Jim Fann, author of Understanding American Pie, believes it refers to the 1968 riot at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where police brutally suppressed protests. The deeper meaning behind 'American Pie' is something that has been hotly debated by fans of the song for decades now. One of the most ambiguous lines – 'Do you recall what was revealed the day the music died?' – has sparked many theories. The 'day the music died' refers to 3 February 1959 when musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and JP 'The Big Bopper' Richardson died in a plane crash.īut Brinkley adds that most of the lyrics remain a 'puzzle open to thousands of spirited interpretations'. Writing in the auction catalogue, American history professor Douglas Brinkley says it is 'fair to surmise that 'the king' is Elvis Presley 'Helter Skelter' refers to the Charles Manson murders the 'jester on the sidelines in a cast' is Bob Dylan and 'Jack Flash' the Rolling Stones'. The extra annotations on the pages for sale could back up these theories or 'prove that many music fans have been spouting nonsense for years'.Įxperts say the song follows the cultural and political trajectories of the 1950s and 1960s and McLean himself has said it is about 'things heading in the wrong direction'.

Whole academic papers have been written about the lyrics, says Colin Paterson at the BBC.

He had promised that the manuscript would 'divulge everything there is to divulge', but those expecting line-by-line enlightenment look likely to be disappointed. McLean has always remained elusive about the song, telling inquisitive fans that it simply means 'I never have to work again'. The handwritten pages, charting the evolution of the lyrics, fetched $1.2m at a Christie's auction in New York. But however open to interpretation the lyrics may have been, the songs emotional resonance was unmistakable: McLean was clearly relating a defining moment in. Fans of American Pie, one of the most enigmatic songs of the last century, were hoping to discover the meaning behind Don McLean's lyrics on Tuesday when he auctioned off the song's original manuscript.

The song american pie what does it mean