And we sang dirges in the dark
A "dirge" is a funeral or mourning song, so perhaps this is meant literally...or, perhaps, this is a reference to some of the new "art rock" groups that played long pieces not meant for dancing. In the dark of the death of Holly.
The day the music died. We were singing...
Refrain
(Verse 4) Helter Skelter in a summer swelter
"Helter Skelter" is a Beatles song that appears on the "White" album. Charles Manson, claiming to have been "inspired"by the song (through which he thought God and/or the devil were taking to him) led his followers in the Tate-LaBianca murders.
Is "summer swelter" a reference to the "Summer of Love" or perhaps to the "long hot summer" of Watts?
The birds flew off with the fallout shelter Eight miles high and falling fast
Without a doubt this refers to the Byrds who helped launch David Crosby to super stardom. The Byrd's song "Eight Miles High" was found on their late 1966 release "Fifth Dimension." They recorded this song when some of the groups members were considering leaving (some of the groups members actually left the group because they refused to flyin an airplane). A fallout shelter was sometimes referred to as the fifth dimension because of the 1950's fascination with sci-fi and the futuristic appearance of a fallout shelter. This was one of the first records widely banned because of supposedly drug-oriented lyrics.
But...
Another idea considers The Beatles' "Helter Skelter."A line from the song reads, 'I'm coming down fast but I'm miles above you.' The similarity is pretty obvious.
It landed foul on the grass
One of the Byrds was busted for possession of marijuana.
The players tried for a forward pass
Obviously a football metaphor, but about what?It could be the Rolling Stones, i.e., they were waiting for an opening that really didn't happen until The Beatles broke up.
With regard to the next idea, the players maybe other musicians who received the opportunity to shine when Dylan was injured.
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast
On July 29, 1966, Dylan crashed his Triumph 55 motorcycle while riding near his home in Woodstock, New York. He spent nine months in seclusion while recuperating from the accident. This gave a chance for many other artists to become noticed (see the next interpretation).
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
Drugs, man.
Well, now, wait a minute; that's probably too obvious (wouldn't want to make it easy). It's possible that this line and the next few refer to the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The "sweet perfume" is probably tear gas.
It could be the fact the since Dylan was temporarily out of the picture, the future looked bright for many artists. The Stones, for example, may have been given a brief chance.
While sergeants played a marching tune
Following from the second thought above, the sergeants would be the Chicago Police and the Illinois National Guard, who marched protesters out of the park where the Convention was being held and into jail.
Alternatively, this could refer to The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Or, perhaps McLean refers to The Beatles' music as "marching" because it's not music for dancing.
Or, finally, the "marching tune" could be the draft.
**(What did the Stones release in '66??)
We all got up to dance Oh, but we never got the chance
The Beatles' 1966 Candlestick Park concert only lasted 35 minutes. But at this point The Beatles were not "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (1967)
Or, following on from the previous comment, perhaps she was considering the hippies who were protesting the Convention. They were known for playing their own folk music.
'Cause the players tried to take the field, The marching band refused to yield.
Some folks think this refers to either the 1968 Democratic Convention or Kent State. If the players are the protesters at Kent State, and the marching band the Ohio National Guard...
This could be a reference to the dominance of The Beatles on the rock and roll scene. For instance, the Beach Boys released "Pet Sounds" in 1966 -- an album that featured some of the same sort of studio and electronic experimentation as "Sgt. Pepper" (1967). The album sold poorly because of The Beatles.
The other Beatles reference here refers to the Monkees. The Monkees were merely actors (or players), they were not a true band but a fabrication attempting to replicate The Beatles. The players tried to take the place of the Fab Four but the band wouldn't step down.
Or finally, this might be a comment that follows up on the earlier reference to the draft: the government/military industrial-complex establishment refused to accede to the demands of the peace movement.
Do you recall what was revealed, The day the music died?
**Check for any controversies released on Feb3, 1959.
We started singing
Refrain
(Verse 5) And there we were all in one place
Woodstock.
A generation lost in space
Some people think this is a reference to the US space program, which it might be (the first moon landing took place in '69); but that seems a bit too literal. Perhaps this is a reference to hippies, who were sometimes known as the "lost generation," partially because of their particularly acute alienation from their parents, and partially because of their presumed preoccupation with drugs (which was referred to as being "spaced-out.")
Being on drugs was sometimes termed -- being lost in space because of the TV show, "Lost in Space," whose title was usedas a synonym for someone who was rather high... I keep hoping that McLean had better taste. :-)
With no time left to start again
The "lost generation" spent too much time being stoned, and had wasted their lives. Or, perhaps, their preferences for psychedelia had pushed rock and roll so far from Holly's music that it couldn't be retrieved.
