$1.2m for classic song

SINGER-SONGWRITER DON McLean’s original manuscript and notes to American Pie have sold at auction for $1.2 million (£804,976).

McLean put the wistful anthem that asks “Do you recall what was revealed the day the music died?” on sale at Christie’s in NewYork.

The 16 pages include the original working manuscript and typed drafts of the song.

The eight-minute American Pie was released in 1971. It was a No 1 US hit for four weeks in 1972.

“The day the music died” refers to the deaths on February 3 1959 of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper in a plane crash.

McLean, who lives in Maine, said writing the song was “a mystical trip into his past”.

More than 40 years after it was released, American Pie remains one of the most loved, sung and dissected songs ever produced.

And even at eight minutes or so long, it’s hard not to keep singing along to a hit that has stood the test of time and has had plenty of admirers over the years.

Everyone from Weird Al Yankovic to Madonna has put their own particular stamp on it. But what do the lyrics actually mean? “The day the music died” reference to Buddy Holly is now well known — but who was the famous Miss American Pie?

Why so many references to God and Satan? What exactly was the “Helter Skelter in a summer swelter”?

Who was the jester singing for the king and queen?

McLean himself has remained tightlipped when asked in the past, only saying: “The writing the lyrics will divulge everything there is to divulge.”

Now the original manuscript has gone under the hammer, here’s hoping the song’s mystique lives on for some years to come.

Picture: Getty Images. Singersongwriter Don McLean’s original manuscript and notes to American Pie have sold at auction for $1.2 million (£804,976). The eightminute single was a No 1 US hit for four weeks in 1972 and has become iconic.