American Pie Summary

"American Pie" starts out addressing McLean love for music in the 50's. During the 50's, music was a tool for getting people off their feet and on to the dance floors. "And I knew if I had my chance, that I could make those people dance, and maybe they'd be happy for a while" (McLean). This verse symbolizes why he loves to create and perform for his fans. McLean then goes on to mention his mentor Buddy Holly. "But February made me shiver. With every paper, I'd deliver. Shocking 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" (McLean). Buddy Holly died on February 3, 1959, in a plane crash. There are two theories on why the song was called "American Pie." It was rumored, "American Pie" was the name of the plane that took Buddy Holly life. Also, someone refers it to a symbol of the beauty queen Miss America (Morgan). Mclean remembered the paper boy delivering the morning paper and there on the front page, was the story of the death of Buddy Holly. At the time Holly's wife was pregnant and soon had a miscarriage afterward. McLean, he says he can't remember if he cried in the moment or not. All this was in the first few verses in "American Pie." McLean incorporated these lines of imagery to help the listener picture his past emotional experiences. I believe McLean wanted to paint a picture for his audience could relate to. During these times it was tough for McLean. Not only did Buddy Holly die but also rock star legends Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper. For McLean music died for him and the rest of the world.

2. Is the intent of this song to promote or protest the Vietnam War? Why?

The song American Pie is a representation of loss during the transition into the 1970s. It was written in 1971 by Don McLean and filled with his views on the state of society, political changes, and cultural changes. The cultural changes and the loss of everything society knew produced the lost generation that McLean was apart of. He demonstrated his disapproval of the direction of the country by using music, faith, and war as examples of the changes and loss his generation faced.

The song centres around the warfare associated with change “battle outside And it is ragin’”. The imagery used reflects the society the song was written in and the ideals of a society that was focused solely on war during that era (the 1960s). It also displays the different attitudes that generations have towards change and the warfare that can occur from this. Authoritarian figures “Senators, Congressman...Mothers and fathers” are used to demonstrate the conflict between the older and younger generations. “Don’t stand in the doorway Don’t block up the hall” shows how the older generations, may try to prevent

There have been many people, known as artists, who have tried to change the world through their art. “Art” can be paintings, music, dances, sculptures, literature, or photography. There are many ways to communicate and express ones feelings but The Beatles did it through their popular music. Although they didn’t focus on changing the world of politics or try to protest through their music they have songs that focus on those exact two things.

The 1960’s was one of the most controversial decades in American history because of not only the Vietnam War, but there was an outbreak of protests involving civil and social conditions all across college campuses. These protests have been taken to the extent where people either have died or have been seriously injured. However, during the 1960’s, America saw a popular form of art known as protest music, which responded to the social turmoil of that era, from the civil rights movement to the war in Vietnam. A veritable pantheon of musicians, such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan sang their songs to encourage union organizers to protest the inequities of their time, creating a diverse variety of popular

Dylan’s most famous protest song is “Blown’ in the Wind”. It became the anthem for the civil rights movement in America during the 1960s, and as result Dylan was viewed as the spiritual leader of the civil rights movement. “Blown’ in the Wind” became very popular among the American people because the lyrics of the song could be applied to any situation as the lyrics were all about humanity learning from its mistakes and a call for freedom. “Only a Pawn in Their Game” was Dylan’s most offensive protest song that he wrote, and it was first performed at a civil rights rally in Greenwood, Mississippi. This song was about a civil rights activist who was murdered by “just a poor dumb

In chapter two of The Cultures of American Film, the main focus is the establishment of studios. As demand for films rose in the early 1900’s, production companies needed to expand; this lead to the creation of large scale studios.

