I was Mama's American Pie.
Long before I could understand the lyrics, the song 'American Pie' was meaningful to me. My mother would sing it to me, put the tape on in the car or put the record on at home and sing it to me. All three of us, my sister, my mother and I would belt out "bye, bye Miss American pie. Drove the Chevy to the levy till the levy was dry. The good old boys were drinking whisky and wine saying 'this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I day that that I die.' And we would dance too! We would rock the car, or jump around the living room and have a blast.
But I didn't really know what the song meant as a song, nor did I understand the power of the metaphor. I still don't know how well I understand the song lyrics but I am beginning to appreciate what it means to be Mama's Miss American Pie. As I get to know America better, I hope to discover more about myself. Perhaps then I will deserve the title of Miss American Pie.
What do you think, Ma?
2 comments:
That song is really about the history of American Rock and Roll! Don McLean was inspired by the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly and 2 other rock and roll greats, thus it was "the day the music died". How interesting that is because you too are thinking about your own history, or in this case, "the day the music begins!" - and therefore Tish when she rocks and rolls!
I like this, Ma! I like it a lot, the subtleties and parallelisms. And yes, these are indeed the days that the music begins.
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