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From: TheBeachBoys1961
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  • 3:26 Groucho Marx? Pretty sure its Karl Marx's communist Manifesto lol

  • The Father,Son and Holy Ghost doesn't necessarily represent John Kennedy,Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King,Jr though one could take it that way and could also assume he was referring to Buddy Holly,Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper. The lyric,"the three men I admire the most" is in present tense so that leads one to think the 3 men he admires the most are still living. In an interview with McLean when talking about Holly,he referred to the Crickets as "the three men."

  • Great video, but I do not get the analogy of father, son and holy ghost, representing John, Robert and MLK,.... makes no sense.

  • how come bob dylan is the 'jester'?

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  • you should add the lyrics just a suggestion =) loved the way you portray the song though gr8 jobb thanx =)

  • When I die, I want someone sing me this song.

  • @codiilove me too

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  • Excellent, except the part about the "marching band refused to yield" could possibly be about the Ohio massacre.

  • The Planes name was 'American Pie'. If you knew your history on music you would know that the music world stopped with this crash

  • I think it's stretching it a bit to imply that McLean was using JFK, RFK and MLK as metaphors for the Father , Son and holy Ghost. I think McLean was actually saying that it seemed as if, amidst such a tragedy (for music fans), that God and Jesus and the holy Spirit turned their backs on the situation, and "caught the last train for the coast." i.e.: Satan - 1, God - 0

  • every ones interpretation is right, each one of us sees it as one deems fit

  • the music died on February 3rd, 1959

    

  • This is a very accurate depiction of the evolution of music and its major down fall in the late 70s.

  • best quality on youtube i can dig it

  • All you need to know is the song is about the 3rd of February 1959 aka "the day the music died" which was the date that Buddy Holly, Ritche Valens and the Big Bopper died in a plane crash.

  • hey i d ont know if you know this but the halftime he is describing the riots and the teargas is the perfume. the players are the police or army and the band is the protesters. i do have a question though. is the father son and holy ghost supposed to be jfk, mlk and bobby kennedy or buddy holly, bopper, and valens. i cant figure it out. plz help

  • @MrStallion2012 ....Yes...It's about the Singers

  • I love how this song starts in the 50s and goes thru to the late 60s (maybe early 70s) and I relive all those moments.

    Ameican Pie, I always thought it had something to do with the commercial for Chevrolet (since Chevy is mentioned in the song). The commerical had a jingle: "Baseball, hotdogs, apple pie and Chevrolet"...talking about things that were truely American.

  • This video gave me goose bumps! But in a good way!

  • Do you believe in rock n roll is most likely a reference to the song "do you believe in magic?" by the lovin spoonfull.

  • Your video is brilliant. Don't worry, nobody under 50 would get it. The first time I watched it was like watching images in my head over the past 40 years every time I heard the song. Thank you.

  • @azman5000 I am under 30 and I get it

  • @azman5000 I'm under 50 and I understand it all perfectly!

  • @AGfan5210: I'm under 20 but older than 15 and I understand it perfectly also

  • @azman5000 Waylon Jennings gave up his seat ...actually he lost a bet and had to take the bus.

  • does any one know the name of the guitar player.that gave up his seat,on that fatal plane ride.great song, sad story.

  • Furthermore, the "American Pie" reference, is simple. American Pie is like the 'sweet, innocent, symbolism of America that everyone can relate to.' At least back in the day it was.

    The song is about Buddy Holly, his death, and the loss of American innocence. The day Buddy Holly died then became known as "the day the music died." At no point what so ever was it true that the name of the plane he, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper died upon, named as such.

    It's a symbol of america.

  • Quote from Don Mclean:

    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 equally untrue. I created the term

  • The airplane, chartered through Dwyer's Flying Service in Clear Lake, Iowa, had no name. Its only designation was its wing registration number, N3794N. How the rumor that its name was American Pie (thus providing Don McLean the title for his song) started circulating is unknown, but it is undeniably false. As Don McLean himself said in 1999:

  • 3:27 I think he meant Vladimir Lenin and Karl Marx, not John Lennon and Groucho Marx

  • @giraffyking Lenin is Lennon, not Vlad, well this is the theory thought by most.

