(All the following are people's responses to 'American Pie' on SongMeanings: folk criticism.)
NOSTALGIC/POLITICAL 'We were still in 'Nam. We were confused and afraid and very divided about our troops being in 'Nam. Martin Luther King was killed. Lennon had developed an interest in communism.
The Byrds were a popular band.
We older Americans lived through this, but we were never the same. "Father, Son & The Holy Ghost" = John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy & Martin Luther King.'
EXTERNALIST "Flat out you're wrong. It was written about Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper. their plane was called Miss American Pie. A line made famous in Buddy's "That'll Be The Day", one of the best songs of his short career contains the same line - That'll be the day that I die."
ESCHATOLOGIST
"the writer is proubaly thinkin about the end of the world comin i sure do you dont know when its comeing but in the bible god said he'd consum the earth w fire so this song cuud be anyting bu tthis is wot i think it is n nobdys gona change my thinkng"
HERETIC
"The three figures (who they are in relation to the God-structures in the lyrics is beyond the scope of the lyrics. Suffice it to say that the Trinitarian simile shows that they were equal in all respects to MacLean) die, never to return."
DADAIST
There was no Buddy Holly, there is no Dylan, rock and roll is an illusion, Don McLean is a follower of Debord (cf. "No verdict was returned"). The song refers to whatever you delude yourself into finding in it.
No more guitars, no more Kennedys,
no more Chevys, no more Communists,
no more of this necrophilia of Kings, Jesters nor Quartets,
no more, no more, no more, no more, no more, no more,
no more.
afdhsofefsdakj$
$$$$$$$$$$
SOPHOMORIC (CLASS REQUISITE) "The most familiar part of "American Pie" is the chorus. It tells that rock and roll, a pure American art form, is dying ("Bye, bye, Miss American Pie"). Another American icon is the Chevy, and one of the founding areas of rhythm and blues was New Orleans, and McLean says he went there but found no more inspiration ("Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry"). He mentions other lovers of rhythm and blues ("Them good ol' boys were drinking whiskey and rye") and links them to "That'll Be The Day," a famous Buddy Holly song ("Singing, 'This'll be the day that I die, this'll be the day that I die").
"American Pie" is a significant song for many people who enjoy rock music because it details the people and events that contributed to the many changes that rock has had. It does it in a very unique way, using many poetic devices like symbolism and personification. These things helped make "American Pie" one of the most interesting and successful songs in rock history."
INTENTIONALIST "Its wrong to make assumptions as to what these lyrics mean, as Don Mclean has refused to say. So none of us can be sure, as there are so many different possibilities."
"WAT THE FUCK IS ALL THAT SHIT ABOUT "YOU'RE SO VAIN????" I THOUGHT EVERYONE KNEW THAT NOBODY KNOWS WHO SHE WROTE IT ABOUT. NO ONE. NOT A SOUL. NOT A SINGLE FUCKING PERSON ON THIS PLANET, NOT EVEN THE PERSON SHE WROTE IT ABOUT, EXCEPT MAYBE CARLY SIMON HERSELF"
SCHOOL OF COMMON SENSE "For everything else look at the post above. It is correct. This is how it is. If you disagree, sorry, but your wrong."
"well your all wrong save a few thank you drive safe through"
"if people are this bloody ignorant about music, especially the most intricate and genius song ever written, there is no point in music anymore."
SCEPTICAL PLURALIST "the whole point of this site is to say what YOU think that the lyrics mean. none of us can be sure. but what does it matter? can you be sure about anything? no."
CONTRA POLITICS: That's just, like, your opinion, maan.
CONTRA EXTERNALIST "the growing urban legend that "American Pie" was the name of Buddy Holly's plane the night it crashed, killing him, Ritchie Valens and the Big Boppper, is untrue. I created the term." - Don McLean, 1999
CONTRA CRAZIES: Don McLean ain't Christian.
CONTRA INTENTIONALIST: The idea that the creator is greater than the created, and determines all things about it, is a mythological/Christian hangover and can anyway only persist with our ignorance of mid-level mathematics (cf. underdetermination of theory, Craig's Theorem). No reason, beyond courtesy/idolatry for an author, to give them the power of Sole Actual Final Meaning.
CONTRA COMMON SENSE: One cannot reason someone out of a position they have not reasoned themself into.
****************************************************************
Comments
Post a Comment