With it being the 4th of July, for the 2nd year in a row, the tune is American Pie by Don McLean. Next Thursday we’ll go back to the regularly scheduled program of Levels by Avicii.
New Rochelle’s own, Don McLean, wrote and released this American folk rock classic at 26 years old in 1971. American Pie peaked on the US Billboard charts at #1 for 4 weeks. It even did numbers outside of the States, peaking at #7 in Ireland, #2 in the UK, and #1 in Australia & New Zealand. If you clicked on this one I’m sure you already know most of the words to the song, but here is a bit on the cultural references…
On February 3rd, 1959, 3 American roll & roll musicians - Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson - tragically died in a plane crash while touring during their “Winter Dance Party” across midwest America. Buddy Holly was only 22 years old at the time and already a star. He was hoping to skip out on the long cold bus ride. Waylon Jennings, who was a part of Buddy Holly’s band “The Crickets”, swapped out his seat with “The Big Bopper” because Richardson had the flu; while Valens won the seat on the plane in a coin flip. What’s even sadder to read about was that Buddy Holly’s widowed bride, María Elena Holly, suffered a miscarriage the next day. Don McLean was a massive fan of Buddy Holly and all the musicians, he was only 13 years old when this tragedy took place.
Bye-bye, Miss American Pie is synonymous with loss of innocence and a changing of the guard. A whole generation of Americans went through a lot in the 1960s. Just to name a few, the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. For McLean, it seems that the death of Buddy Holly which took place right before all these events represented the start of the loss of innocence. Chevy being American-made not only fits with the song title but with the theme. The 1957 Chevy is one of the most recognizable cars ever made. The “levee” it turns out is a reference to a bar in New Rochelle that Don McLean used to go to which closed down and went dry. (Source: Daily News) In the 1960s, The Levee was located right across the street from Iona Prep. It is still a bar called Beechmon Tavern. Yes, they have Guinness, but unfortunately, I still haven’t checked out if they pour a proper pint.
A 1950s band Monotones had a song called “The Book Of Love” while Don Cornell released “The Bible Tells Me So.” Both of these came out right before Buddy Holly’s death. Before Rock ‘n’ Roll, there was a ton of popular music that high schoolers would slow dance to in gyms. “Kicking off shoes” was very popular in the 1950s as kids during those days would attend “sockhops”, which sound like jean jams from my day. The pink carnation is a reference to another 1957 song called White Sport Coat(and a Pink Carnation), so McLean would drive to these dances in a white sports coat with a pink carnation flower in his pocket. McLean is still nostalgic for the rhythm and blues because it brings him back to his younger self.
Don McLean began writing American Pie in 1969, which was 10 years after the plane crash. Buddy Holly in his song, “Early in the Morning”, had lyrics “Well, you know a rollin' stone. Don’t gather no moss”, so here McLean flips Holly’s words. The internet consensus is that “the jester” is Bob Dylan, who wore a coat similar to James Dean in his 1963 album, The Freewheelin’. McLean may have held a bit of resentment towards Bob Dylan because of Dylan’s success. Dylan was tagged as the voice of McLean’s generation, which pissed McLean off. The King here is Elvis Presley. Elvis was at the peak of his powers in the late 1950s but then started to decline as the likes of Bob Dylan rose up the charts. The courtroom and no verdict are a bit mysterious. It could be about the National Guard shooting Kent State students at a Vietnam War protest or it could be about how America never got the answers to who shot JFK. John Lennon reading up on the Communist Manifesto probably did happen and the quartet - The Beatles - did play music in Candlestick Park in 1965 as McLean was still not considered a star in the music industry, so out in the dark.
Helter Skelter was not only a Beatles song but McLean acknowledged that he used this to Charles Manson's murders that took place in the Summer of 1969. The Rolling Stones came out with “Gimme Shelter” that same year. “Eight Miles High” is a song by The Byrds about a plane journey, McLean adlibs the fallin’ fast to go back to the Buddy Holly crash. The forward pass line I’m just going to go with is about how football teams started throwing the ball more from the 1950s to the 1960s. Bob Dylan, the jester, got into a motorcycle accident in the 1960s and had to wear a cast. The sergeants here I’m guessing had to do with the Vietnam War and the kids at the age all got up to dance could mean protest it, or it may mean Woodstock.
