AMERICAN PIE

DON MCLEAN
SONGWRITER: DON MCLEAN
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: AMERICAN OIE
LABEL: UNITED ARTISTS
GENRE: FOLK ROCK
YEAR: 1971
 
          "American Pie" is a song by American singer and songwriter Don McLean. Recorded and released on the American Pie album in 1971, the single was the number-one US hit for four weeks in 1972 starting January 15 after just eight weeks on the Billboard charts (where it entered at number 69). The song also topped the charts in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. In the UK, the single reached number 2, where it stayed for 3 weeks, on its original 1971 release and a reissue in 1991 reached No. 12. The song was listed as the Nº. 5 song on the RIAA project Songs of the Century. A truncated version of the song was covered by Madonna in 2000 and reached No. 1 in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. McLean's combined version is the fourth longest song to enter the Billboard Hot 100 (at the time of release it was the longest), in addition to being the longest song to reach number one. Due to its exceptional length, it was initially released as a two-sided 7-inch single. American Pie has been described as "one of the most successful and debated songs of the 20th century", with college courses taught on its lyrics.
         The repeatedly mentioned phrase "the day the music died" refers to the plane crash in 1959 that killed early rock and roll stars Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens, and ended the era of early rock and roll; this became the popular nickname for that crash. However the overall theme of the song goes beyond its superficial semblance of mourning McLean's childhood music heroes, and reflects the deep cultural changes and profound disillusionment and loss of innocence of his entire generation–the early rock and roll generation – that took place between the 1959 plane crash and either late 1969 or late 1970. The meaning of the other lyrics, which cryptically allude to many of the jarring events and social changes experienced during that period, have been debated for decades. McLean repeatedly declined to explain the symbolism behind the many characters and events mentioned; he eventually released his songwriting notes to accompany the original manuscript when it was sold in 2015, explaining many of these.
         In 2017, McLean's original recording was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant"
A long, long time ago
I can still remember how that music
Used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while
 
But February made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
Something touched me deep inside
The day the music died
 
So, bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
And them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin', "This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die"
 
Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
Now, do you believe in rock 'n' roll
Can music save your mortal soul
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
 
Well, I know that you're in love with him
'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues
I was a lonely teenage bronckin' buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died
 
I started singin', bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin', "This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die"
 
Now, for ten years we've been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone
But that's not how it used to be
When the jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me
 
Oh, and while the king was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned
And while Lenin read a book on Marx
A quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died
 
We were singin', bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin', "This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die"
 
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast
 
Now, the halftime air was sweet perfume
While sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance
'Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?
 
We started singin', bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin', "This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die"
 
Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again
So, come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
'Cause fire is the Devil's only friend
 
Oh, 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 spell
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died
 
He was singin', bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin', "This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die"
 
I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn't play
 
And in the streets the children screamed
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died
 
And they were singin', bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
And them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin', "This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die"
 
They were singin', bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin', "This'll be the day that I die".

FATHER AND SON

JAMES TAYLOR
SONGWRITER: JAMES TAYLOR
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: FATHER AND SON
LABEL: FABRI EDITORI
GENRE: FOLK ROCK
YEAR: 1994
 
       James Vernon Taylor(born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide.
        Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the No. 3 single "Fire and Rain" and had his first Nº. 1 hit in 1971 with his recording of "You've Got a Friend", written by Carole King in the same year. His 1976 Greatest Hits album was certified Diamond and has sold 12 million US copies. Following his 1977 album JT, he has retained a large audience over the decades. Every album that he released from 1977 to 2007 sold over 1 million copies. He enjoyed a resurgence in chart performance during the late 1990s and 2000s, when he recorded some of his most-awarded work (including Hourglass, October Road, and Covers). He achieved his first number-one album in the US in 2015 with his recording Before This World.
       Taylor is known for his covers, such as "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" and "Handy Man", as well as originals such as "Sweet Baby James". He played the leading role in Monte Hellman's 1971 film Two-Lane Blacktop.
Like father, like son
Like father, like son
Like father, like son
 
Don't come on so c*cksure boy, you can't escape your genes
No point in feeling purer boy, your background intervenes
Listen good and listen straight, you're not the master of your fate
 
To this you must be reconciled, you'll always be your father's child
At times acclaimed, at times reviled
You wind up doing just what I've done
Like father, like son
Like father, like son
 
Don't assume your vices get handed down the line
That a parent's blood suffices to condemn the child's design
I've done wrong, I can't deny, but at least I know that I
 
Shouldn't blame that on my stock, this may come as quite a shock
But I'm no chip off any block, I wouldn't wish those words on anyone
Like father, like son
Like father, like son
 
Son, you're nervous, take my hand
All is settled, all is planned
You've got the world at your command
I don't think you understand
Just have the slave if you must, and be done with her
Don't ever speak of her like that again
 
I appreciate too well, the squalor at which you excel
It isn't very hard to tell, evil's a distinctive smell
 
From this day on I choose my own way
If I choose to be with Aida, then I will be
And no one, not you, not even the gods can stop me
 
He's lost all sense of reason, and why some foreign sl*t
Not only is that treason, some doors are slamming shut
Just like me, he's found that flesh can excite but will it mesh
Watch me rid him of this blight, once the harlot's out of sight
Then I think he will see the light
He won't walk back to daddy, he will run
Like father, like son
Like father, like son
Like father, like son
Like father, like son.

