'I had to fight so many battles to get this thing done': Don McLean looks back on his masterpiece, American Pie
Don McLean has been listening for decades as people sing his classic American Pie on the last call or at karaoke — and praise his efforts. “I’ve heard whole bars blast this song when I was across the room,” McLean told The Associated Press from a tour bus bound for Des Moines, Iowa. “And they had so much fun singing it that I realized, ‘You don’t have to worry about how well you sing this song anymore. Even if it’s sung badly, people are very happy with it.'” Happiness may be an understatement. American Pie is considered a masterpiece, selected among the top five songs of the century compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. Load McLean — and his single about “the day the music died” — is now the subject of a full-featured documentary, The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean’s American Pie, streaming on Paramount+. This is an essential spectacle for McLean fans or anyone who admires his sonic treasures. It also repr