It’s that time of year, when I fire up my random date generator (random.org, for all your randomly generated needs) and choose some number two singles from across the ages.
In the main Number Ones blog we’ve reached mid-1993, and so the runners-up I picked could have come from any chart dated between then, and the very first in November 1952. I’m not choosing these hits because I like them, or dislike them… I may not have even heard of them. It’s all random. And yet, the first #2 that pops up just happens to be one of the most famous of all time…
‘American Pie’, by Don McLean
#2 for 3 weeks, from 27th Feb to 18th March 1972, behind ‘Son of My Father’ and ‘Without You’
On the one hand, great that this classic gets a post. It’s a #1 on every metric – cultural heft, recognisability, singalongability – except the one metric that matters when it comes to getting a #1: sales. On the other hand… What’s left for little old me to write about this colossus?
Thirteen-year-old Don McLean was doing his paper round, or so the story goes, in February 1959, when he read the news of the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper (and their pilot) AKA ‘The Day the Music Died’. February made me shiver, With every paper I’d deliver…
The song then goes on to detail the history of rock music from the late fifties to the early seventies, with cryptic references to Elvis, Dylan, the Beatles, the Stones and more, as well as nods to the big news events of the age: the Kennedy assasination, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Manson family among them. I know this not because I understand the lyrics; I just read the Wikipedia page.
Like all great poetry, it could mean all the above, or it could mean something completely different. When asked what it’s all about, McLean famously answered: ‘It means I don’t ever have to work again…’ When talking more seriously, he’s compared it to Impressionism. And of course, his next big single would be about a very famous (post) impressionist… Which would make #1.
At over eight and half minutes long, ‘American Pie’ initially had to be split over two sides of a 45′ record, which means people (including me) are much more familiar with the first four minutes than the latter four. In fact, listening to the pub singalong last chorus now, I’m not sure I’d ever heard it before. It is the sixth longest record to chart in the US, and held the record for the longest ever Billboard #1 until 2021.
Before I end this post, I have to give an advance trigger warning. ‘American Pie’ may not have made #1 in its original form, but a version by a certain Queen of Pop will make the top of the charts in the early 2000s. I’m someone who will defend Madonna until the cows come home, but even I might struggle to justify that particular musical decision…
The UK Number Ones Blog 
Over the half-century plus since this burst on us, I don’t think I’ve met a single musical lover or fellow acoustic guitarist (at any level) who doesn’t love this song to bits – or if they don’t, has ever admitted to not liking it. It also probably left Don thinking after it had been released, ‘Hell, I’ll NEVER top that one.’ Whatever possessed Madonna (OK, money, film tie-in, etc.), or come to that, whatever possessed so many people to go out and buy her version when the latter was still so familiar, heaven knows…
(…the latter, I meant ‘the original’)
Oh don’t worry, I guessed you weren’t talking about the cover version… : )
I’ve always loved that song. I had no idea Madonna covered it. I like some of her 80s songs, but by the time 2000 rolled around, I wasn’t paying any attention to her any longer nor to most other contemporary music. While I can live with her vocals on “American Pie,” that dance rhythm is really an atrocity!
In all honesty, I haven’t listened to Madonna’s ‘American Pie’ since it was in the charts… Who knows, I might end up enjoying it when I cover it as a number one…! ‘Might’…….
I heard the blondes (now bottled) version once…that was enough to want to sprinkle holy water on that song…and I’m not Catholic.
I still can’t believe it didn’t make number one…I would put this over so many other songs…it’s iconic.
Rating: 5/5
One of the greatest songs ever written. This is one of those songs that people who don’t even like older music like. I have friends who don’t like music made before 2000 and they love this song. The metaphoric lyrics are tremendous, full of imagery and illusion, and it’s quite cynical and downcast too. I guess a product of the time. The fact that a song like this was a #1 and Top 10 smash all across the world, it’s remarkable. That could never happen today, unless it was by someone like Taylor Swyft or Harry Styles.