Never could figure out what Don McLean was talking about in this 1964? song.
Do the lyrics mean something?
Here’s the article that Cecil refers to in the column, BTW. This is the latest version I could find, even though it says (as of 1/01) that it is being updated.
Do a Google search. There are dozens of sites that claim to have figured out what it all means. For example,
The funny thing is that Don McLean never really talks about what the song means. He is content to leave it wide open to interpretation.
It means Don McLean never has to work again.
That’s all.
Moved to CS.
-xash
General Questions Moderator
You will run into much the same problem if you want to know what Hotel California is talking about. 
Or Stairway to Heaven, or House of the Rising Sun, or…what are some of the others that pop up with alarming frequency?
I was told it was about nuclear war.
It’s about New Years Eve at my house when I was a kid. Enough whiskey and rye and they sometimes drive the Chevy right into the levee.
So?
It’s not like they could drown: The levy was dry. So this won’t be the day that they die.
BTW, Biggirl–I’ve been meaning to ask: Did you write The Book Of Love?
Try this site:
He does a pretty good in-depth study of the lyrics.
It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty delta DAYAYAY!
What does it mean to you?
How you feel about the art, what you take from the lyrics, is correct.
Even if Don M was talking about a rough musical history of the sixties it wouldn’t matter because your expierence of the song is unique.
Or, how people view the song will tell you more about that person than about the song.
Cecil covered that one too: In the song “Hotel California,” what does “colitas” mean?
Actually, it was released in 1971. From what I understand, it is supposed to be a summary of events of music history of the 60’s. I never knew this before, but Roberta Flack’s Killing Me Softly is supposed to be about Don McLean.
I once had quite an enjoyable time arguing (just for the hell of it, I really didn’t believe it) that the lyrics were so ambiguous the song could have been a political allegory, not a musical one. The day the music died was the day JFK was shot, the Chevvy and the levee were Ted Kennedy and the Chappaquidick Bridge, the Father,Son and Holy Ghost were JFK, RFK and MLK, etc. Eventually, I got to the point where I could tie virtually every line in the song to a 1960s political event or person, just as others were finding the musical links.
It’s about the 60s. Let’s leave it at that.