Fleaslayer t1_iubnlsk wrote on October 30, 2022 at 2:17 AM

American Pie, about the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper, keeps repeating the line "This'll be the day that I die," which is obviously a reference to "That'll be the day (that I die)," a Buddy Holly song.

ImGumbyDamnIt t1_iuc2dnk wrote on October 30, 2022 at 4:38 AM

The song is full of throwbacks:

"Did you write the book of love?" - Who Wrote the Book OF Love, Monotones 1954

"The jester sang of the King and Queen, in a coat he borrowed from James Dean" - Bob Dylan had a coat from James Dean. The King and Queen were Elvis and Aretha.

"with the jester on the sidelines in a cast" - Dylan had a near fatal motorcycle accident, and he withdrew from the music scene for several years.

The lines about Lennon and the quartet in the park are probably about the Beatles, just like moss growing fat on a Rolling Stone is about the Rolling Stones. The Stones show up later in the Jack Flash and Fire is the Devil's Only Friend lyrics. The girl who sang the blues was Joplin.

Fleaslayer t1_iuc3oz4 wrote on October 30, 2022 at 4:52 AM

Yeah, I didn't include stuff like that because most of them are references to artists, not to songs. I didn't know the Who Wrote The Book of Love reference.

ImGumbyDamnIt t1_iuc4lwf wrote on October 30, 2022 at 5:02 AM

Fair enough. "Jack be nimble, jack be quick, jack Flash sat on a candle stick" is a reference to the Stones song "Jumping Jack Flash" and "fire's the devil's only friend" is to "Sympathy for the Devil". "Helter Skelter in a summer swelter", Beatles, "Helter Skelter". "Eight miles high and falling fast" is for The Byrds song "Eight Miles High".

Fleaslayer t1_iuc4w13 wrote on October 30, 2022 at 5:05 AM

Yep, good ones!