American Pie Comments: James Dean, Waylon Jennings, The Beatles, and Bob Dylan
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There were supposed to be four people on the plane. There was only room for three. The fourth person lost the coin toss — or should I say won the toss. His name is Waylon Jennings. Jennings was the bass player for Holly’s band at the time. Some people say that Holly had chartered the plane for his band, but that Valens and/or Richardson was to replace Jennings who was sick that night.
About the “coat he borrowed from James Dean”: James Dean’s red windbreaker is important throughout the “Rebel Without a Cause,” not just at the end. When he put it on, it meant that it was time to face the world, time to do what he thought had to be done, and other melodramatic but thoroughly enjoyable stuff like that. The week after the movie came out, nearly every clothing store in the U.S. was sold out of red windbreakers. Remember that Dean’s impact was similar to Dylan’s: both were a symbol for the youth of their time, a reminder that they had something to say and demanded to be heard.
Some figure that if Holly had not have died, then we would not have suffered through the Fabian/Pat Boone era… and consequently, we wouldn’t have “needed” the Beatles (I have strong arguments opposing that opinion). Holly was quickly moving pop music away from the stereotypical boy/girl love lost/found lyrical ideas, and was recording with unique instrumentation and techniques…things that Beatles would not try until about 1965 (although I still credit the Beatles with all the musical revolutions). Without Holly’s death, perhaps Dylan would have stuck with the rock and roll he played in high school and the Byrds never would have created an amalgam of Dylan songs and Beatle arrangements.
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10 Comments on “American Pie Comments: James Dean, Waylon Jennings, The Beatles, and Bob Dylan”
I’m sorry to say that you have something wrong here.
Waylon gave up his seat to J.P. Richardson, who came to him, asking Waylon if he could have the seat on the plane because he was feeling flu-ish and couldn’t sleep on the plane.
Waylon, being as skinny as a rail and able to sleep anywhere agreed and gave J.P. his seat.
It wasn’t Waylon who was sick.
My son is 34 and likes the song American Pie. He called me on the phone asking me the artists name. After telling him it was Don McLean I pulled up this site and read your interpretation of his lyrics. I am wondering how my boy will like finding out all this info and realizing his mother grew up in the middle of those crazy times. I was a farm girl who wanted so to go to Woodstock three States away from my home. It didn’t happen for me but reading about these songs, people and places bring a lot back to me. It’s all good now. Thank you.
I should have proofread my comment better before I submitted it. I meant to say that the song was composed by Fox and Gimbel based on Ms. Lieberman’s poem–not “performance.”
My apologies.
Steve Knight
@Steve -
This is a very interesting and thorough look at an intriguing song. I would like to point out though that Roberta Flack did not write the song “Killing Me Softly,” even though it was she who made the song famous. The song was inspired by a poem written by a young lady named Lori Lieberman after she had seen Don McLean perform. Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel composed the lyrics based on Ms. Lieberman’s performance. Again, your analysis is quite fascinating.
Steve Knight
Peter, Paul, & Mary used the train metaphore in their song “500 Miles” . . . Took the last train for the Coast.
Hey P. O’Brien. I just read your interpretation of Don McLean’s song lyrics, which I thought was really interesting since you filled in a lot of facts from the recording industry. I think I have one thing that may help. Since you say McLean was religious, the words ‘We sang dirges in the dark’ is probably another way of saying that the musicians had a message but nobody was listening. I think its a reference to Luke 7:31-35. In that passage, the religious people only want to talk and never listen — even calling Rock’n Roll evil. They are in the dark, because they’re spiritually blind, so I think McLean is referring to them in his song.
Luke 7:31-35
“To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the market place and calling to one another, `We piped to you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, `He has a demon.’ The Son of man has come eating and drinking; and you say, `Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”
This affects the ending of the song, so that the last section expresses dismay that society with all of its churches and faith had let their youth down and was not listening to reason. The musicians and youth (the lovers & poets?) cried and were reduced to only dreaming. World hunger and war continued.
I went down to the sacred store 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
But not a word was spoken The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire most The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died
What do you think?
My name is Ewa, i’m from Poland. I’ve got an idea about words from McLean’s “American Pie”: “And moss grows fat on a rolling stone”.
It is a simple idea but I thought it might a game of words. I mean those words are written just after “Now for ten years we’ve been on our own” so the stone may refer to the graves of tragically dead musicians (a kind of sumbol it would be). And rolling would refer to rock’n'roll as they were connected with this music. Finally, rock is quite close to stone.
Please, write what do you think about this idea, maby it sounds crazy but anyway different things come to mind just before final school exams:]
Obviously you are searching for a deeper meaning to this song. I have an idea of how you feel. Seems this song has a hauntingly clear question for all that listen, along with lots of answers for the right person.
How long have you been searching for some answers?
Dennis
One area that I believe is obvious that you overlooked was the good ole boys
drinkin’ whiskey and rye saying this will be the day that I die…might
refer to what had the boomers completely were oppsessed with in the
1960’s…the Vietnam war. Since the war was mostly fought with poor white
and black kids from the American South I think that is the obvious take on
that. Especially, because it is the chorus and the Vietnam war was kind of
the chorus of the 1960’s.
The players are obviously the stones and the marching band is obviously the
Beatles. The perfume lyric is the all the pop rock that surronded the
beatles and all their wanna be’s.