  • This was, BY FAR, my daddy's favorite song. When we preparing for his Memorial (CELEBRATION OF LIFE) get-together after losing him suddenly Nov 30, 1995... all of us (mommy, myself, younger sister, and 2 younger brothers), were nearly simultaneous when discussing music to play on his LIFE VIDEO!! Even now, 16 years later as I approach my 50th birthday, I still weep listening to this song. You did an outstanding job with your video, and I want to thank you very much!!!!

  • 1:58 miss, there seems to be jizz on your dress

  • Nice job on the video, thanks for posting it.

  • This song brings back some great memories. I remember riding around in the car with my dad and my uncle and cousins listening to this song. I was probably 6 or so. Good stuff

  • Well Done! :)

  • The song tells the story of the day when the music died, 3 February 1959, when Buddy Holly, Richtchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Popper" Richardson were killed by a plain crash with the pilot Roger Peterson.

  • the beatles have nothing to do with helter skelter you dumbass its a racial ordeal between blacks and whites

  • @cjmj23 Sorry, You facts are inaccurate. The Beatles wrote the song Helter Skelter for The White Album. Then Charles Manson took this song and some other songs from the album as messages of a war between the blacks and whites where everyone would be wiped out and that the Manson family will rise form the ashes and lead the world to prosperiety.

  • @cjmj23 You fucking idiot....

  • it's blatently nothing to do with buddy holley. i highly doubt it's anything to do with music. so fuck off, you faggot.

  • THIS IS THE ULTIMATE ANTHEM OF COUNTER CULTURE. DON MCLEAN YOU RULE SIR!

  • CREME DE LA CREME MCLEAN!

  • good video with explanations. Ive got a couple of interpretations that might be along the right lines, I hope... the quartet practising in the park could also refer to the rolling stones with only 4 original members in hyde park london july 5th 1969 ( which I attended ) " practising " for altamont 6 months later. also, the dirges in the dark may refer to paint it black which had a dirge like raga rock sound and was a precursor to sympathy for the devil.

  • nice video!

  • I enjoyed this version & the pictures were well thought out.

    Thanks

  • Great tribute. Don McLean was so advanced in his writings in his early 20's.

  • Better then most but most believe the ending is about the church going commerical after it's losing its influence in America, not about JFK/RFK/MLK.

  • Well done. Creative and very watchable.

  • Far and way the best visual interpretation of this song I've ever seen. The song is progressive in nature but uses the death of Valens and Holly as both a starting point and also a reference point. Very well done.

  • Thank you! The song has more fans than any other! Dont get lost in the past. Move on Its a great tune nothing more.

    THE PRIDE THAT WAS WILL BE AGAIN

  • I like your interpretation of the "Three men that I admire most": JFK, RFK and MLK. Never thought of that.

  • American Pie is all about the death of Buddy Holly.

  • I bet you are way off with the actual meaning of the lyrics

  • Jimmi Hendrix is God?

  • Oh yes - indeed he is.

  • The Best Song of all times, anyone like this

    atte Batman

  • it's also about JP Richardson (big bopper) and Ritchie Valence (the verse about the teenager at the prom, the girl is donna,)

  • the best song ever with the best lyrics

  • Don Mclean said "You will find many 'interpretations' of my lyrics but none of them by me... sorry to leave you all on your own like this but long ago I realized that songwriters should make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence." I take this to mean that he wants us to find our own meaning in it, that's why music and art exists; the artists creates it and sets it free to let us all appreciate it in our own way and take from it our own special meaning...

  • Like the way you said it. Thanks

    you must play darts! because you hit your mark on this one.

  • Awe, Thanks that's very nice of you to say, I appreciate it! Take Care.

