable photograph of America that I tried to capture in words and music.
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.”
Basically in ‘American Pie,’ things are heading in the wrong direction. It is becoming less idyllic. I don’t know whether you consider that wrong or right but it is a morality song in a sense.”
The chorus is perfect. It lets you wallow in the confusion and be comforted at the same time. Forty-four years after its McLean isn’t much more positive about the state of the world;
“I was around in 1970 and now I am around in 2015. There is no poetry and very little romance in anything anymore, so it is really like the last phase of ‘American Pie.’”
The reason for selling the manuscript now?
“I’m going to be 70 this year. I have two children and a wife, and none of them seem to have the mercantile instinct. I want to get the best deal that I can for them. It’s time.
I would say to young songwriters who are starting out to immerse yourself in beautiful music and beautiful lyrics and think about every word you say in a song.”
Kanye, are you listening?
Here are the lyrics. If you are of a certain age, you already know them by heart.
American Pie
[Intro]
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 whileBut February made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn’t take one more stepI can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died[Chorus]
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’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die”[Verse 1]
Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
Now do you believe in rock and roll?
Can music save your mortal soul?
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?Well, I know that you’re in love with him
‘Cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and bluesI was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died[Chorus]
I started singin’ bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and Rye
Singin’ “This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die”[Verse 2]
Now for 10 years we’ve been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin’ stone
But that’s not how it used to be
When the jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and meOh, and while the king was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returnedAnd while Lenin read a book on Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died[Chorus]
We were singin’ bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and Rye
Singin’ “This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die”[Verse 3]
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a castNow the halftime air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance‘Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?[Chorus]
We started singin’ bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and Rye
And singin’ “This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die”[Verse 4]
Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again
So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
‘Cause fire is the devil’s only friendOh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in Hell
Could break that Satan’s spellAnd as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music diedHe was singin’ bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and Rye
And singin’ “This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die”[Outro]
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 playAnd in the streets, the children screamed
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were brokenAnd 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 diedAnd they were singin’ 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’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die”[Chorus]
They were singin’ bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and Rye
And singin’ “This’ll be the day that I die”