He thought he “needed a big song about America.” The first verse and melody seemed to just tumble out. He was creating his second album in 1971 while the nation was racked by assassinations, anti-war protests and civil right marches. Years later, McLean would plumb that pain in “American Pie,” baking in his own grief at his father’s passing and writing an eulogy for the American dream. I may have actually cried,” he says in the film. Young McLean was a paperboy - “every paper I’d deliver” - and adored Elvis, Gene Vincent, Bo Diddley but especially Holly, whose death deeply affected him. He had bronchial asthma, prompting the description of him in “American Pie” as “a lonely teenage broncin’ buck.” The “sacred store” he sings about was the House of Music on Main Street, where he bought records and his first guitar. McLean was 13, living in a suburban, middle class home in New Rochelle, New York, when the crash occurred. 3, 1959, killing the three stars and their pilot. Richardson, the “Big Bopper,” plunged into a cornfield north of Clear Lake, Iowa, on Feb. The documentary starts when a single-engine plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and Jiles P. “I was up at night, smiling and thinking about what I’m going to do with this.” “That was the fun of writing the song,” he tells the AP. After all, there's just something about cool '70s songs like 'Take Me Home, Country Roads' and rockin' '80s songs like 'Born in the U.S.A.' that seem like they were made for easy listening while going for a drive with the windows down or hanging out at a cookout.Īnd if you're planning Memorial Day or 4th of July activities, tracks such as Mariah Carey's 'Fourth of July' or Brad Paisley's 'American Saturday Night' will fit right in with your themed playlist.For those fans who have wondered about the lyrics they are singing loudly in bars and cars, McLean shares the secrets. You can turn up the volume on these classics at any time, but they're especially great for when you want to feel tuned in to your country. The one thing they all have in common is celebrating this place we call home. The tracks on this list-including century-old classics like 'America the Beautiful' and country songs like 'Ragged Old Flag'-will please a multigenerational (not to mention, multi-genre!) crowd. And there are so many ways to make a playlist of patriotic songs!

They fill you with hope and pride and recognize the things that make this big country so extraordinary, complicated, and wonderful.

Songs about America are basically the quintessential soundtrack of summer.

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