My Favorite Song. Ever.

The original plan was to give this song an entry on the main list along with all the rest. But there are so many reasons that I love this song, that I can easily write a book on it. So I decided to give it its own dedicated article, because it’s that important to me.

And so, my favorite song of all time is:

“American Pie” by Don McLean

I’ve known of this eight-and-a-half-minute ballad practically since the day was born. I remember that I naively thought that Madonna’s cover was the better version when that first came out, but I quickly changed my mind. I’ve also listened to several other covers that I’ve heard of. But none of them have ever stood up to the original. Don McLean sings this song with so much passion, no other singer can match it.

As most people know, this song was dedicated to Buddy Holly, who died in a plane crash in 1959. As I’ve said before, Buddy Holly had a lot of potential, and could’ve been the King of Rock instead of Elvis. But alas, it was not meant to be. Many bands have paid their respect to Holly in different ways, naming a song, an album, or even their band after him. For such a short career, he’s left a lasting impression on the music scene. All you need to do is listen to this song to see that.

On the other hand, “American Pie” talks about so much more than just Buddy Holly. If it didn’t, it wouldn’t be nearly as long. This song tells an interesting and sometimes confusing story of figures with only vague descriptions, but can be interpreted to be many artists that were popular at the time.

And that’s why I love this song so much. There are so many different interpretations of this song, that when I did some research on it a few years ago, I spent hours reading dozens of theories. There was even an article that drew parallels between the song and the battle between Apple, IBM, and Microsoft over dominance of the fledgling personal computer market. This song is covered with layers and layers of symbolism, so that there is no single correct interpretation (or at least not one that Don McLean himself will confirm).

So the only way I can describe the depth and span of this song is to tackle it verse by verse. There are six verses, each separated by the chorus, which doesn’t change, ending once again with the chorus, this time being sung twice. Fortunately, this predictable structure makes it easier to analyze the song.

The first verse talks specifically about The Day the Music Died. The protagonist of the song, presumably based on Don McLean himself, starts off by describing how music used to be about making people happy, and how he aspires to have his turn to make people smile. But then, one February day, when he is about to start his paper route, he reads that Buddy Holly died. He’s heartbroken, and doesn’t want to deliver the papers because he knows everyone else would be as well. This is such a traumatizing event, in fact, that in the future  he will compare other tragedies to this.

The chorus kicks in with the protagonist, now a bit older, going to a bar to get a drink, but finds that it’s closed. He decides to go to a different bar, where the patrons are drinking to the good old days, jokingly saying that in the present they’re better off dead.

The second verse is slightly different from the rest, in that the protagonist is actually talking to a specific person instead of telling a story. This person is a girl who left him at a dance so that she could dance with someone else. The hero confronts her, asking if she worships God or if she instead worships rock music, implying that she was influenced by her choice in music. He then leaves the dance, alone and once again heartbroken.

The song then proceeds to describe a scene occurring in a royal court. A jester, suggested to be Bob Dylan, is performing for an audience, but then proceeds to usurp the throne from the king, most likely Elvis. Elsewhere, a group of four men, The Beatles, are practicing for their turn in the spotlight. Because of this shift of power, some of the people mourn the loss of their kingdom.

Some time later, the protagonist witnesses a very close football game, and also notices that the jester from earlier is on the sidelines. During halftime, the quartet from the previous verse are performing, and everybody there is having a good time. But then they football players try to get back to the game while the band is still playing, serving as a metaphor for the many musical acts that came out at the time that tried to steal the spotlight from the Beatles. Chaos ensues, but the marching band is still somehow on top.

We move on with our hero to yet another live performance. But this one is much different from the last one. Here, the performer, called The Devil, is focused on himself, not necessarily concerned with the well-being of the audience. The audience itself is getting out of hand, under the influence of drugs and alcohol. All of a sudden, a sacrifice is given to Satan, and he laughs in triumph. This verse is thought to be a retelling of the events that occurred at the Altamont Motor Speedway, where a man approaching the stage was killed by the Hell’s Angels, who were serving as security. The Rolling Stones, the act performing at the time, were unaware of what had happened, and were held responsible.

Our hero asks a female blues singer, a representation of Janis Joplin, if there’s any good left in the world, but she can’t give an answer, and so just leaves. Finally disillusioned with the new status quo, our hero tries to find any semblance of the past, where everything was simpler and happier. He can’t however, and he turns to find that he’s not the only one. Despairingly, he feels that they’ve been forsaken by the Holy Trinity and are left to their own devices.

We finally end the song with the refrain, with the protagonist singing alone the first time, but then being joined by a large group of people for the second and last chorus.

No other decade has seen so many shifts in, not only musical preference, but also the political landscape than the 1960’s. It started out with the simple Rock tunes made popular by Elvis. But then people started migrating towards Bod Dylan, whose songs conveyed their rebellious attitude and displeasure with the current administration, that displeasure leading to the creation of the New Left. At the same time, The Beatles were accruing their own following. The Beatles then became a studio-only band and took on a more Eastern influence in their songs, which made them even more popular, especially with the Hippie Counterculture, which became the predominant political movement among the many dozens of others around at the time. And then finally, The Rolling Stones rose to the top, their songs, being of a nihilist nature, unfortunately foreshadowing the demise of the Counterculture as it strayed far from its roots.

All that change, all that upheaval, all that confusion happened in ten years. And somehow, Don McLean managed to take it all, distill it, and condense it into one song. That is the reason I love this song, why it is my absolute favorite. I can’t think of any other song that so successfully and so completely portrays the loss of innocence of an entire generation. There are plenty of books and movies that accomplished the same, but a song? This is the first, and quite possibly the only one.

This song was absolutely inspired. It tells a fantastic story. It uses amazing imagery to tell that story. And the symbolism is left completely open-ended, so the ways it can be interpreted are numerous, and none of them can be ruled out. It shows what music is capable of like few other songs have.

And most importantly, this song makes you listen. It is my most played song in my library, I love listening to it so much.

To be successful, a song has to accomplish one of three things: it has to make you want to move; it has to make you want to sing along; it has tell an engaging story that you want to listen to. For me personally, the last one is the one to which I gravitate the most. I love songs that tell stories, and so far, “American Pie” is my favorite story to listen to.