  • @utube4thepeople Ah yes, as you can see, when he says "The day the music died", he is trying to tell us about the time spiderman and batman beat cthulu right before the potato invasion of 2043?

  • @ThatJewishPerson0 That's how I've always interpreted it, but wasn't it a sweet potato invasion?!

  • great song

  • But still, it kicks ass!!!

  • Anyone insisting that this is ONLY about the deaths of three stars has it wrong. When anything is felt deeply it reaches out to other places, other empty spaces we fear. Other absences. Even in the heart of the USA. What is piercingly sad about this song is the the way he uses gear-shifts slow slow fast fast slow. After all, most of it clips along with a youthful carelessness. But underneath there is the loss, the bewilderment. THATS what brings the grief to the surface. For all of us.

  • why is it so many pictures of the Beatles?

  • ummm lets see... maybe because the Beatles were a huge part of not just Rock n Roll but of society. And the fact that they were icons and everyone loved/loves them. I could be wrong but then again... I think there are millions of people who would agree with me.

  • I agree with you and " Quartet practiced in the dark" refers to the Beatles exclusively, correct?!? Also "American Pie" is about the era between world war two and vietnam!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • you guy got it thanks

  • @TheBeachBoys1961 I don't like the beatles....

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  • the music never die

  • One more time! Brothers and sisters wake up!

    this song is about us. How much we are being fucked The only way to beat this factor is to ignore it. Move on this. its a message! what do you think music is about Passing a message on!.

  • great job, thankyou dude!!

  • You're right about that. It was Don Mclean himself who said that it was the plane's name, but later it turned out that the plane didn't have a name at all.

    BTW, nice video & great song!

  • Ok... Anyone who makes a comment of the plane's name that Buddy Holly died in is "American Pie", I am deleting their comment... That is simply not true so stop crowding my space with lies...

  • facsist

  • @TheBeachBoys1961 Fine but please be aware one of the versus is about the 68 convention not the Beatles! Thanks!!

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  • bye bye miss american pie

  • I loved this song when I heard it, got it the first time I heard it. It is about Buddy Holly, Richtie Valens, and the Big Bopper, who died in February '59, and also the dissillusionment of the '60's.

  • This song brings tears to my eyes

  • of course. Buddy Holly.

  • I think this video shows a disalusion

    of that people, they had a great idea of America, but wow, I think it hurted to all the people.

  • Declanpugh sorry to ruffle your feathers.

    No disrespect to Buddy Holly or his fans.the music was born after the tragic Feb in 1959.

    Is it true that Don Mclean wrote this song for the memory of Buddy Holly. Rock ules.

  • oi

    danlong47 buddy holly rule u say any think about come to me

  • Who really cares about Buddy Holly's glasses.

    Dialog I'll give you dialog.This songs not about Buddy Holly.

    Its about the lost American Yout.

    Love to take an english course.that would help dissect this American classic.

  • i love this song sooo much my grandma and i usto listen to this song alot but she lost the cd and this is my favorit song

  • Do they really have Buddy Holly's glasses on display?

    Wow.

  • where can i find the picture from 1:34? it´s very cool

  • It's interesting to watch the different videos posted by people on the meaning of this song. The imagery that each video shows is similar, yet different as the person creating it sees it. It is open for interpretation. Too bad there has been so many budget cuts that kids can't learn music appreciation in school and learn about the birth of rock n roll, r&b, etc. This song opens up so much dialog and discussion betweeen people.

  • nice video,nice song!

  • this of all songs tells us all how It failed for the American Youth of the Sixties

    The youth of the time had a possitive idea of America. we were flying high before JFK left us. eight miles high and falling fast.

    The song is not just about a rock star. Its about the disalusion of the American Youth.

  • this of all songs tells us how it all faied for the Amicain Youth , who had a possitive idea Of America what went wrong we cry about today.

