That song you linked to is...The lyrics hurt. It comes from the same place that 'Abraham, Martin, and John' comes from. The writer means well, but...damn...please stop poking it with a stick.
Madonna's version falls into the "what was she thinking?" category. I don't have a knee-jerk dislike of her, and I actually like Ray of Light and her earlier stuff before she became and "artiste," but damn, what was the point of this exercise? I'm not saying treat 'American Pie' with kid gloves, but the whole vamping thing she's got going on while a truncated version plays is jarring.
With Weird Al, my brother and I started taking bets that he'd been waiting years to use 'American Pie' for a song. 'The Saga Begins' is a masterpiece of parody in its own right. You know that song took a hell of a lot of work.
I would kill, absolutely kill, to hear the Brooks-McLean duet on this one. That must be something to hear.
But, yeah, I think you're absolutely right. The meaning of 'American Pie' really is left up to the listener and as a result it's just taken on a monster life of its own. McLean is right to stay away from explaining it. At this point, anything he had to say would almost take away the magic of it.
no subject
Madonna's version falls into the "what was she thinking?" category. I don't have a knee-jerk dislike of her, and I actually like Ray of Light and her earlier stuff before she became and "artiste," but damn, what was the point of this exercise? I'm not saying treat 'American Pie' with kid gloves, but the whole vamping thing she's got going on while a truncated version plays is jarring.
With Weird Al, my brother and I started taking bets that he'd been waiting years to use 'American Pie' for a song. 'The Saga Begins' is a masterpiece of parody in its own right. You know that song took a hell of a lot of work.
I would kill, absolutely kill, to hear the Brooks-McLean duet on this one. That must be something to hear.
But, yeah, I think you're absolutely right. The meaning of 'American Pie' really is left up to the listener and as a result it's just taken on a monster life of its own. McLean is right to stay away from explaining it. At this point, anything he had to say would almost take away the magic of it.