American Pie- Project
Kayla Jenkins
Historical References 1 & 2
Refers to threee college students that murder was the main part of the film 'Mississippi Burning.' They were trying to register as black voters, after beinig killed by bigoted thugs their bodies were buried in a levee. Them good ol' boys were: Holly, Valens, and the Big Bopper, they sand about their death on Februaru 3rd. Holly had a hit song that was "That'll be the Day"; and the chorus contains the line "That'll be the day that I die."
The Chevrolet was a very popular car for most young people, and they would often gather at the levee to avoid adult supervision. Drag races would often happen at levees.
Historical Reference 3 & 4
They say that it referes to a bar called "The Levee" in Westchester. Locals there say that there was never a bar named that.
Another thing that is refers to is Dinah Shore's Chevrolet TV commercials in the 1950s, it refers to driving a Chevy by a levee.
Historical Reference 5 & 6
It refers to a lot of blue songs, as "When The Levee Breaks", covered by Led Zepplin.
It also might refer to a gas station. Frequently referred in rock and roll songs, such a "The Grateful Dead's Fried of the Devil."
Historical Refernce 7 & 8
A drive to a levee suggests of romance in a car, see him on a date here. They date is over, and the levee is dry, someone he once loved has betrayed him; and something that once gave him sustenance has evaporated.
Looking into how 1950's American innocience had died along with three rock legends. As the fateful plan crash also occurred at thee end of the decade.
Historical Reference 9 & 10
There was the bar in Westchester called "The Levee", this is where McLean grew up, it had closed down at some point and this is what the "levee was dry" line refers to.
It was popular for many teenagers to drive down to levees and hang out, whilst listening to music. After the music died, plane crash with three that died, the levees had dried out, and the true days of rock and roll were dead.
Works Cited
http://www.history-of-rock.com/american.htm:
"American Pie by Don McLean." American Pie by Don McLean. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2016.
"Drove My Chevy to the Levee / But the Levee Was Dry." Genius. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2016.
http://oldies.about.com/od/70spopandsoul/f/ampiechorus.htm:
"What's the Meaning of the Chorus ("Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie")?" About.com Entertainment. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2016.
Summary of what I learned
I learned quite a bit from this research and from class on jigsaw. I learned what levee all means and all the different views and refers of what the chorus is about. Not only did I learn about just the chorus but I learned about other parts of the song too. It is interesting reading all the research on the song and the part I had picked, the chorus. I would have never thought that it refered to the things I had found during research. For example, going to a levee for a hangout and drag races. Also did not know it would refer to cars, a bar and a gas station. I learned quite a bit from all of it, it was quite interesting. I enjoyed finding out the interesting things and background to the song, that way you can understand and know what the song, you are listening to, is actually about.