*** a long long time ago
*** I can still remember how that music
*** used to make me smile
It has been 21 years between the time this song came
Out and the event in 1959 that the song is referring to.
*** and I knew if I had my chance
*** I could make those people dance
*** and maybe they’d be happy for a while
Don Maclean has aspirations to be a singer.
*** but February made me shiver
*** with every paper I deliver
*** bad news on the doorstep
*** I couldn’t take one more step
A plane crash killed Buddy Holly, J.P «The Bopper» Richardson
And Ritchie Valens in February 1959.
Naturally there was a bit of press coverage of all this.
*** I can’t remember if I cried
*** when I read about his widowed bride
Holly’s recent bride was pregnant at the time of the crash.
She miscarried shortly after.
*** something touched me deep inside
*** the day the music died
*** so
*** Chorus:
*** bye, bye Miss American Pie
Don McLean dated a Miss America candidate during the pageant.
*** drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
*** them good ‘ol boys were drinking whiskey and rye
*** singing «this will be the day that I die,
*** this will be the day that I die»
Buddy Holly wrote: «That’ll be the Day» with the lines
«That’ll be the day/When I die.»
*** did you write the book of love
«Book of Love» by the Monotones, 1959.
*** and do you have faith in God above
*** if the bible tells you so
*** and do you believe in rock and roll
«Do you believe in magic……..it’s like trying to tell a stranger
’bout rock and roll.» Lovin’ Spoonful
*** the jester stole his thorny crown
Dylan and the other new rock and roll people taking over
Rock and roll as Elvis declined. Considering the price of success
For Elvis, the crown looks pretty thorny.
*** the courtroom was adjourned
*** no verdict was returned
Could be the Chicago 7 trial. That’s the only possibility
Mentioned for this.
*** and while Lennon read a book on Marx
John Lennon of the Beatles, referencing his tendencies to the left.
*** the quartet practiced in the park
The quartet being the Beatles, of course. The concert in Shea Stadium.
*** and we sang dirges in the dark
*** the day the music died
*** we were singing
*** CHORUS
*** helter skelter in a summer swelter
The Tate murders committed by Charles Manson.
Helter Skelter was a song by the Beatles off the White Album.
Charles Manson was «inspired» by it, thought it was the devil
Talking to him.
*** the birds flew off with a fallout shelter
*** eight miles high and falling fast
*** landed fouled, on the grass
Referring to the music group, the Byrds, who had a song called
«Eight Miles High». One of the Byrds was arrested for marijuana use.
*** the players tried for a forward pass
*** with the jester on the sidelines in a cast
Bob Dylan had a motorcycle accident at one point and broke his leg.
*** now the halftime air was sweet perfume
*** while the sergeant played a marching tune
Could be the Beatles concert (Sergant Pepper) at Candlestick Park.
It only lasted 35 minutes. Shea Stadium was the other candidate.
*** we all got up to dance
*** 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 1968 Democratic Convention is mentioned as a possibility,
But more people think that it refers to Kent State.
Another interesting possibility is tha sang the blues is Janis Joplin.
The next lines could reference her suicide, but that isn’t totally clear.
*** I went down to the sacred store
Bill Graham’s Fillmore East.
*** where I’d heard the music years before
*** but the man there said the music wouldn’t play
*** and in the streets the children screamed
*** the lovers cried and the poets dreamed
The trend towards psychedelic music in the 60’s, and its closing.
*** but not a word was spoken
*** the church bells all were broken
*** and the three men I admired most
*** the father, son and the holy ghost
*** they caught the last train for the coast
Reference to Holly, Valens and the Bopper.
*** the day the music died
*** and they were singing
*** CHORUS
*** Repeat
