BYE, BYE APPLE PIE
A couple of years ago [May 2004] I wrote an essay entitled BYE, BYE AMERICAN PIE which explained my interpretation of the 1971 song AMERICAN PIE, which has as its refrain, "bye, bye Miss American Pie". To me those words mean "bye, bye AMERICA".
Since then I have received emails from readers who vehemently disagree with my interpretation and instead believe exactly what they've been told the song means, ie that it's about the deaths in a plane crash of some 1950s rock stars AND THAT'S ALL. They can't grasp that the song HAS MORE THAN ONE MEANING, and one of those meanings is sinister and evil.
Perhaps a little American History lesson is in order:
People not familiar with the culture of the United States (otherwise known as "America") might not understand that "apple" and "pie" are symbols of America, thus the expression "as American as apple pie". I don't know where these symbols originated, maybe it was with Johnny Appleseed (an American who did good by planting apple seeds from which apple trees grew) and from which the early settlers made pie. But in any event, the expression "as American as apple pie" is a colloquialism. Nor do I know who first originated the term "a piece of the American pie" but its symbolic meaning is that everyone is equal in America and everyone can get "a piece of the pie". Immigrants who escaped poverty and tyranny in their native lands came to America hoping for a better life, for "a piece of the American pie".
That's why the song's refrain, "bye, bye Miss American pie" was the first clue to its true meaning, which I suspected was "bye, bye AMERICA". The other clues followed in quick succession.
However in the emails I've received people ignore the Satanic, nuclear and Communist references I pointed out to them in BYE, BYE AMERICAN PIE. Those references ARE there, as the bolded and underlined lyrics in the song below prove. (Note: when you see the words "the music" substitute the word "America"). In your first reading, read only the bolded and underlined words:
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 while.
But February made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
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
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died
{Refrain}
So bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die
Did 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 'n 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 blues
I 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...
Now for ten years we've been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone
But that's not how it used to be
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
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned
And while Lenin read a book of Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died
We were singing bye-bye, Miss American Pie...
Helter Skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul out on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the 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 singing bye-bye, Miss American Pie...
Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation Lost in Space
With no time left to start again
So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
'Cause fire is the Devil's only friend
Oh, 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
And 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 singing bye-bye, Miss American Pie...
I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before
But the man there said the music woudn't play
And in the streets the children screamed
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken
And 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
They were singing bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
lyrics on Don McLeans's official website
People who read the underlined and bolded words above and DON'T see the Satanic, Communist and Nuclear references to America's death are, to quote Orwell, "denying the reality of there own senses" or listening to O'Brien and seeing five fingers instead of the four Winston saw. ~ Jackie Jura
Hannah says the song "American Pie" is about "The Day The Music Died" on February 3, 1959
BYE, BYE MISS CHEVY PIE (Mike says "American Pie" is about a drunk & high teenager smashing into a school bus carrying a marching band home from a football game)
HUMANITARIAN CONCERTS OTHER SIDE
Rock stars set to rock our world (capturing more than 2-billion eyeballs) & Humanitarian Concert = Oxymoron (not always what they seem to be). TorontoStar/CroatiaJavno, Apr 14, 2007
UNSWEET SIXTEEN AMERICAN PIE (Jannelle says a 16-year-old could figure out that saying the song "American Pie" is satanic is crap)
Bono gets honourary knighthood (joins Geldof, Gates, Spielberg) & Bono preaches charity (profits from buyouts, tax breaks). BBC/Bloomberg, Mar 29, 2007. Go to BONO ARCH-ARCH CAPITALIST
Sam says the song "American Pie" is about the death of James Dean
Raymond likes the historical significance of the official interpretation of "American Pie"
Amanda says "Miss American Pie" is a wonderful song and sends a link to the lyrics' real meaning
AMERICAN PIE NOT AIRPLANE (Matt says every line in "American Pie" refers to bands, lyrics, song titles & musical events in the 50s, 60s & 70s)
Raymond says Rock n Roll was considered by many as being devil's music & was entrenched along with "the commies are coming"
Jordan says the "band refusing to yield the field" refers to the Stanford Cal game & "this will be the day the music dies" is referring to Buddy Holly's song That Will be the Day That I Die
Raymond says American Pie references the King (Elvis), the Jester (Dylan) and the Flash is Jagger (Jumping Jack)
Nazim says that once you know of the incident of the deaths of the singers in a plane crash then the meaning of the song American Pie is obvious
Troy believes what he was taught in school about "American Pie" but says it COULD be about communist holocaust
Brandon says American Pie is about the 1950s plane crash that killed Buddy Holly & Ritchie Valens, famous for his song "La Bamba"
Bobby says American Pie is about the deaths of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper in a plane named American Pie
Drew says Don told him American Pie's about the death of Buddy Holly
Jackie Jura
~ an independent researcher monitoring local, national and international events ~