The American Pie Blog

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
If we follow the idea that this poem has some built-in chronology, this would obviously take us to October 4, 1970, and the death of Janis Joplin. Over the years, I have never come across any other alternative interpretations of this line, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any. It doesn’t have to be Janis Joplin … “the girl” could just symbolize America’s youth.

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

What is the sacred store? Here is the answer: until about 1970 or 1971, Frank’s Music Store was located on North Avenue in New Rochelle, across from Iona College and near where Iona Prep was located until its new campus was completed in 1969. My wife, her family and I cannot remember exactly when Frank’s closed, but it was somewhere in the early 1970’s because of competition from the New Rochelle Mall (now New Roc City). The reason the music wouldn’t play was because the “Oldies” had long disappeared from the shelves in Frank’s and would not return. This was the store where a young Don McLean likely bought his first records (45’s, 33’s and maybe even some 78’s) … by 1970, 78’s had all but disappeared into the shelves of collectors, and finding a hew “hi-fi” or “stereo” that could play a 78 would be difficult. In all likelihood, I think this is a reference to the store’s closure and the man couldn’t say where the “music” went.

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

To me, there is only one interpretation of these lines … following our chronological approach, we are talking about the Kent State Shootings on May 4, 1970. Children (the students) screamed, lovers cried (friends and lovers of those who were killed or wounded) and poets dreamed (i.e., Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young with “Ohio”). There is the famous picture of Mary Ann Vecchio, mouth open and screaming (obviously you can’t hear her), kneeling over the body of Jeffrey Miller, who had been shot through the mouth. (Not a word was spoken … and the protest never came off) The protest escalated on Sunday, May 3, with the arrival of the National Guard on campus, and the protest that led to the shooting on Monday, May 4, began with the ringing of the school’s victory bell (the church bells all were broken). As badly as 1969 ended, this was truly a low in our history (tin soldiers and Nixon coming, we’re finally on our own … reminiscent of “for ten years we’ve been on our own” from Verse 3).

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
And they were singin’

Refrain (twice — slowly)

I’ve seen many interpretations for The Father, Son and Holy Ghost as it relates to this poem, but I’m going to be a simple, Catholic, Iona Prep boy here and think Don McLean did the same thing. The Father, Son and Holy Ghost are not symbols but a reference to the Catholic Holy Trinity. Remember, much of the song stems from the initial premise of rock and roll as the devil’s music, ending with Satan’s ritualistic performance at Altamont in 1969. We can infer that Altamont itself was the end result of the loss of rock and roll’s innocence with the death of Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens. One must also understand the fall from grace of rockers like Elvis (army, then movies), Little Richard (became a minister after almost dying in a plane crash), Jerry Lee Lewis (married his 14-year-old cousin), Sam Cooke (shot to death), Chuck Berry (jail), Eddie Cochran (death) and The Everly Brothers (Don’s drug addiction). There was also the Payola scandal that took down rock and roll deejay Alan Freed in 1960.

It seems that “the day the music died” triggered a series of events that, for good and bad, brings us to McLean’s day of reckoning in “American Pie.” The only place where rock and roll seemed to flourish was in California with the surf music (The Beach Boys, Jan and Dean), folk rock (LA-based Mamas and Papas and The Byrds), San Francisco Groups (Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, The Steve Miller Band, Country Joe and the Fish), and others who found a home on the West Coast (The Doors, Janis Joplin, and more).

Had the Holy Trinity headed west to California, knowing that was the future of rock? Apparently they did, and they left on February 3, 1959. It was the end of Miss American Pie.