Fifties’ pop music as described in the preceding sections spilled over into the Sixties for a few years. However, Sixties pop music evolved into something distinctly different from early Rock & Roll. At the beginning of the 1960s, pop and rock and roll trends of the 1950s continued; nevertheless, the rock and roll of the decade before started to merge into a more international, eclectic variant. In the early-1960s, rock and roll in its purest form was gradually overtaken by pop rock, beat, psychedelic rock, blues rock, and folk rock, which had grown in popularity.
In 1971, performer Don McLean wrote and recorded a song about pop music in the Fifties and Sixties. The name of the song was “American Pie.” (https://youtu.be/uAsV5-Hv-7U) The song is based on a plane crash that occurred near Clear Lake, Iowa on February 3, 1959. There were three passengers in the plane, plus the pilot. All four died. Three of the passengers were Rock & Roll artists, who were part of a group touring the country giving concerts called “the Winter Dance Party.” Their names were Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson, who was called “The Big Bopper.” The overall theme of McLean’s song is the loss of innocence of the early rock and roll generation as symbolized by the plane crash that claimed the lives of three of its heroes and various other events over the course of the 1960s. The later became known as “The Day the Music Died,” after a line from the song. The song seems to be an appropriate segway from the Fifties to the Sixties.
Guessing the meaning of various references in the song has been a favorite parlor game ever since the song was released. For example, the song refers to “the jester” – “When the jester sang for the king and queen, In a coat he borrowed from James Dean, And a voice that came from you and me, Oh and while the king was looking down, The jester stole his thorny crown….” Who was McLean referring to? It is generally accepted that the reference was to Bob Dylan. However, Dylan had this to say about that: “A jester? Sure, the jester writes songs like ‘Masters of War,’ ‘A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall,’ ‘It’s Alright, Ma’ – some jester. I have to think he’s talking about somebody else. Ask him.”
In February 2015, McLean announced he would reveal the meaning of the lyrics to the song when the original manuscript went for auction in New York City, in April 2015. The lyrics and notes were auctioned on April 7, and sold for $1.2 million. In the sale catalogue notes, McLean revealed the meaning in the song’s lyrics: “Basically in American Pie things are heading in the wrong direction. … It [life] is becoming less idyllic. I don’t know whether you consider that wrong or right but it is a morality song in a sense.” The catalogue confirmed some of the better known references in the song’s lyrics, including mentions of Elvis Presley (“the king”) and Bob Dylan (“the jester”), and confirmed that the song culminates with a near-verbatim description of the death of Meredith Hunter at the Altamont Free Concert, ten years after the plane crash that killed Holly, Valens, and Richardson.
A long long time ago
I can still remember how
That music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they’d be happy for a whileBut February made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn’t take one more stepI can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
Something touched me deep inside
The day the music died
SoBye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I dieDid you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
Do you believe in rock and roll?
Can music save your mortal soul?
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?Well, I know that you’re in love with him
‘Cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and bluesI was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died
I started singin’Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I dieNow, for ten years we’ve been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rolling stone
But, that’s not how it used to beWhen the jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and meOh and while the king was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returnedAnd while Lennon read a book on Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died
We were singin’Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
And singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I dieHelter skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fastIt landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a castNow the half-time air was sweet perfume
While sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance‘Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?
We started singin’Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
And singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I dieOh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start againSo come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
‘Cause fire is the devil’s only friendOh and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in Hell
Could break that Satan’s spellAnd as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died
He was singin’Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I dieI met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned awayI went down to the sacred store
Where I’d heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn’t playAnd in the streets the children screamed
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were brokenAnd the three men I admire most
The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died
And they were singingBye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I dieThey were singing
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die