Don McLean
Don McLean was sitting on a bed in a gatehouse in Cold Spring, New York when he turned on a tape recorder and the words just came. "Like a genie out of a bottle," he said later. He'd been carrying grief over Buddy Holly's death for years, and it poured into eight minutes and 42 seconds that became the longest song ever to reach number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, holding the top spot for four consecutive weeks in early 1972. A Chicago DJ's syndicated special about the lyrics alone generated over 40,000 listener requests for an explanation.
In our deep dive into American Pie, we trace the song from McLean's years of grief to the recording session that nearly collapsed until a last-minute pianist saved it, and what the lyrics actually mean.
Deep Dives
