Don Mcleans "American Pie". My new interpretation.

I've just listened to his ballad in todays new environment, and these thoughts just filled themselves in, as though the song were written for them.

I'm sorry for the length of this, but I've got to get it off my chest.

"American Pie", Don Mclean

A long, long time ago
I remember how the 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 awhile

I recall the hope of the Clinton Era, with an improved economy, a lifting of deficits, the possibility of budget surpluses.

But February made me shiver
with every paper I'd deliver
bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step

I recall how, after the 2000 election, I realized the bad direction my nation was turning, and how something must be done to halt that turn.

And I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride

I didn't like the Lewinski affair, but it just wasn't impeachable, imho.

But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died

The day the music died, for me, was the 2000 elections.

So Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie,
Drove My chevy to the levy, but the levy was dry.
Them good ole boys are drinking whiskey and rye,
singing This'll be the day that I die

Goodbye to the nation of the United States of America, as imagined by our forefathers. Ignorance and bigotry celebrates your death.

Did you write the book of love,
and do you have faith in God above,
Because the Bible tells you so?

To you who celebrate the 2000 and 2004 elections, do you do so for religious reasons? When Bush misleads us to war, inspite of "Thou shall not kill" and Jesus's "turn the other cheek"?

And do you believe in Rock and Roll,
can music save your mortal soul?
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

And you, beating the drumbeat of war, don't you see the costs, monetary and in human lives? Don't you see how this hardens our hearts, and deprives us of international support?

And I know that you're in love with him,
'cause I saw you dancing in the gym,
you both kicked off you shoes
and I dig those rhythm and blues.
I was a lonely teenaged broncin' buck
with a pink carnation and a pick-up truck
but I knew that I was out of luck
the day the music died

And you who fight against gay marriage, overly concerned over who dances with who, don't you see how this denial of gay rights is just the first step towards this administrations final solution?

I started singing, Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie,
Drove My chevy to the levy, but the levy was dry.
Them good ole boys are drinking whiskey and rye,
singing This'll be the day that I die.

For 10 years we were on our own
and moss grows fat on a rolling stone
but that's not how it used to be

We got complacent during the Clinton years.

The jester danced for the king and queen
in a coat he borrowed from James Dean
and a voice that came from you and me

Bush came along, dressed like a"compassionate conservative" and claiming to be a man of the people.

And as the king was looking down
the jester stole his thorny crown
the court room was adjourned
no verdict was returned

He stole an election by halting Floridas vote recounts.

as Lenin read a book on Marx
the quartet practiced in the park
and we sang dirges in the dark
the day the music died

He pointed at his opposition as a few troubled America haters, while a vast groundswell of protests were minimized by media controlled by Right Wing corporations.

And we were singing, Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie,
Drove My chevy to the levy, but the levy was dry.
Them good ole boys are drinking whiskey and rye,
singing This'll be the day that I die.

Helter skelter in the summer swelter
Birds flew off with the fallout shelter
8 miles high and falling fast

Terrorists destroy the World Trade Center on 9/11.

and landed, foul, on the grass
the players tried for a forward pass
with the Jester on the sidelines in a cast

US citizens united to strike back, Bush (the jester) acted surprised, despite warnings such as the August 9th PDB.

We all supported the counter attack on Afghanistan, and the world supported us.

the half-time air was sweet perfume
the sergeants played a marching tune
and we all got up to dance

After kicking out the Taliban we seemed to be emerging from chaos.

but we never got the chance
The players tried to take the field
the marching band refused to yield

But then we went to war against Iraq.

do you recall what was revealed
the day the music died?

Do you recall who hit us on 9/11? Do you recall? (Hint: It wasn't Iraq.)

We were also told Iraq had WMDS, but we later found that had been a lie.

And we were all in one place
a generation lost in space

We couldn't stop the Iraq war. We were spinning from one debacle to another, with no time to focus and correct ANY of it.

with no time left to start again

We couldn't even get people concerned over the problems with electronic voting in time to correct it's ills before the next election.

Jack be nimble, Jack be quick

Kerry came forward to contest Bush for the presidency.

Jack Flash sat on a candle stick
Cause the fire is the devil's only friend

He faced a firestorm of personal attacks, castigations and questions regarding the worth of his military service, from those with no service record at all. Since they couldn't stand on their own record, they HAD to attack Kerry's.

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 through it all, the media supports Bush, both subtly and openly.

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

The Election, dirtier than ever, concludes in a Bush win, proclaimed by the media as legitimate, but with lots of ignored evidence of fraud across the nation.

I met a girl who sang the blues
and I asked her for some happy news
she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
where I heard the music years before
but the Man there said the music wouldn't play
And in the streets the children screamed,
the lovers cried and the poets dreamed

On November 3rd, Kerry conceeds. Hopes for a renewed American dream fall apart. Liberals react.

But not a word was spoken

Amidst it all, the media ignores a vast array of right wing election frauds.

the Church bells all were broken.

Looking closer, I see a few signs that even some Right Wing shills are concerned. With the election won, some right wingers are waking up to what another 4 years of a Bush administration might be like, and it's not pretty. They begin to wonder, too late, if maybe they've misunderstood just what kind of leadership they've been supporting.

Yet most of them say nothing.

And the three men I admire most
the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost

Uncle Sam as our Nation embodied;
A soldier representing the active defenders of our nation;
And the common american citizen;

they caught the last train for the coast
the day the music died.

All walk into history, for their nation, and our dreams, have died.

And we were singing, Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie,
Drove My chevy to the levy, but the levy was dry.
Them good ole boys are drinking whiskey and rye,
singing This'll be the day that I die.

Thanks to anyone who bothered to read all that.

I'll never hear it the same way again. Maybe I'm mental over all this, but those meanings just fell into place as I listened to it.

Thanks again.

:toast: to the nation that was.

Thank you.

I have my own interpretation of this song, but your version is dead-on at this point in time.

my my how democracy died
pushed the button for kerry but it just didn't fly
and the good ol boys spouting kool-aid and lies
saying this is the day iraq dies