A long, long time ago,
The song was written about 10 years after Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper died in a plane crash

I can still remember how
that music used to make me smile.
relating to Buddy Holly's music

And I knew if I had my chance
that I could make those people dance,
and maybe they'd be happy for a while.
this tells about the lack of good music after Holly's death

But February made me shiver
with every paper I'd deliver.
They died in February and McLean was a paperboy at the time

Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step.
McLean hated reading about the trio's death (as did everyone else)

I can't remember if I cried
when I read about his widowed bride,
more reading about the trio's death and who they left behind

but something touched me deep inside
the day the music died.
The day the music died is when the trio died

Chorus:
So, bye-bye, Miss American Pie
The plane that went down was the American Pie

drove my chevy to the levee
but the levee was dry,
and them good old boys were
drinkin' whiskey in Rye
singin' this'll be the day that I die,
this'll be the day that I die
this is a very misheard lyric..Rye is a city in New York. "The Levee" is believed to be a bar that closed down. When this happened, the "good ol' boys" fled to drink in Rye where together they mourned the deaths of the trio

Did you write the Book of Love,
and do you have faith in God above
if the Bible tells you so?
this is Mclean questioning the trio's post-mortem destinywent when they died

Do you believe in rock 'n roll?
Can music save your mortal soul?
McLean is questioning the integrity of music and it's worth after the plane crash
 

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.

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.
These 2 verses tell about what McLean was doing the night of the crash..he is simply reminiscing. There is nothing more to it!

(Chorus)

Now for ten years we've been on our own
the trio crashed 10 years before the song was written

and moss grows fat on a rollin' stone.
The Rolling Stones were on the horizon

But that's not how it used to be
when the jester sang for the King and Queen
The jester is Holly(though a strong case can be made for Bob Dylan, but I am not convinced), but before he made it big

 in a coat he borrowed from James Dean.
Holly was poor as a youngster

And a voice that came from you and me.
Holly's music had many opinions in it

Oh  and while the King was looking down
the jester stole his thorny crown.
This tells how the jester(Holly) made it big, almost overnight

The courtroom was adjourned,
 no verdict was returned.
It was unsure if Holly was here to stay in the early days

And while Lennon read a book of Marx,
this tells how John Lennon too was on the horizon, but couldn't make it big while Holly, Valens and the Big Bopper were still on the scene

the quartet practiced in the park.
This refers to the Lennon and the Beatles again...it tells how they hadn't hit it big yet

And we sang dirges in the dark
referring to the sadness that the trio's death caused

the day the music died.
See above

(Chorus)
 

Helter Skelter in a summer swelter
the Byrds flew off with a fallout shelter,
eight miles high and falling fast.
It landed foul out on the grass
the players tried for a forward pass
with the jester on the sidelines in a cast.
This tells how new bands like the Beatles were emerging while Holly was "on the sidelined in a cast"(dead)
 

Now the half-time air was sweet perfume,
while the Sergeants played a marching tune
we all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance,
after Holly, there wasn't much danceable music left

'cause the players tried to take the field
But the marching band refused to yield.
the players being new rock n roll bands
and the marching band being all those mourning the trio, too caught up to try something new like rock n roll

Do you recall what was revealed
the day the music died?
What was revealed was that without Holly, Mclean thought that music in general was worse

  (Chorus)

Oh, and there we were all in one place
a generation lost in space,
"lost in space" refers to a generation with no good music

with no time left to start again.
referring to the fact that it will take quite some time to overcome

So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
'cause fire is the Devil's only friend.
The plane that crashed caught on fire. It was later discovered that Holly died from the fire

These next two verses can be taken quite literally:
Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
my hands were clenched in fists of rage.
No angel born in hell
could break that Satan's spell,
Mclean probably predicted that the 3 would die on that plane

and as the flames climbed high into the night
to light the sacrifical rite,
I saw Satan laughing with delight
the day the music died.
This says that it was an evil day, the day the music died

(Chorus)

I met a girl who sang the blues
and I asked her for some happy news,
but she just smiled and turned away.
I went down to the sacred store
where I'd heard the music years before,
but the man there said the music woudn't play.
And in the streets the children screamed,
This is about all the people who greived after the crash

the lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.
this was a great chance for poets

But not a word was spoken,
the church bells all were broken.
more talking about the sadness of their deaths

And the three men I admire most,
The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost,
Holly, Big Bopper and Richie Valens

they caught the last train for the coast
they died

the day the music died.

(Chorus X2)

Any comments or criticism is appreciated at: mikemorrice@rogers.com

-Mike Morrice