The American Pie singer revealed the story about how he ended up writing the song and why it is different from a country song.
Don McLean wrote the song called “American Pie” and became famous. But unlike any other piece of music that people gradually get bored with, the popularity of this song has never faded, and he has been performing it for 50 years now.
Don was asked about the reason behind this immense success. As an answer, he stated that the song’s success is also really surprising to him. Referring to the freshness of this song, he said, “This is a fertile tree.”
Moreover, Don stated how he wanted to write a song about the country, but he didn’t want it to be a patriotic song that only told good things about America.
Rather he wanted to take his listeners on a journey through every phase that this country has faced. The death of good music, the 1959 plane crash, etc. Furthermore, he also explained how the first part and the slow part of the song came to his mind in just one go.
Don was 24 years old when he wrote the song. Since then, most people have been asking him about the meaning, but he intentionally kept it open-ended so that his listeners could interpret it in their own way.
Moreover, the 76 years old said –
“What songs were about America in the old days? ‘This Land is Your Land,’ ‘America the Beautiful,’ ‘Power and the Glory,’ ‘This Is My Country’ – I didn’t want any of that stuff,” McLean explained. “I didn’t want any simplistic Valentine to the country. I wanted to have a strange trip, an American trip, which would be the music and political views together, going forward, [that] somehow insinuate the madness of America and the danger in America and the opportunity in America – all of that. [It’s] a big thing to do.”
American Pie is also considered a potential subject for a documentary. Also read about Tom Parker’s wife Kelsey’s life after her husband’s death.
