Don McLean

Donald "Don" McLean III (born 2 October 1945) is an American singer-songwriter most famous for his 1971 songs "American Pie" and "Vincent".

• As you can imagine, over the years I have been asked many times to discuss and explain my song "American Pie" I have never discussed the lyrics, but have admitted to the Holly reference in the opening stanzas. You will find many interpretations of my lyrics but none of them by me. … Sorry to leave you all on your own like this but long ago I realized that songwriters should make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence.
  • As quoted in "What is Don McLean's song 'American Pie' all about?" at The Straight Dope (15 May 1993)

• In light of the recent events in Texas, I have decided it would be disrespectful and hurtful for me to perform for the NRA at their convention in Houston this week. I’m sure all the folks planning to attend this event are shocked and sickened by these events as well. After all, we are all Americans. I share the sorrow for this terrible, cruel loss with the rest of the nation.
  • Quoted in "Musicians cancel performances at upcoming NRA convention in wake of Uvalde shooting", by Cheri Mossburg, CNN (26 May 2022)

• And if she asks you why,
  You can tell her that I told you
  That I'm tired of castles in the air.
  I've got a dream I want the world to share,
  And castle walls just lead me to despair.

  Hills of forest green where the mountains touch the sky,
  A dream come true, I'll live there till I die.
  I'm asking you to say my last goodbye.
  The love we knew ain't worth another try.

  • "Castles in the Air"

• Every thread of creation is held in position
  By still other strands of things living.
  In an earthly tapestry hung from the skyline
  Of smouldering cities so gray and so vulgar,
  As not to be satisfied with their own negativity
  But needing to touch all the living as well.
  • "Tapestry"

• And I love you so
  The people ask me how
  How I've lived till now
  I tell them I don't know.

  I guess they understand
  How lonely life has been
  But life began again
  The day you took my hand.

  • "And I Love You So"

• A long long time ago
  I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
  And I knew if I had my chance
  That I could make those people dance
  And maybe they'd be happy for a while.
  But February made me shiver
  With every paper I'd deliver
  Bad news on the doorstep
  I couldn't take one more step
  I can't remember if I cried
  When I read about his widowed bride
  But something touched me deep inside
  The Day the Music Died.

• Do you recall what was revealed
  The day the music died?

• So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
  Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
  'Cause fire is the Devil's only friend
  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
  And as the flames climbed high into the night
  To light the sacrificial rite
  I saw Satan laughing with delight
  The day the music died.

• 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
  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 the Holy Ghost
  They caught the last train for the coast
  The day the music died.

A song inspired by Vincent van Gogh and his painting The Starry Night - YouTube video

• Starry starry night,
  Paint your palette blue and grey
  Look out on a summer's day with eyes that know the darkness in my soul…

• Now I understand what you tried to say to me
  How you suffered for your sanity
  How you tried to set them free
  They would not listen —
  They did not know how,
  Perhaps they'll listen now.

• Weathered faces lined in pain
  Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand.
  For they could not love you,
  But still your love was true
  And when no hope was left in sight, on that starry starry night
  You took your life as lovers often do,
  But I could have told you, Vincent,
  This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you.

• Now I think I know what you tried to say to me
  How you suffered for your sanity
  How you tried to set them free
  They would not listen
  They're not listening still...
  Perhaps they never will...

• I feel like a spinning top or a Dreidel
  The spinning don't stop when you leave the cradle
  You just slow down
  Round and around this world you go
  Spinning through the lives of the people you know
  We all slow down.
  • Dreidel

• No days you can borrow, no time you can buy.
  No trust in tomorrow. It's a lie.
  • Dreidel

• Faces come and faces go in circular rotation.
  But something yearns within to grow beyond infatuation.
  • If We Try

• Wonderful baby, nothin' to fear.
  Love whom you will, but doubt what you hear.
  They'll whisper sweet things to make untrue.
  So be good to yourself, that's all you can do.

  You're a wonderful baby livin' on love
  The sandman says maybe he'll take you above,
  Up where the girls fly on ribbons and bows,
  Where babies float by, just counting their toes.

  • Wonderful Baby

• The Official Web Site of Don McLean and American Pie
• Allmusic Entry
• A video explanation of American Pie on YouTube