05 American Pie by Don McLean: Verse 4
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This article is from the The Annotated American Pie FAQ, by Rich Kulawiec rsk@gsp.org with numerous contributions by others.
05 American Pie by Don McLean: Verse 4
Helter Skelter in a summer swelter
"Helter Skelter" is a Beatles song which appears on the "white"
album. Charles Manson, claiming to have been "inspired" by the
song (through which he thought God and/or the devil were taking
to him) led his followers in the Tate-LaBianca murders.
Is "summer swelter" a reference to the "Summer of
Love" or perhaps to the "long hot summer" of Watts?
The birds flew off with the fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
The Byrd's "Eight Miles High" was on their late 1966 release
"Fifth Dimension". It was one of the first records to be widely
banned because of supposedly drug-oriented lyrics.
It landed foul on the grass
One of the Byrds was busted for possesion of marijuana.
The players tried for a forward pass
Obviously a football metaphor, but about what? It could be
the Rolling Stones, i.e. they were waiting for an opening which
really didn't happen until the Beatles broke up.
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast
On July 29, 1966, Dylan crashed his Triumph 55 motorcycle while
riding near his home in Woodstock, New York. He spent nine months
in seclusion while recuperating from the accident.
Now the halftime air was sweet perfume
Drugs, man.
Well, now, wait a minute; that's probably too obvious. It's possible
that this line and the next few refer to the 1968 Democratic National
Convention. The "sweet perfume" is probably tear gas.
While sergeants played a marching tune
Following from the thought above, the sergeants would be the Chicago
Police and the Illinois National Guard, who marched the protestors
out of the park and into jail.
Alternatively, this could refer to the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's
Lonely Hearts Club Band". Or, perhaps McLean refers to the
Beatles' music in general as "marching" because it's not music
for dancing. Or, finally, the "marching tune" could be the draft.
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance
The Beatles' 1966 Candlestick Park concert only lasted 35 minutes.
Or, following on from the previous comment, perhaps
he meant that there wasn't any music to dance to.
'Cause the players tried to take the field,
The marching band refused to yield.
Some folks think this refers to either the 1968 Deomcratic Convention
or Kent State; following on from the Chicago reference above,
this could be another comment on protests. But perhaps the players
are the protestors at Kent State, and the marching band the
Ohio National Guard...
This could be a reference to the dominance of the Beatles on the rock
and roll scene. For instance, the Beach Boys released "Pet Sounds"
in 1966 -- an album which featured some of the same sort of studio
and electronic experimentation as "Sgt. Pepper" (1967) -- but the album
sold poorly.
This might also be a comment about how the dominance of the Beatles
in the rock world led to more "pop art" music, leading in turn
to a dearth of traditional rock and roll.
Or finally, this might be a comment which follows up on the earlier
reference to the draft: the government/military-industrial-complex
establishment refused to accede to the demands of the peace movement.
Do you recall what was revealed,
The day the music died?
We started singing
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