MAKE LOVE STAY

DAN FOGELBERG
SONGWRITER: DAN FOGELBERG
COUNTRY: U. S.A.
ALBUM: GREATEST HITS
LABEL: FULL MOON RECORDS
GENRE: POP
YEAR: 1983
 
     Daniel Grayling Fogelberg (August 13, 1951 – December 16, 2007) was an American musician, songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is known for his 1980s songs, including "Longer" (1979), "Same Old Lang Syne" (1980), and "Leader of the Band" (1982).
          "Make Love Stay" is the title of a popular song from 1983 written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg. It was one of two new songs included on his 1982 greatest hits album, along with the song "Missing You".
         Fogelberg later described "Make Love Stay" in the liner notes to a retrospective album as a "sinuous piece written around a chapter of Tom Robbins' Still Life with Woodpecker" and as "a musical question that, unfortunately, eludes me still."
       "Make Love Stay" peaked at Nº. 29 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in March 1983. It was Fogelberg's third song to top the Billboard adult contemporary chart, following his earlier hits "Longer" and "Leader of the Band".
Now that we love
Now that the lonely nights are over
How do we make love stay?
Now that we know
The fire can burn bright or merely smolder
How do we keep it from dying away?
 
Elusive as dreams
Barely remembered in the morning
Love like a phantom flies
But held in the heart
It pales like the empty smile adorning
A statue with sightless eyes.
 
Moments fleet, taste sweet within the rapture
When precious flesh is greedily consumed
But mystery's a thing not easily captured
And once deceased not easily exhumed.
 
Now that we love
Now that the lonely nights are over
How do we make love stay?
 
Moments fleet, taste so sweet within the rapture
When precious flesh is greedily consumed
But mystery's a thing not easily captured
And once deceased not easily exhumed.
 
Now that we love
Look at the moonless night and tell me
How do we make love stay? 

MAKE IT WITH YOU

BREAD
SONGWRITER: DAVID GATES
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: ON THE WATERS
LABEL: ELEKTRA RECORDS
GENRE: SOFT ROCK
YEAR: 2019
 
           Bread was an American soft rock band from Los Angeles, California. They had 13 songs chart on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1970 and 1977.
       The band was fronted by David Gates (vocals, bass guitar, guitar, keyboards, violin, viola, percussion), with Jimmy Griffin (vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion) and Robb Royer (bass guitar, guitar, flute, keyboards, percussion, recorder, backing vocals). On their first album session musicians Ron Edgar played drums and Jim Gordon played drums, percussion, and piano. Mike Botts became their permanent drummer when he joined in the summer of 1969, and Larry Knechtel replaced Royer in 1971, playing keyboards, bass guitar, guitar, and harmonica.
           David Ashworth Gates (born December 11, 1940) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, musician and producer, frontman and co-lead singer (with Jimmy Griffin) of the group Bread, which reached the tops of the musical charts in Europe and North America on several occasions in the 1970s. The band was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.
        "Make It with You" is a song written by David Gates and originally recorded by the pop-rock group Bread, of which Gates was a member. Gates and drummer Mike Botts are the only members of the group to appear on the recording which was a #1 hit.
          The song first appeared on Bread's 1970 album, On the Waters. Released as a single that June, it was the group's first top-ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and spent the week of August 22, 1970, at number one, their only single to do so; it also reached #5 on the UK Singles Chart. Billboard ranked "Make It with You" as the Nº. 13 song of 1970, and it was certified gold by the RIAA for sales of over one million copies.
Hey have you ever tried
Really reaching out for the other side?
I may be climbing on rainbows
But baby, here goes
 
Dreams are for those who sleep
Life is for us to keep
And if you're wondering what this song is leading to,
I want to make it with you
I really think that we could make it, girl
 
Though you don't know me well
And every little thing only time will tell
If you believe the things that I do,
And we'll see it through
 
Life can be short or long
Love can be right or wrong
And if I chose the one I'd like to help me through
I'd like to make it with you
I really think that we could make it, girl
 
Baby you know that dreams there for those who sleep
Life is for us to keep
And if I chose the one I'd like to help me through
I'd like to make it with you
I really think that we could make it, girl.