Don Mclean - American Pie

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Music reviews of American Pie

Music Review: American Pie + +
Rating: 5 Stars

Every song on this CD is superb and different from its companions. The epic "American Pie" has won its due share of recognition and elicited perhaps too much commentary. The intense and poetic "Vincent", known to many as "Starry Starry Night" has rightly had its share of praise, and has been covered by Chet Atkins, Julio Iglesias, and lately Josh Groban.

However, not enough credit has been given to the other songs on this album, which range in mood from the bleak poignancy of "Empty Chairs" to the playful audacity of "Everybody Loves Me, Baby". Many a fan who became 'hooked' on McLean in their youth has spoken of identifying with the feelings in some of the songs, especially the youthful turmoil expressed in "Till Tomorrow" and "Crossroads" and the tender idealisation of the beloved in "Winterwood". The pathos of a young soldier killed in battle (reminiscent of the poems of Wilfred Owen) is captured in "The Grave", which George Michael recently covered as his protest against the war on Iraq. "Babylon", the only song not by McLean in this album, was arranged with Lee Hays of the Weavers, with words from a biblical psalm. It is captivatingly sung in parts to the accompaniment of a banjo. The last of the original ten songs, "Sister Fatima", about a spiritual healer in New York city, has a unique semi-playful charm.

Something that needs to be said about the lyrics of most of the songs here is the amount of sheer poetry they contain. This is also true of those of the bonus songs, "Mother Nature" and "Aftermath". The first, which McLean refers to as a teenage song , may not be as polished as the other love-songs in this album, but interesting in its expression of the young singer's helplessness against the hold that Mother Nature (his libido/hormones) has on him. Its primal refrain of "I want her so ba-a-d!!" is an unsublimated version of the Beatles' "I want to hold your hand", but there are more poetic descriptions of the object of his desire, like "Her beauty falls upon me in a fragrant spring-time spell". "Aftermath" the last song in the reissued album, is fascinating not just for the enigma of its meaning, but for what McLean calls its "atonal chords". The sounds seem to come from the depths of a cave, a cell, an isolated consciousness.

With all the variety and wealth in the songs, this CD is certainly worth buying. Add to those the liner notes with an introduction by Paul Grein, the McLean quotes for each of the songs, the lyrics, the McLean poem "So Long Hopalong Cassidy" (included in the inner sleeve of the original LP), and the pictures -- the whole thing becomes an attractive and historically significant package.

Description of American Pie

Folk CDs

• Music > Styles
• Pop
• Rock