Modernism was a 20th-century literary movement that depicted a period of uncertainty and disillusion in the United States. The literary movement was marked by various culture shock caused by events such as both World Wars and the Vietnam War. Because of such shock, American culture and societal values changed as society began to focus more on the self and forgo the traditional Victorian values and virtues of the preceding Romantic era. During this movement, writer sought to write in a way that better suited the modern world and thus chose to focus on the decay of values and growing alienation of the individual. Writers and poets began using techniques such as streams of consciousness and writing with a sense of ambiguity. There was also the poetic movement, imagism during the Modernism era where poets became increasingly concerned with presenting a simple, clear image to their readers. Due to his use of modernist techniques and poetic devices such as the adoption of the stream of consciousness writing style, the use imagery, allusions, and symbolism, Don McLean’s song, “American Pie,” can be considered a work of modernist poetry. By way of his literary techniques and poetic devices, McLean is able to take his listeners through a pivotal decade in American history in just eight and a half minutes; however, it is what makes his lyrics a song that helps build “American Pie’s” tone and further develop the theme of a generation’s early loss of innocence, culture, and values that

The film Forrest Gump uses a lot of information and historical events and expresses them using aesthetic techniques such as sound, cinematography, editing, etc. The director Robert Zemeckis uses form to explain the overall meaning of the film specifically with symbolism from popular phrases and gives visual examples throughout the story.

Essentially, the late 1960s and early 1970s are an in between stage for America, where people were exploring the many options in their lives. The release of “American Pie” in 1971 was a landmark in pop music history because the song was eight minutes and thirty-two seconds long. Later, it was divided up into two parts and then turned into the version that is known today (www.don-mclean.com). Now that the time period that surrounded the release of “American Pie” is established it is easier to understand the song because it can be read more in context.

In a broader context, protest musicians composed songs about student protests in which they firmly sided with the protesters, supporting their actions and condemning those trying to stop the protests. (OnlyEverArabella, n.d.). The ideas were expressed in music as it served as a form of publicity and promotion for the counterculture community during this era. The government continuously tried to prevent media coverage about these movements but their music simply spoke the

After listening to the song, I can automatically tell what the message of the song is that Lennon is portraying, and that is world peace. Lennon does an amazing job establishing his credibility in this song, thus creating credibility within his audience, credibility is part of Ethos. Throughout his musical career right up until his death in 1980, Lennon was heavily involved in peace activities. During his musical career he was part of the world famous Beatles, and this gained him world fame and allowed for his messages to be heard across the world. Lennon created even more Ethos for himself in a controversial album, where he posed naked with his wife, Yoko Ono, in there bed. This showed his fan base and the world that he was truly devoted to peace and love. Without his famous involvement in the Beatles, Lennon would never have gained his spotlight in the world allowing for his messages of peace and love to be heard. His ethos was within his people, not where he got his ideas. Lennon felt what the world felt, and thus his credibility.

Satan is proven to be a tricky and clever character in most stories that he is talked about in. Even in the movie “Devil’s Advocate. The movie was good with a great amount of suspense, and kind of gives a real outlook of the Satan and how he works. The movie is about Satan and sin. The point of the movie and the poem was not to glorify sin but exposes it and all the devious things the devil would do or has done. But it also shows the consequences of sin. Just like “Paradise Lost” The “Devil’s Advocate” shows Satan is filled with vanity, greed, and lust who is a great deceiver and knows how to twists words and meanings. The movie is a modern re-interpretation of the poem, I also think it is pretty cool that the Devil in the film is name John Milton.

This poem kind of reminds me of Hitler and the Germans in World War II. The Germans was inspired by Hitler motivational speeches and believed in his vision just as the fallen angels believed in Satan’s vision. I made this comparison because a lot of people believe in order to be a hero you have to be fighting for the greater good. That’s not necessarily true. Just because one may not agree with you doesn’t mean you’re not a hero in others eyes. No matter what’s your goal if you have any followers you can be considered a hero because someone admires you and look up to you. The falling angels admired Satan rebelliousness and they looked up to him because they all had a common goal, but he took charge and was the aggressor to lead the