Don McLean has listened for decades as people belted out his classic song 鈥淎merican Pie鈥� at last call or at karaoke 鈥� and applauds you for the effort.
鈥淚鈥檝e heard whole bars burst into this song when I鈥檝e been across the room,鈥� McLean tells The Associated Press from a tour bus heading to Des Moines, Iowa. 鈥淎nd they鈥檙e so happy singing it that I realized, 鈥榊ou don鈥檛 really have to worry about how well you sing this song anymore. Even sung badly, people are really happy with it.鈥欌��
Happy might be a bit of an understatement. 鈥淎merican Pie鈥� is considered a masterpiece, voted among the top five Songs of the Century compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.
McLean 鈥� and his singular tune about 鈥渢he day the music died鈥� 鈥� are now the subject of a full-length feature documentary, airing Tuesday on Paramount+.
It鈥檚 mandatory viewing for McLean fans or anyone who has marveled at his sonic treasure. It also represents an elegant film blueprint for future deep dives into a song and its wider cultural relevance.
For those fans who have wondered about the lyrics they are singing loudly in bars and cars, McLean shares the secrets. 鈥淭hat was the fun of writing the song,鈥� he tells the AP. 鈥淚 was up at night, smiling and thinking about what I鈥檓 going to do with this.鈥�
The documentary starts when a single-engine plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and Jiles P. Richardson, the 鈥淏ig Bopper,鈥� plunged into a cornfield north of Clear Lake, Iowa, on Feb. 3, 1959, killing the three stars and their pilot.
McLean was 13, living in a suburban, middle class home in New Rochelle, New York, when the crash occurred. He had bronchial asthma, prompting the description of him in 鈥淎merican Pie鈥� as 鈥渁 lonely teenage broncin鈥� buck.鈥� The 鈥渟acred store鈥� he sings about was the House of Music on Main Street, where he bought records and his first guitar.
Young McLean was a paperboy 鈥� 鈥渆very paper I鈥檇 deliver鈥� 鈥� and adored Elvis, Gene Vincent, Bo Diddley but especially Holly, whose death deeply affected him. 鈥淚 was in absolute shock. I may have actually cried,鈥� he says in the film. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 intellectualize it. It hurt me.鈥�
Years later, McLean would plumb that pain in 鈥淎merican Pie,鈥� baking in his own grief at his father鈥檚 passing and writing an eulogy for the American dream. He was creating his second album in 1971 while the nation was racked by assassinations, anti-war protests and civil right marches. He thought he 鈥渘eeded a big song about America.鈥� The first verse and melody seemed to just tumble out. 鈥淎 long, long, time ago鈥︹��
It climaxed in the huge sing-along-chorus: 鈥淲e were singin鈥�, 鈥楤ye-bye, Miss American pie鈥�/Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry/Them good old boys were drinkin鈥� whiskey 鈥榥 rye/And singin鈥�, 鈥淭his鈥檒l be the day that I die.鈥�
鈥淚 said, 鈥榃ow, that is something. I don鈥檛 know what it is, but it鈥檚 exactly what I鈥檝e been wanting to try to get ahold of 鈥� that feeling about Buddy Holly 鈥� for all these years and that plane crash,鈥� McLean tells the AP. 鈥淚 always feel a tug inside me whenever I think about Buddy.鈥�
incorporates news footage of the 鈥�70s and uses actors in recreations. Cameras capture McLean visiting the hallowed Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, the last place Holly and his fellow musicians played before their fatal flight in 1959.
There are interviews with musicians 鈥� Garth Brooks, 鈥淲eird Al鈥� Yankovich and Brian Wilson, among them 鈥� as well as Valens鈥� sister, Connie, and actor Peter Gallagher, whose character鈥檚 death on 鈥淶oey鈥檚 Extraordinary Playlist鈥� promoted an onscreen performance of 鈥淎merican Pie.鈥� The British singer Jade Bird, Cuban-born producer Rudy Perez and Spanish singer Jencarlos Canela speak to how the song has resonated far past America.
The documentary reveals that recording the album was not exactly a smooth process. Producer Ed Freeman was unimpressed with McLean鈥檚 clutch of songs and didn鈥檛 think McLean was up to playing rhythm guitar on 鈥淎merican Pie.鈥� He eventually relented.
McLean 鈥� along with a few session musicians 鈥� rehearsed for two weeks without nailing the song, getting increasingly frustrated. The addition of pianist Paul Griffin at the last minute was a 鈥淗ail Mary鈥� stroke of genius that made the whole tune click.
But recording the song was just the beginning of trouble ahead. At over 8 minutes, radio stations balked at playing it, and McLean鈥檚 record label, Media Arts, went bust just as it was to release the album 鈥淎merican Pie.鈥�
After seeing the documentary, McLean was struck by a common strand in his career: 鈥淲hat I noticed was that I had to fight so many battles to get this thing done, to get everything. I鈥檝e been fighting everybody my whole life,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 not difficult. I just want things the way I want them.鈥�
鈥淎merican Pie鈥� is packed with cultural references, from Chevrolet to nursey rhymes, while namechecking The Byrds, John Lennon, Charles Manson and James Dean. The lyrics 鈥� dreamlike and impressionistic 鈥� have been pored over for decades, dissected for meaning.
The documentary answers some questions, but not all. McLean reveals that his oblique references to a king and a jester have nothing to do with Elvis or Bob Dylan, but he鈥檚 open to other interpretations. He explains that the 鈥渕arching band鈥� means the military-industrial complex and 鈥渟weet perfume鈥� is tear gas.
The line in the chorus 鈥淭his鈥檒l be the day that I die鈥� comes from the John Wayne film 鈥淭he Searchers鈥� and the farewell is a riff off 鈥淏ye Bye, My Roseanna,鈥� a song his friend Pete Seeger sang. McLean was going to use 鈥淢iss American apple pie鈥� but dropped the fruit.
The end of the song asks for 鈥渉appy news鈥� 鈥� an echo of the first verse 鈥� but there is none. The three men McLean admires most 鈥� the Father, Son and Holy Ghost 鈥� 鈥渃aught the last train for the coast,鈥� meaning Los Angeles. 鈥淓ven god has been corrupted,鈥� McLean says in the film.
鈥淗e was glad to open up because he and his manager thought it was the time to do it and this was the platform to do it in,鈥� says music producer and songwriter Spencer Proffer, CEO of media production company Meteor 17, which helped make the film. 鈥淢y hat鈥檚 off to Don for writing something this magnificent. My job was to bring it to life.鈥�
For McLean, the song is a blueprint of his mind at the time and a homage to his musical influences, but also a roadmap for future students of history:
鈥淚f it starts young people thinking about Buddy Holly, about rock 鈥榥鈥� roll and that music, and then it teaches them maybe about what else happened in the country, maybe look at a little history, maybe ask why John Kennedy was shot and who did it, maybe ask why all our leaders were shot in the 1960s and who did it, maybe start to look at war and the stupidity of it 鈥� if that can happen, then the song really is serving a wonderful purpose and a positive purpose.鈥�
鈥擬ark Kennedy, The Associated Press