So come on Jack be nimble Jack be quick
Probably a reference to Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones; "Jumpin' Jack Flash" was released in May 1968.
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
**The Stones' Candlestick park concert? (unconfirmed)
Jack Flash is also a cockney slang term for pharmaceutical heroin. If you know how to use heroin, you understand the reference.
'Cause fire is the devil's only friend
It's possible that this is a reference to the Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil."
An alternate interpretation of the last four lines is that they may refer to Jack Kennedy and his quick decisions during the Cuban Missile Crisis; the candlesticks/fire refer to ICBMs and nuclear war.
And as I watched him on the stage, my hands were clenched in fists of rage; No angel born in hell, could break that Satan's spell
While playing a concert at the Altamont Speedway in 1968, the Stones appointed members of the Hell's Angels to work security (on the advice of the Grateful Dead). In the darkness near the front of the stage, a young man named Meredith Hunter was beaten and stabbed to death -- by the Angels. Public outcry that the song "Sympathy for the Devil"(because of "satan's spell") had somehow incited the violence and caused the Stones to drop the song from their show for the next six years. This incident is chronicled in the documentary film "Gimme Shelter."
It's also possible that McLean views the Stones as being negatively inspired (he had an extensive religious background)because of "Sympathy for the Devil," "Their Satanic Majesties' Request"and so on. This is a bit puzzling, since the early Stones recorded a lot of "roots" rock and roll, including Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away."
And as the flames climbed high into the night, To light the sacrificial rite
The most likely interpretation is that McLean is still talking about Altamont, and in particular Mick Jagger's prancing and posing and "climbing high" while it was happening. Or the bonfires around the area could provide the flames. The sacrifice is Meredith Hunter.
(It could be a reference to Jimi Hendrix burning his Stratocaster at the Monterey Pop Festival, but that was in 1967 and this verse is no doubt set in 1968.)
I saw Satan laughing with delight
If the above is correct, then Satan would be Jagger.
The day the music died He was singing...
Refrain
(Verse 6) I met a girl who sang the blues
Ms. Janis Joplin, the lady of the blues.
And I asked her for some happy news But she just smiled and turned away
Janis died of an accidental (accidental my ass!)heroin overdose on October 4, 1970.
Or...
The girl might be Roberta Flack. Its rumored that she wrote, "Killing Me Softly (with his song)," in response to this lyric in his song.
I went down to the sacred store Where I'd heard the music years before
There are two interpretations of this: The "sacred store" was Bill Graham's Fillmore West, one of the great rock and roll venues of all time. Alternatively, this refers to record stores, and their long time (then discontinued) practice of allowing customers to preview records in the store. (What year did the Fillmore West close?)
It could also refer to record stores as "sacred" because this is where one goes to get "saved." (See above lyric "Can music save your mortal soul?")
But the man there said the music wouldn't play
Perhaps he means that nobody is interested in hearing Buddy Holly et. al.'s music? Or, as above, the discontinuation of the in-store listening booths.
And in the streets the children screamed
"Flower children" being beaten by police and National Guard troops; in particular, perhaps, the People's Park riots in Berkeley in 1969 and 1970.
It is possible that this refers to the Vietnamese children. Life magazine was famous for publishing horrifying photos of children in Vietnam during the Vietnamese War.
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed
The trend toward psychedelic music in the 60's?Or again the hippies who were both great lovers and poets who would then be crying because of the difficulties of their struggle and dreaming of peace.
But not a word was spoken The church bells all were broken
It could be that the broken bells are the dead musicians: neither can produce any more music.
And the three men I admire most The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
Holly, The Big Bopper, and Valens -- or -- **Hank Williams, Presley, and Holly (check this) --or -- JFK, Martin Luther King, and Bobby Kennedy -- or -- or simply the Catholic aspects of the deity. McLean had attended several Catholic schools.
They caught the last train for the coast
Could be a reference to wacky California religions, or it could just be a way of saying that they've left (or died -- western culture has used "went west" as a synonym for dying). Or, perhaps this is a reference to the famous "God is Dead" headline in the New York Times. Some have suggested that this is an oblique reference to a line in Procol Harum's "Whiter Shade of Pale," but I'm not sure I'd buy that; firstly, all of McLean's musical references are to much older roots: rock and roll songs; and secondly, I think it's more likely that this line shows up in both songs simply because it's a common cultural metaphor.
The day the music died
This tends to support the conjecture that the"three men" were Holly/Bopper/Valens, since this says that they left us on the day the music died.
And they were singing...
Refrain (2x)
http://www.rareexception.com/Garden/Pie.php
