The American Pie Blog

Did you write the Book of Love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so

The reference to “The Book of Love” by the Monotones (1958) is pretty obvious. It certainly carries religious overtones (the Gospels … the Book of Mark, The Book of Matthew, etc. and other Old Testament headings). I’ve never heard Don Cornell’s “The Bible Tells Me So” but I was able to learn the song was written by Dale Evans Rogers and inspired by 2 Timothy 3:16 … it has the line, “How do I know … the Bible tells me so.” Don Cornell had a minor hit with the song but McLean may have been more likely to see Cornell on TV with Arthur Godfrey or on Ed Sullivan’s “The Toast of the Town.” Cornell coincidentally grew up in the Bronx near McLean’s home in New Rochelle.

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

Gospel music is one of the three primary roots of rock and roll, and maybe you could speculate that rock and roll was a religion. Frankly, I think the meaning in the first two lines is simpler, with a play on the perception that rock and roll was “the devil’s music” and in opposition to Christian thought. The rest of the lines are like a scene from “American Graffiti” or “Happy Days” which, for the record, did not appear until 1973 and 1974 respectively (well after “American Pie”). The most important part, as any Iona Prep guy would tell you, was the slow dance (I am sure that it was a standard everywhere!). Slow dancing was an art and, for most high school kids, about as close as they got to sex. You could always tell who was in love with whom at the sock hop by the way they danced. The music was, of course, the best. Most early rock hits, especially dance songs, were by black artists or were cover versions by white artists.

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’

Refrain

There’s lots of great imagery here. I think a strong case could be made for “Lonely Teenager” by Dion (Dec. 1960). It could also refer to 1961, the year McLean’s father died. The standard image of teenage guys as “broncin’ bucks” can be a reference to “A White Sport Coat (and a Pink Carnation)” by Marty Robbins. These lines seem to solidify the refrain lines about “them good old boys” down on the levee, and it helps us remember that Holly and Richardson were from Texas. One should remember that there was a great deal of cross-over between early rock with country/western (especially with the influence of rockabilly, tremolo, Elvis, Buddy Holly and others like Marty Robbins). Why was McLean out of luck? Remember: this is poetry and he is using a great literary device called foreshadowing. We’ll find out why he knew he was out of luck.

Also, if we are to view the song as a chronological dream, this verse likely covers McLean’s high school years from September 1959 to June 1963 (and, as the next verse hints, the year 1964 when McLean was away at Villanova).

Go to Verse 3