Today I have been wrestling with cd burning. Seems like it
would be so easy but no, it’s been one error message after another. I have a
stack of 30 and they are slowly dwindling with na da to show for it.
Anyway, I was thinking about a song in particular which came
out in late 1971 (before I was born but then my Daddy didn’t raise no fool). I don’t
know if most young people would even know this song—American Pie by Don McLean.
Well from what I have uncovered in a bit of research, the song American Pie includes clear reference to
the plane crash in which Buddy Holley, The Big Bopper, and Richie Valens lost
their lives. It is also believed that the plane was named American Pie.
However, there are several other references to events of the
times. Driving the Chevy to the levee, clearly points to the three civil rights
workers in Mississippi who were lynched in 1964. A few references to the
Beatles Helter Skelter were also
thrown in.
Then McLean seemed to take a stand against the Rolling
Stones. While playing a concert at the Altamont Speedway in 1968, the Stones
appointed members of the Hell's Angels to work security. It was there that a young
man named Meredith Hunter was beaten and stabbed to death -- by the Angels.
Regardless of the numerous references to injustices and the
direction America seemed to be taking, I know the song's emotional significance
was unmistakable. McLean was clearly relating a defining moment in the American
experience—something had been lost, and we knew it.
I think it is important for artists of all mediums to
express the environment around them from their own perspective. A lot of us are
still trying to win the rat race, never realizing that the faster you run the
less you see. It hurts to see. It hurts to feel. But I have learned there’s no
getting around it so I am going to keep it simple.
Think of things like music and art. Maybe what I could do to
help another person when they least expect it. I prefer to stroll. Take in the
scenery. It sure is nice out. The music didn’t die, it just went on vacation.
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