Everybody being in “one place” likely has to do with Woodstock. Woodstock took place from August 15-18, 1969. The moon landing took place on July 20, 1969. The Summer of 1969 really was nuts. Every verse of McLean’s references events that happened from the time Buddy Holly passed to when McLean was writing the song, so with all that went down it once again represents that his generation can’t start again, they grew up. Jack be nimble is a nursery rhyme, alluding that the 1950s American kids were no longer innocent, they had seen through some stuff. The rest of the lines that this has to do with Hells Angels, the motorcycle club, being hired by The Rolling Stones (had a song “Jumping Jack Flash”) to be security at Candlestick Park. It ended horrifically when an 18-year-old was killed by a Hells Angels member. Mick Jagger could be the Devil here, he did write “Sympathy for the Devil.”
McLean said of this bridge, “I got the bad news at the front of the song so now I’m asking her for some happy news at the end of the song. She doesn’t give me good news.” Janis Joplin is who most people think McLean is talking about here. She, unfortunately, passed away a year before this song while overdosing on heroin. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost here could be yet another callback to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson; or MLK, JFK, and RFK.
Don McLean: "That song didn't just happen. It grew out of my experiences. American Pie was part of my process of self-awakening; a mystical trip into my past. People ask me if I left the lyrics open to ambiguity. Of course, I did. I wanted to make a whole series of complex statements. The lyrics had to do with the state of society at the time.In a sense, American Pie was a very despairing song. In another, though, it was very hopeful. Pete Seeger told me he saw it as a song in which people were saying something. They'd been fooled, they'd been hurt, and it wasn't going to happen again. That's a good way to look at it—a hopeful way."
While most of the theme of American Pie casts a cynical view of America on her 248th birthday, I try looking at it in the hopeful way McLean mentions… A guy from New Rochelle wrote a brilliant song about going to his local bar. He told it how he saw it and it has resonated for a long, long time. He knew if he had his chance, he could make those people dance, and we sure have. I learned a lot from researching a song that I’ve known all the words to from the time I was 5 so might as well run this back again next year.
Now on to the Yanks & Jets Insiders…
NY Yankees & Jets Banter
6/27 ‘24
This sums up the past couple of weeks for the Yankees 😂😂😂
What a mess 😂
Rodon stinking again stinks.
6/28 ‘24
No idea if true, but if it is, wow !!
I think it’s true. Thomas Edison being a baseball fan is very cool. In a 1927 interview, Edison was quoted…
“Baseball is the greatest of American games. I don’t believe you can find a more ardent follower of baseball than myself, as a day seldom passes when I do not read sporting pages of the newspaper.” (Source: Edison & Ford Estates)
Dude was a monster
*Iron Horse
Maybe most underrated player of all time. With him and Babe Ruth the Yankees had 2 of the 3 highest career OPS players in history, in the same lineup, for 12 years. Just insane.
Imagine being Lakers’ new coach - late in the 4th - close game - and Lebron saying “Let’s get Bronny in”… BTW - I’m at Wild Wings in Flemington NJ for Ryan’s baseball game - start time 8:30 pm. Figured I’d grab a beer since we got here 1 1/2 hours early. Got stuck next to a drunk guy who needs help with his burner phone. Club Baseball Rocks !!!
JJ Reddick being the coach is pretty cool. One of the best/most hated college players, a respected NBA player, and a solid analyst. He might be able to tell LeBron no, it’ll be a fun scenario either way…And Wild Wings is always great for sports, best of luck Ryan!
Oh boy
Don’t think he’s ever been known as a good teammate tbh
LETS GO! Did Stroman fix Gleyber!?!