  • What A Great Song Its One Of My All Time Favourites A Song To Listen To When Ur Drunk And Deppressed

  • not nessisarily. look at the photo i can tell that that was done with the help of windos media or something like that. look very closely

  • Heard the Tune, on the way to Favorite Aunt's, wake in the Mountains of Georgia. So truthfull, feeling, to the times, from then.

     Remember all of them.

    Just wish the kids of today, could understand. Great song.

    Capt M.

  • This is the first song I ever rememember hearing, and I still think it is the best song ever.

  • sooooooooooooooo sad...........my grandpa died yesterday :( and hes like i remember when sunny boy (he called my dad sunny boy) used 2 sing this will be the day that i die and evry1 was like...nooo u wnt die...and he died tht night...last night :(

  • This song reminds me of my momma....great classic rock song

  • I must say whether theres info in here wrong or write for those commenting, its still a brilliantly structured clip of a truly historical and wonderful song :) so to the author(s) TheBeachBoys1961 thankyou :) Im 27 yrs old and wish i was born in the era when original Lps were around, Songs like this one topped the charts and generally music was better as a whole.So again thankyou for taking the time to create the lovely visuals :)

  • Nice job! This song should be on everyone's short list of the best clasic rock songs of all time.

  • the video is extremely well done. summed up everything rather precisely. fantastic song which summed up a generation.

  • Let me make something straight... When I made this video I did alot of researching on it and I can assure that "American Pie" was NOT the name of the plane they were on. I love Buddy Holly and know his history very well. In actual pictures of the plane nowhere on it does it say that so the people who say it is, shut up. lol... And yes I know that it is not only on Buddy Holly wich is why I made this video. So it's clear to everyone what it is about.

    ~Thanks TheBeachBoys1961

  • I think "Bye Bye Miss American Pie" refers to the American Wholesomeness that was lost during the 60s. That has always been my understanding of that line in particular. I have a slightly different perception of the song, ad this song is great! It plays a lot on dual meanings, and it is a very great song, I remember listening to it when I was very little on late night radio shows!

  • Great song......well done vid! Thanks for posting!!

  • I heard that american pie was the name of the plane they were on :S, dont now if thats true

  • This song isn't just about Buddy Holly.

    It's about the plane crash that killed him, and two other great artists.

    - Buddy Holly

    - Richie Valens

    - J.P. Richardson [The Big Bopper]

    All three were very talented musicians, and shall be missed greatly.

  • i love this song, its beautful and touching

  • Very touching

  • I can't think of another song with as much symbolism as this. Whoever made the video has the song wrapped up. Excellent!

  • i dont think the song is about buddy holly alone i think it's about tht whole decade and generation, and when the holly and valey plane crash happened it symbolised the downfall of tht decade/generation

  • I TOTALLY agree with you! That's what I thought when I saw this video...

  • this is really a brilliant song when you think of how long this song is and how much symbolism is in the song.

  • It's all about how Norn Iron bate England 1-0 on 7th September 2005. Away in a manger...

  • i ment that comment to iluvboybands95 but i hit the wrong button oops i forgot i just turned 14 still not used to it yet

  • This song may be from the 90's but it will always remain in our hearts.

    May Buddy Holly Rest In Peace.

  • It's from the '70s, actually.

  • Owh. Sorry my bad.

  • and how is this song from the 90s?

  • Thanks so much this song brings a tear to my eyes!x

  • what the hell?! "the father, son and the holy ghost" are NOT JFK, MLJ, and the other person

    McLean is specifically making a reference to BUDDY HOLLY, RICHIE VALENS AND THE BIG BOPPER

    Specifically, McLean worships Buddy Holly, not so much the policticians/civil rights activist.

    American Pie is completely written on the foundations of Buddy Holly's death and only that. He just states that everything from there goes doen hill and makes NO REFERENCE TO JFK, MLJ, and the other dude.

  • im 13 and this song will never die!! IT LIVES ON!!

  • I'm 13, too. I agree.

