That’ll Be The Day
In 2022, a documentary entitled The Day the Music Died appeared in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Don McLean’s iconic song “American Pie.” The documentary explores the tragic events that gave rise to the song, events that took place on a cold night in February 1959 when Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and Jiles Perry Richardson (better known as The Big Bopper) lost their lives in a plane crash following a concert in Clear Lake, Iowa. The documentary also presents the life of Don McLean, a life forever altered by the success of “American Pie,” as well as the life of the song itself, which has stood the proverbial test of time and has been covered by a remarkable range of performers over many years.
For those of us of a certain age, “American Pie” – with its enigmatic lyrics and highly singable chorus – served as a kind of nostalgic portal to an earlier era, a time when rock ‘n’ roll was still in its early days. Depending on one’s interpretation of the verses, “American Pie” also takes us through the touchstones and turbulence of the 1960s — Elvis, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, and Janis Joplin, among other performers, as well the political assassinations and the Kent State shootings. Though portions of “American Pie” come across as upbeat and playful, the overall tenor of the composition is decidedly elegiac.
The quote by Mark Kennedy appeared in an AP article he wrote after interviewing Don McLean. Taking our cue from the song itself, we included in this week’s acrostic a variety of references to people, places, and things encompassed by the lyrics of “American Pie” or that the song otherwise brings to mind. How many did you spot?
As Mark Kennedy’s quote points out, folks have dissected the lyrics of “American Pie” again and again. Here’s one compelling presentation of what it all means:
So much fun!
I esteem this puzzle to the max. It touched me where my authentic self resides. There were no unwelcome tidings on the target for my paper deliverer. Not so singable that way lol
I had trouble getting a toehold into this puzzle due to some incorrect guesses (“driveway,” “mooch,” and “Faldo” for DOORSTEP, LEECH, and O’HERN), along with a few unfamiliar entries (NEPHELINE, YELICH, and KAN JAM). But once I had dropped in enough letters to come up with the first two words of the quote along with JOHN LENNON and JAMES DEAN, I was able to (slowly) arrive at the full quotation. Figuring out a couple of the longer words (NAMECHECKING, IMPRESSIONISTIC) added to the challenge.
Also just wanted to mention “Vincent” – another of Don McLean’s greatest hits, with a lovely melody and moving lyrics. Here he is performing it:
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wrNFDxCRzU
One of the pleasures I get from this puzzle is learning new words (well, new to me). This week’s favorite is “ephemera”. I had heard the word, but had no clue what it meant. After doing the puzzle, I looked up the word to find more examples. One is comic books from the old days. That reminded me of my mother throwing away my comic book collection when I left for college. That’s why I had to work for a living rather than living off the profits from sales to collectors. My sons have learned from my sad tale and are holding on to their ephemera.
Very touching photo montage to accompany the song.
Hard to believe The Stones survived the debacle that was Altamont.
Great Acrostic.
What a wonderful video! Thanks for posting it, and thanks for the fun acrostic…Always good to be reminded of that great American touchstone!
Wonderful puzzle and quotation – as usual.
For me, at least, this was the most challenging acrostic in at least a year.
I started with supreme overconfidence, seeing that it was probably going to be about rock music. No problemo.
But I was led astray almost immediately, confidently putting in “mooch” instead of “leech” and “Faldo”, instead of “O’hern,” as the golfer with the first name “Nick.” (As you no doubt know, here are two actually famous golfers named Nick with six letter last names: Faldo and Price. Between them, they have eight major tournament titles. Mr. O’Hern may be kind to small animals, but he has exactly zero major titles. Even so, I should have known that the famous Nicks were out of the picture, since they had long been retired by 2006.)
Anyhow, things went downhill from there. I even blanked on the name of the B side of Peggy Sue and couldn’t come up with even another song by Buddy Holly — kind of the way you draw a blank when someone says “What the heck was the name of the [whatever]?” And the question itself drives the familiar name right out of your head!
Eventually, it all came together. But it probably took me three times as long as the average acrostic.
Don’t get me wrong. I still loved it!
I loved finding the lyrics in the clues. It fell fairly easily for me once I figured out the theme, although I also had MOOCH and FALDO at first and also stuck in an errant THE in the quote, which slowed me down. Beautifully made and fun to solve!
American Pie is a powerful touchstone of my youth, so today’ acrostic struck a chord with me. I loved the very clever theme related clueing as always. I fell into the Faldo trap and confidently plugged in Clear Lake before being abashed to realize it was really CORNFIELD. I also tried recliners before ARMCHAIRS, so my grid is very messy.
Interestingly the quote states that the song NAMECHECKED Charles Manson, but that’s not technically true as Manson is never mentioned by name. Also is it Lennon or Lenin ?
Not that it matters. About a year ago I watched the documentary wherein McLean explains what he intended the song to mean, and I found his explanation far less satisfying than some of the interpretations that others have posited. This raises all kinds of issues about the primacy of authorial intention versus personal interpretation.
Thanks for the puzzle and a special thanks for the video. Images of the sixties, so much idealism and loss in one decade. The years of my young adulthood, and still very moving to recall in my mid-eighties. The anthem has incredible power, and the puzzle a lovely gift.
Brilliant puzzle.
Like the song, a masterpiece.