Hope so
6/29 ‘24
Bruh
Maybe the best player I’ve ever seen.
Would have been the best ever - no question.
In 1989, Bo Jackson was 4th in rushing yards per game (86.4) behind Barry Sanders, Eric Dickerson, and Christian Okoye. One big difference is Bo also hit 32 homers and drove in 105 guys that same year.
That is ridiculous
He was better than all of them (besides Barry Sanders)
What is crazier here, the karate kick or the mitt?
The oven mitt for a glove is wild, but a jump karate kick to the bollocks sticks out more.
6/30 ‘24
Judge has 31 home runs. That's a good season for 99% of players that have ever played baseball…It’s still June.
He is a freak.
He didn’t look right at all. I think he is done
What happened?
He is ok. I think the other guy just got called up and was getting some throws in
This IS crazy !!
7/2 ‘24
This is likely true
Closest thing to Mantle for sure
(Age 24 to 32 seasons thus far.)
That is an incredible stat
That is absurd. (Rickey Henderson is the only player in MLB history to have over 1,000 career steals. He finished with 1,406 steals.)
That’s ridiculous 😂
Underrated player - was not flashy, just good
I remember Willie Randolph on Joe Torre’s staff, the players liked him.
Judge again
Freak
Likely won’t happen - but he’s been in the running for this 2 out of the last 3 years. Best players and baseball - by far. And 82 RBI is video game stuff.
It’s insane… Ben Rice looks like a hitter too btw… The rest of the team stinks
Imagine Derek Jeter missing a game because of a new shoe.
That kind of stuff only happens to the Mets… and the Jets
Jets are winning the division this year. Thomas let’s revisit this throughout the season.
I agree, Goody said 14-3 so that should get them the AFC East
7/3 ‘24
Not good
Needs to get better, or they need to bat someone else lead off
Definitely struggling.
Yup
This is the year.
Having a 3-hitter with 83 RBIs and then some random Davis guy hitting cleanup with just a total of 6 RBIs this season is brutal. That’s gotta be a record in RBI discrepancies.
Awful…They knew Stanton wasn’t gonna make it to the All-Star break with no real plan. And depending on Dominguez was a bad idea even if he didn’t get hurt (again).
It’s almost as if after their worst season in 30 years, they should have hired a new GM and manager 🤔
Anthony Volpe needs to be better. Terrible.
Bunt here. Man on 2nd 1 out, Juan Soto is up. If you want to walk him here’s Aaron Judge. Our manager doesn’t think
Agreed, worst possible outcome. They must’ve hoped he hit another one in the gap, but the bunt would’ve guaranteed Soto and Judge in the 9th.
Yanks gonna be awesome after the All-Star Break.
The backyard looks awesome. Hopefully, Boonie can join us to watch a game there with us while he’s in between jobs!
This week’s Critiquing the Critics is pretty straightforward being that it’s American Pie (Vol II). Last year on July 6 was a Critiquing the Critics of the original American Pie. American Pie 2 made over $287.6 million at the Box Office. Thanks to its success, they made a ton more spinoffs of the original 2 films.
If you recall, the first one took place as the main cast were seniors heading to prom. This one took place the summer after their freshman year of college. They rented out a lake house for the summer, worked summer jobs, and then threw a big party at the end. My favorite scene from the movie is right as they’re heading for Lake House at the start of the summer and Finch finds out Stifler is in on the house. The background music for the scene is Sum-41s Fat Lip, it feels perfect for the early 2000s era.
The original cast would go on to film American Wedding and American Reunion. Mckay must’ve written the reunion into existence.
For the original American Pie, Kevin Carr wrote, “It may not have invented the genre, but it did bring that genre to a whole new generation.” I guess he was hoping Stifler would find a steady girlfriend while in college.
Yes, Eric is right, we learned that things change after a year in college, but not really.
Nell, also known as Movie Mom, approved it for the teenage sleepover. That’s a relief.
I’m glad Roger had a good time watching American Pie 2. Nice sophomoric sequel.