  • 13 too and amen to that

  • im only 18 but i can appreciate that this is one of the greatest songs ever written, i hope this song doesnt die for the future generations

  • im 15 and i thing ,too that is one of the best song ever

  • im almost 16 and I agree :)

  • Great stuff!

  • i love dis song it remines me of my 90th birthday!

  • Hey, guys, you got it right hit the pin on top of it's head, this video sent shivers down my spine, just like the song did all those years ago. A sad commentary.

  • killing me softly with his song.....

  • Great Job!

  • not nessisarily. look at the photo i can tell that that was done with the help of windos media or something like that. look very closely

  • This is the most beautiful song I have ever heard.........All I remember is that while listening this song, I am crying and crying.....

    I don't know how many people the way I feel for this song, but I just have one thing to say, that one need not to big books on philosophy, if you know how to love this world, then you have learned everything.

    Love all, love this world, may the world be peaceful and beautiful.

    Eternal bliss!

  • this song is a tribute to the crashed plane "american pie" who carried a music artist (don't remember who)

  • it was buddy holly, ritchie valens and the big bop  :D

  • thanks^^

  • plane was not named american pie, the name american pie refers to Mclean's ex girlfriend, a miss america winner

  • i heard American pie stands for a miss American the guy dated

  • Even if this song is supposed to be sad, i can't help but feel better when im down when i listen to this. We were at a music store and we pressed a button and this song started playing and we all started singing and dancing around the music store it was funny

  • American Pie was the name of the plane wasn't it?? sooo, "bye bye, Miss American Pie"

    sure, there could be more symbolism, but you gotta start there- since that's pretty concrete..*shrugs*

  • Well, we need to remember that the artist wanted the entire song, with the exception of Buddy Holly's death, to be up to lots of interpritation. It's not a black and white song.

  • the "jester" was Lee Harvey Oswald. the "king and queen" were JFK and Jackie Kennedy.

    "Stole his crown" = JFK's murder in Dallas, 1963

    "No verdict was returned" = Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby before he could be brought to trial.

  • this is such a sad song.. rip buddy holly.

  • the song is about the death of richie valens and buddy holley then it continues to discribe the sorrow of the us aka miss american pie.

  • Buddy Holley and Ritchie Valens were both way ahead of their time. RIP

  • Best song EVER!

  • im spanish and i dont understand so much

    i know that he sings about buddy holley but who is miss american pie??

  • Rock & roll.

  • It was said that the plane all the singers died on was called American Pie

  • that was the name of the plane that crashed

  • This song is about the innocence of the 50's and the maturing of our country. I wouldn't want to still be living in the 50's "leave it to beaver" shit. I'm almost 50 and I appreciate the Stones, the Beatles, Hendrix, The Doors, Vietnam, Janis Joplin, and even crazy fucks like Charles Manson. It's history! What a boring world it would be if everything stayed the same.

  • Yes, but its also about how post-50's music has caused problems in society (Godlessness, etc). He blames 60's and 70's music for the disintegration of wholesome Americana.

  • No he doesn't he's simply mourning his own loss of innocense. Everything comes down to subjectivism because in creativity that's all there really is. Oh, sure he's using the western tradition to communicate his ideas but he's seeing it through his own filter. Besides your wholesome Americana was as subjective as you can get because most poor sob's were and are still starving to death. Sure life was good for some but horrible for others which invalidates your argument.

  • Of course the ideal 50's is subjective, in this case its in the eyes of McLean. I still think his comments in the song are bigger than his personal experiences and more a statement of rock-n-rolls influence on society and the poverty of music in the post 50's era.

  • markymustang, you sir are ENLIGHTENED. Yes, it's about the experience of being alive isn't it? Not sitting in judgement but enjoying the dark and the light and everything in between. Not all tears are shed from sorrow are they?

  • man love hip-hop and i grew up listening to hip -hop ,but the day i had this song it become my favourate , the best song ever and i like the lyrics man!don mclean you are the don , the greatest of all time.respect