One of the most iconic songs of the 20th century was recently sold for $1.2 million. Songwriter Don McLean’s original working manuscript for “American Pie,” was auctioned and sold Tuesday at Christie’s. It fell second of Bob Dylan’s hand-written lyrics for “Like A Rolling Stone,” which set a record of $2 million last year. The head of the books and manuscripts department at Christie’s, Tom Lecky, suggested the price was fitting, stating “The result is a testament to the creative genius of Don McLean and to the song’s ability to still engage and inspire.”
McLean’s hand-written and typed drafts include notes and edits, which gives clues to the meaning of the powerful song that has had numerous of interpretations since it was first released in 1971. “The writing and the lyrics will divulge everything there is to divulge,” McLean, 69, said in an interview prior to the sale. “You’ll see what I am thinking about. It is a piece of a dream that I am trying to capture.” When McLean first wrote the song, he was a struggling songwriter in Cold Spring, N.Y. and Philadelphia. The lyrics intend to reflect the social disturbances that were occurring in the United States in the 1960s and early 1970s.
The lyrics “the day the music died” in “American Pie” referred to the 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, to whom McLean adored and respected. “The death of Buddy Holly was the beginning of the song,” McLean said. “That’s what came to me. I loved Buddy Holly and that is very autobiographical, the first part of the song.”
