And he felt alone because that was the day the music died, in a sense, to him. And when he, unfortunately, passed away in a plane crash, it really touched Don. When you speak of death and you speak of the resurrection of discovery, of what that means, Buddy Holly actually was a poet.

Just years earlier, in '68, Kennedy was assassinated. What I believe was happening, because I was there, was a lot of protests, a lot of marching against the war. What was happening in America and how did the song. We just heard a clip from the documentary where Ed Freeman, who produced the original song, called it a eulogy for a dream that did not take place.

How the raunchy gay cowboy song Ram Ranch became an anti-convoy protest anthem.

Singing in the face of colonial danger: Music's place in Indigenous resistance.

So it just struck me as a work of art … and it really gave me goosebumps when I heard. I knew that there was a lot of divisiveness in America and I thought maybe there's some element to that in the form of a great campfire song with a fantastic melody. There was marching, and I remembered marching for civil rights and I didn't know if that's what he meant. Who was the king? Elvis had just resurfaced after his fantastic comeback special. The curiosity abounded when I wondered, who was the jester? Because Bob Dylan was a big deal at the time, he was called the jester. Personally, there were different images, visual images in words.

What was it about the song that struck you so strongly? Proffer spoke to Coelho about American Pie, McLean and Holly's connection, and the divisiveness in the United States at the time. The documentary premiered July 19 on streaming service Paramount+. In it, Proffer explores the meaning behind McLean's song - and McLean himself opens up about the 1959 plane crash that killed musician Buddy Holly, to which the song refers. The new documentary, The Day the Music Died: Don McLean’s American Pie is out TODAY exclusively on Paramount+! /etTYZtfBIw- Pie is the subject of Proffer's latest documentary, The Day The Music Died.

Meaning of american pie song