Bye Bye Miss American Pie
By: Emily Jackson
But February made me shiver.
This refers to the fact that Buddy Holly died on February 3rd, 1959 in a plane crash in a snowstorm.
I cant remember if i cried when i read about his widowed bride.
Buddy Holly's bride was pregnant with his baby, and after he died she had a miscarriage.
But something touched me deep inside the day, the music died.
This picture represents the plane crash that took Buddy Holly's life along with "La Bamba" and The Big Bopper.
I drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry, Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye Singing "This'll be the day that I die, This'll be the day that I die."
This part refers to the day that three students were going to go register to be black voters but bigget jerks killed them and then proceeded after they were dead to bury their bodies in the levee.
With every paper I'd deliever.
Don McLean only had two jobs in his life; number one was writing songs and the second job was delivering papers.
Well I know that you're in love with him 'Cause I saw you dancing in the gym
Back in the day before dancing became gross and provocative, dancing used to be an expression of love and it use to mean something when a guy asked his gal to dance.
Now for ten years we've been on our own
McLean wrote this song roughly 10 years after "the music died."
The courtroom was adjourned, No verdict was returned
JFK's assassination ended with no verdict was found and that was how the courts let out, so it was adjourned.
Can music save your mortal soul? And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
These lyrics to me referred to rock and roll, or just music in general. Its asking if it can save you or if your already long gone. Also can you take the time to live if you haven't already.
You both kicked off your shoes
Back then the popular dance was the sock hop. The name "sock hop" was created because you literally danced in your socks. You could not dance with your street shoes on because it tore up the floor, hence you kicked off your shoes to get down right and boogie!
Conclusion
I started thinking this was just a jiving song that was worth getting down and boogieing to, little did I know that this song was filled with an immense amount of facts and history. The heart aces that went along with it whether it be; JFK's assassination, Buddy Holly, La Bamba and The Big Bopper dying or Buddy's wife now being widowed. The joys on the other end of the spectrum being a neato sock hop, a swinging dance party, or a head banging rock and roll performance jamming out on the stage. We either look at things that happen and think that life is literally filled with tragedies were we can either mope around and pretend as if the inevitable can't reach us or exist; or we choose to go out and express ourselves in a way that Don McLean did. He brought everyone together through one song and expressed it in a way where it possible to relate to something going on, and if not what's going on then we can surly relate to the feeling aspect of it. I thought it was groovy to learn the history behind this righteous tune and i think everyone should do the same!
Cite's
- https://www.pinterest.com/juanginer/newspaper-boys/
- https://www.mtv.com/artist/don-mclean/
- http://www.gdargaud.net/Antarctica/D59.html
- http://realmendance.tumblr.com/post/19508798490/paris-jitterbug-maudelynn-french-university
- http://www.pickuptrucks.com/html/history/chev_segment7.html
- http://www.startribune.com/buddy-holly-s-wife-to-attend-50th-anniversary-tribute/38783382/
- https://rockhall.com/inductees/buddy-holly/bio/
- http://www.history-of-rock.com/american.htm
- http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1193
- http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/where-were-you-when-you-heard-jfk-had-been-shot/
- http://hubpages.com/entertainment/Necessity-created-the-Sock-Hop-in-the-1950s
- http://genius.com/Don-mclean-american-pie-lyrics
- https://www.pinterest.com/pin/559642691171015304/