Don McLean has listened for decades as people belted out his classic song B次元官网网址淎merican PieB次元官网网址� at last call or at karaoke B次元官网网址� and applauds you for the effort.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e heard whole bars burst into this song when IB次元官网网址檝e been across the room,B次元官网网址� McLean tells The Associated Press from a tour bus heading to Des Moines, Iowa. B次元官网网址淎nd theyB次元官网网址檙e so happy singing it that I realized, B次元官网网址榊ou donB次元官网网址檛 really have to worry about how well you sing this song anymore. Even sung badly, people are really happy with it.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

Happy might be a bit of an understatement. B次元官网网址淎merican PieB次元官网网址� is considered a masterpiece, voted among the top five Songs of the Century compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.

McLean B次元官网网址� and his singular tune about B次元官网网址渢he day the music diedB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� are now the subject of a full-length feature documentary, airing Tuesday on Paramount+.

ItB次元官网网址檚 mandatory viewing for McLean fans or anyone who has marveled at his sonic treasure. It also represents an elegant film blueprint for future deep dives into a song and its wider cultural relevance.

For those fans who have wondered about the lyrics they are singing loudly in bars and cars, McLean shares the secrets. B次元官网网址淭hat was the fun of writing the song,B次元官网网址� he tells the AP. B次元官网网址淚 was up at night, smiling and thinking about what IB次元官网网址檓 going to do with this.B次元官网网址�

The documentary starts when a single-engine plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and Jiles P. Richardson, the B次元官网网址淏ig Bopper,B次元官网网址� plunged into a cornfield north of Clear Lake, Iowa, on Feb. 3, 1959, killing the three stars and their pilot.

McLean was 13, living in a suburban, middle class home in New Rochelle, New York, when the crash occurred. He had bronchial asthma, prompting the description of him in B次元官网网址淎merican PieB次元官网网址� as B次元官网网址渁 lonely teenage broncinB次元官网网址� buck.B次元官网网址� The B次元官网网址渟acred storeB次元官网网址� he sings about was the House of Music on Main Street, where he bought records and his first guitar.

Young McLean was a paperboy B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址渆very paper IB次元官网网址檇 deliverB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� and adored Elvis, Gene Vincent, Bo Diddley but especially Holly, whose death deeply affected him. B次元官网网址淚 was in absolute shock. I may have actually cried,B次元官网网址� he says in the film. B次元官网网址淵ou canB次元官网网址檛 intellectualize it. It hurt me.B次元官网网址�

Years later, McLean would plumb that pain in B次元官网网址淎merican Pie,B次元官网网址� baking in his own grief at his fatherB次元官网网址檚 passing and writing an eulogy for the American dream. He was creating his second album in 1971 while the nation was racked by assassinations, anti-war protests and civil right marches. He thought he B次元官网网址渘eeded a big song about America.B次元官网网址� The first verse and melody seemed to just tumble out. B次元官网网址淎 long, long, time agoB次元官网网址�B次元官网网址�

It climaxed in the huge sing-along-chorus: B次元官网网址淲e were singinB次元官网网址�, B次元官网网址楤ye-bye, Miss American pieB次元官网网址�/Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry/Them good old boys were drinkinB次元官网网址� whiskey B次元官网网址榥 rye/And singinB次元官网网址�, B次元官网网址淭hisB次元官网网址檒l be the day that I die.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚 said, B次元官网网址榃ow, that is something. I donB次元官网网址檛 know what it is, but itB次元官网网址檚 exactly what IB次元官网网址檝e been wanting to try to get ahold of B次元官网网址� that feeling about Buddy Holly B次元官网网址� for all these years and that plane crash,B次元官网网址� McLean tells the AP. B次元官网网址淚 always feel a tug inside me whenever I think about Buddy.B次元官网网址�

incorporates news footage of the B次元官网网址�70s and uses actors in recreations. Cameras capture McLean visiting the hallowed Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, the last place Holly and his fellow musicians played before their fatal flight in 1959.

