| Don McLean – American Pie Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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I know individuals who spent hours on end putting together the meanings of each individual stanza of this song... Some of this is speculative; though much is confirmed, or obvious. "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 while." One of early rock and roll's functions was to provide dance music for various social events. McLean recalls his desire to become a musician playing that sort of music. "But February made me shiver" Buddy Holly died on the night of February 2, 1959 in a plane crash in Iowa during a snowstorm. The news came to most of the world on the morning of February 3, which is why it's known as The Day The Music Died. "With every paper I'd deliver" Don McLean's only job besides being a full-time singer-songwriter was being a paperboy. "Bad news on the doorstep... I couldn't take one more step. I can't remember if I cried When I read about his widowed bride" Holly's recent bride was pregnant when the crash took place; she had a miscarriage shortly afterward. "Bye bye Miss American Pie" Miss American Pie IS rock and roll. "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." One of Holly's hits was "That'll be the Day"; the chorus contains the line "That'll be the day that I die". "Did you write the book of love" "The Book of Love" by the Monotones; hit in 1958. "And do you have faith in God above, If the Bible tells you so?" In 1955, Don Cornell did a song entitled "The Bible Tells Me So". "Now do you believe in rock 'n roll?" The Lovin' Spoonful had a hit in 1965 with John Sebastian's "Do you Believe in Magic?". The song has the lines: "Do you believe in magic" and "It's like trying to tell a stranger 'bout rock and roll." "You both kicked off your shoes" A reference to the beloved "sock hop". (Leather-soled street shoes tear up wooden basketball floors, and rubber-soled sneakers grip too much for dance moves, so dancers had to take off their shoes.) "Man, I dig those rhythm 'n' blues" This line is often thought to be praising rock and roll for embracing Black individuals who previously had not been embraced by "mainstream" audiences. "I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck With a pink carnation and a pickup truck" "A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation)", was a hit for Marty Robbins in 1957. The pickup truck has endured as a symbol of sexual independence and potency, especially in a Texas context. (Also, Jimmy Buffet does a song about "a white sport coat and a pink crustacean". "Now for ten years we've been on our own" McLean began writing this song 10 years after the plane crash. "And moss grows fat on a rolling stone" This line is sometimes believed to refer to Bob Dylan (from the hit "like a rolling stone") and other believe it refers to the Rolling Stones themselves criticizing them for "selling out" and becoming citizens of a foreign nation to avoid paying US taxes. "But that's not how it used to be When the jester sang for the King and Queen" The jester is Bob Dylan. The king is believed to be Elvis Presley, and the queen Connie Francis OR Little Richard. An alternate belief is that the this refers to the Kennedys attending a Washington DC rally by Martin Luther King, Jr. "In a coat he borrowed from James Dean" In the movie "Rebel Without a Cause", James Dean has a red windbreaker that holds symbolic meaning throughout the film (see note at end). In one particularly intense scene, Dean lends his coat to a guy who is shot and killed; Dean's father arrives, sees the coat on the dead man, thinks it's Dean, and loses it. On the cover of "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan", Dylan is wearing just such as red windbreaker, and is posed in a street scene similar to one shown in a well-known picture of James Dean. Bob Dylan played a command performance for the Queen of England. He was *not* properly attired, so perhaps this is a reference to his apparel. "And a voice that came from you and me" Bob Dylan's roots are in American folk music, with people like Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie. Folk music is by definition the music of the masses, hence the "...came from you and me". "Oh, and while the King was looking down The jester stole his thorny crown" Elvis is the king, Dylan is the jester. The thorny crown is the price of fame. "The courtroom was adjourned, No verdict was returned." If you follow the context of the song, this could refer to the arguments between Bob Dylan fans and fans of Elvis Presley as to which artist was better. However, Mclean might have been switching gears, and referring to trial of the Chicago Seven. "And while Lennon read a book on Marx" John Lennon was known to have spent a period studying Marxism, and many marxist philosophies are intertwined in his lyrics. "The quartet practiced in the park" The obvious meaning to this would be The Beattles playing Shea Stadium. Still some believe this is a reference to The Weavers, friends of Mclean, who were blacklisted in the 60's. "Helter Skelter in a summer swelter" A reference to the Manson family murders of Tate/Labianca. "The birds flew off with the fallout shelter eight miles high and falling fast" The Byrd's "Eight Miles High" was on their late 1966 release "Fifth Dimension". It was one of the first records to be widely banned because