10 Songs That Are Meant To Confuse You
3. American Pie - Don McLean
The complete aura around American Pie by Don McLean feels like its older than rock and roll itself. Hell, most people probably don't even associate it with the folk singer at all, with it being such a staple of the campfire song circuit since the early '70s. For as much as the melody is simple though, there's a lot more going on with the lyrics.
That is, when you can actually understand the lyrics. Though most of the song is indebted to McLean's reaction to Buddy Holly's death by referencing the Day the Music Died, most people start to get confused when he starts calling out more characters like the Jester, the King, and the Sergeants in nearly every verse. Holly may have been the starting point, but the rest of the song acts as a makeshift encyclopedia of rock when you get down into the lyrics.
Using the characters as euphemisms for the role they played in rock's evolution, the King is a reference to Elvis Presley, while the Jester and Sergeants are a reference to Bob Dylan and the Beatles respectively. Even the final verse about a girl who sang the blues has been rumored to be about Janis Joplin during the late '60s. While the music may have died that day, the many tales that are contained in this one song has been the gift that keeps on giving for rock fans the world over.