There are interviews with musicians B次元官网网址� Garth Brooks, B次元官网网址淲eird AlB次元官网网址� Yankovich and Brian Wilson, among them B次元官网网址� as well as ValensB次元官网网址� sister, Connie, and actor Peter Gallagher, whose characterB次元官网网址檚 death on B次元官网网址淶oeyB次元官网网址檚 Extraordinary PlaylistB次元官网网址� promoted an onscreen performance of B次元官网网址淎merican Pie.B次元官网网址� The British singer Jade Bird, Cuban-born producer Rudy Perez and Spanish singer Jencarlos Canela speak to how the song has resonated far past America.

The documentary reveals that recording the album was not exactly a smooth process. Producer Ed Freeman was unimpressed with McLeanB次元官网网址檚 clutch of songs and didnB次元官网网址檛 think McLean was up to playing rhythm guitar on B次元官网网址淎merican Pie.B次元官网网址� He eventually relented.

McLean B次元官网网址� along with a few session musicians B次元官网网址� rehearsed for two weeks without nailing the song, getting increasingly frustrated. The addition of pianist Paul Griffin at the last minute was a B次元官网网址淗ail MaryB次元官网网址� stroke of genius that made the whole tune click.

But recording the song was just the beginning of trouble ahead. At over 8 minutes, radio stations balked at playing it, and McLeanB次元官网网址檚 record label, Media Arts, went bust just as it was to release the album B次元官网网址淎merican Pie.B次元官网网址�

After seeing the documentary, McLean was struck by a common strand in his career: B次元官网网址淲hat I noticed was that I had to fight so many battles to get this thing done, to get everything. IB次元官网网址檝e been fighting everybody my whole life,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 not difficult. I just want things the way I want them.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淎merican PieB次元官网网址� is packed with cultural references, from Chevrolet to nursey rhymes, while namechecking The Byrds, John Lennon, Charles Manson and James Dean. The lyrics B次元官网网址� dreamlike and impressionistic B次元官网网址� have been pored over for decades, dissected for meaning.

The documentary answers some questions, but not all. McLean reveals that his oblique references to a king and a jester have nothing to do with Elvis or Bob Dylan, but heB次元官网网址檚 open to other interpretations. He explains that the B次元官网网址渕arching bandB次元官网网址� means the military-industrial complex and B次元官网网址渟weet perfumeB次元官网网址� is tear gas.

The line in the chorus B次元官网网址淭hisB次元官网网址檒l be the day that I dieB次元官网网址� comes from the John Wayne film B次元官网网址淭he SearchersB次元官网网址� and the farewell is a riff off B次元官网网址淏ye Bye, My Roseanna,B次元官网网址� a song his friend Pete Seeger sang. McLean was going to use B次元官网网址淢iss American apple pieB次元官网网址� but dropped the fruit.

The end of the song asks for B次元官网网址渉appy newsB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� an echo of the first verse B次元官网网址� but there is none. The three men McLean admires most B次元官网网址� the Father, Son and Holy Ghost B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址渃aught the last train for the coast,B次元官网网址� meaning Los Angeles. B次元官网网址淓ven god has been corrupted,B次元官网网址� McLean says in the film.

B次元官网网址淗e was glad to open up because he and his manager thought it was the time to do it and this was the platform to do it in,B次元官网网址� says music producer and songwriter Spencer Proffer, CEO of media production company Meteor 17, which helped make the film. B次元官网网址淢y hatB次元官网网址檚 off to Don for writing something this magnificent. My job was to bring it to life.B次元官网网址�

For McLean, the song is a blueprint of his mind at the time and a homage to his musical influences, but also a roadmap for future students of history:

B次元官网网址淚f it starts young people thinking about Buddy Holly, about rock B次元官网网址榥B次元官网网址� roll and that music, and then it teaches them maybe about what else happened in the country, maybe look at a little history, maybe ask why John Kennedy was shot and who did it, maybe ask why all our leaders were shot in the 1960s and who did it, maybe start to look at war and the stupidity of it B次元官网网址� if that can happen, then the song really is serving a wonderful purpose and a positive purpose.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擬ark Kennedy, The Associated Press