of supposedly drug-oriented lyrics. "It landed foul on the grass" One of the Byrds was busted for possesion of marijuana. "The players tried for a forward pass" The Rolling Stones, who didn't really gain widespread popularity until after the demise of the Beattles, "With the jester on the sidelines in a cast" On July 29, 1966, Dylan crashed his Triumph 55 motorcycle while riding near his home in Woodstock, New York. He spent nine months in seclusion while recuperating from the accident. "Now the halftime air was sweet perfume" It's possible that this line and the next few refer to the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The "sweet perfume" is probably tear gas. "While sergeants played a marching tune" A double meaning. The obvious being the Beattle's album; however... following the previous statement referring to the DNC. The sergeants would be the Chicago Police and the Illinois National Guard, who marched the protestors out of the park and into jail. "We all got up to dance Oh, but we never got the chance" The Beattles had a concert which only lasted 35 minutes at Candlestick Park. "'Cause the players tried to take the field, The marching band refused to yield." Some folks think this refers to either the 1968 Deomcratic Convention or Kent State; following on from the Chicago reference above, this could be another comment on protests. But perhaps the players are the protestors at Kent State, and the marching band the Ohio National Guard... This could be a reference to the dominance of the Beatles on the rock and roll scene. For instance, the Beach Boys released "Pet Sounds" in 1966 -- an album which featured some of the same sort of studio and electronic experimentation as "Sgt. Pepper" (1967) -- but the album sold poorly. This might also be a comment about how the dominance of the Beatles in the rock world led to more "pop art" music, leading in turn to a dearth of traditional rock and roll. Or finally, this might be a comment which follows up on the earlier reference to the draft: the government/military-industrial-complex establishment refused to accede to the demands of the peace movement. "And there we were all in one place" Woodstock "A generation lost in space" The hippies were often referred to as "the lost generation" due to their drug use. "So come on Jack be nimble Jack be quick" A reference to Mick Jagger's "Jumping Jack Flash." "Jack Flash sat on a candlestick" The Stones concert at Candlestick Park. "'Cause fire is the devil's only friend" "Sympathy for the Devil", by the Stones -- seems to fit with some of the surrouding material. An alternative interpretation of the last four lines is that they may refer to Jack Kennedy and his quick decisions during the Cuban Missile Crisis; the candlesticks/fire refer to ICBMs and nuclear war. "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 spell" While playing a concert at the Altamont Speedway in 1968, the Stones appointed members of the Hell's Angels to work security (on the advice of the Grateful Dead). In the darkness near the front of the stage, a young man named Meredith Hunter was beaten and stabbed to death -- by the Angels. Public outcry that the song "Sympathy for the Devil" had somehow incited the violence caused the Stones to drop the song from their show for the next six years. This incident is chronicled in the documentary film "Gimme Shelter". "And as the flames climbed high into the night To light the sacrificial rite" The most likely interpretation is that McLean is still talking about Altamont, and in particular Mick Jagger's prancing and posing while it was happening. The sacrifice is Meredith Hunter, and the bonfires around the area provide the flames. "I saw satan laughing with delight" Satan = Mick Jagger "I met a girl who sang the blues" Janis Joplin "And I asked her for some happy news But she just smiled and turned away" Janis died of an accidental heroin overdose on October 4, 1970. "I went down to the sacred store Where I'd heard the music years before" The "sacred store" was Bill Graham's Fillmore West, one of the great rock and roll venues of all time. "And in the streets the children screamed" "Flower children" being beaten by police and National Guard troops; in particular, perhaps, the People's Park riots in Berkeley in 1969 and 1970. "The lovers cried and the poets dreamed" The trend towards psychadelic music in the 60's. "And the three men I admire most The Father Son and Holy Ghost" Holly, The Big Bopper, and Valens |
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| Billy Joel – Scenes From An Italian Restaurant Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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ACTUALLY, Heather was correct. Billy Joel did write this song about Christiano's, in Syosset New York... Many of his songs make references to where he grew up... Of course, his first album, "Cold Spring Harbor" is a town that borders with Syosset. In "Ballad of Billy the Kid" he references "From a town known as Oyster Bay, Long Island" (The township where Syosset, and Cold Spring Harbor are located). "The Village Green" is on Jerusalem Road in the East Meadow area; and "The Parkway Diner" is on Hempstead Turnpike near the Wantaugh Parkway. (Also, "Are you going to cruise the miracle mile" from "Still Rock and Roll to me" refers to the same strip of Hempstead Turnpike.) |
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