It was the music of the youth in this young country, the first one before all others to leave the planet to touch the moon, and then return. It’s a song about rock & roll, but also about the land where that music was born, America. Much of its greatness and timeless charm has to do with his brilliant, and overtly Dylan-inspired lyrics, which arrived like a fun puzzle for rock & rollers – especially stoned ones – to decipher. And in this cataclysmic tale of American rock and roll turning so suddenly tragic, he found a way to piece together many disparate pieces, to create a song unlike any other. Soon his focus and passion was not about mastering songs of the past, but creating his own new ones. Always a great vocalist, he became a inspired interpreter of folk songs, learning the delicate art of transforming history into song.īut like Bob Dylan, who also started by learning folk songs before ever attempting to write his own, Don McLean started by establishing his own formidable folk music foundation, from which he could reach new realms. When the RIAA assembled their Songs of the Century project of listing the most important songs of the 20th century, “American Pie” was the fifth song on that list.Ī New York native, Don was drawn to folk music first – not rock & roll -and fell in with Fred Hellerman and Erik Darling of The Weavers, which was Pete Seeger’s group. Released in 1971 from the album of the same name, it went to number one in America, where it stayed for four weeks. It’s his magnum opus, and though it stretched what was considered a reasonable time-limit for a radio single from the accepted 3 minutes to more than twice that, and also accepted limits of content, it struck a chord then which continues to resound to this day. He coined the term “the day the music died” to paint the scene and its aftermath of a tragedy made mythic by its compounded horror and impact on the country and its popular music: the triple death on Februof Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and JP Richardson, the “Big Bopper” in a plane crash. He picked up old forms common in folk music both Irish and American, which in turn echoed traditions of romantic poetry: long, rhymed epics that tell compelling, often dark, spiritual, and mysterious narratives which gain momentum in meter, with slowly unfolding force.īut in American popular music, few songwriters wrote epics, and none ever attempted anything so bold as to describe the rise and fall of rock & roll in an infectious and expansive radio-friendly pop song. Sure, Bob Dylan had written multiverse songs that blew our minds with expansive, poetic lyrics before this. Which is only one reason why Don McLean’s “American Pie” remains such a remarkable song. Which is no small feat: there are so many disparate aspects to songwriting one must master before gaining the knowhow, power and ability to write any song well, so it makes perfect sense.Įven those undisputed geniuses of song, from Gershwin, Stephen Foster, Woody Guthrie and Hank Williams to Dylan and The Beatles, Paul Simon and beyond, all had to master the form itself before doing their greatest work. Mostly the mission becomes about working within the form, and the challenge of discovering something new within this limited space. Stretching the form itself – that is something rarely tried mostly. They’re busy enough just trying to write a good song. All rights reserved.Most songwriters don’t try to do anything new. ™ & © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. The Grammy award-winning singer dropped “Red (Taylor’s Version)” last month, a recording of her acclaimed 2012 album “Red,” known for hits like “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” The rerelease is part of Swift’s efforts to regain ownership of her early catalog, after record executive and music manager Scooter Braun gained control of her first six albums’ master recordings in 2019 via an acquisition deal. The record was previously 18 songs, which she set in 2019 with the album “Lover.” With the album, she also set the record for most simultaneous US Hot 100 entries by a woman, with 26 songs from the album making the Hot 100 chart. This record isn’t the only one Swift has broken following the release of “Red (Taylor’s Version). Let’s face it, nobody ever wants to lose that #1 spot, but if I had to lose it to somebody, I sure am glad it was another great singer/songwriter such as Taylor.” “‘American Pie’ remained on the top for 50 years and now Taylor Swift has unseated such a historic piece of artistry. “There is something to be said for a great song that has staying power,” McLean said. Last month, McLean spoke about losing the top spot in a statement, expressing zero regret after holding the record for almost 50 years. Sending love one writer of LONG SONGS to another.” “I will never forget that I’m standing on the shoulders of giants,” Swift wrote.
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