Semiotics of Don McLean's American Pie and cultural events of the 1950s-1970s

American Pie and Cultural Significance

Semiotics:

Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols employed in communications and the process through which signs and symbols come to develop their shared meaning among those who recognize and understand their intended message. Philosophers have examined symbolism ever since the time of Aristotle, continuing into contemporary times, where it has developed into a science of symbolic communication (PJS 2005).

The modern incarnation of the field generally comprises three branches: semantics, or the relationship between signs and their respective objects; syntactics, the interrelationships between and among individual signs within an overall framework; and pragmatics, the effect that signs have on those who share and understand them (Henslin 2002). The universality of semiotic elements in human cultures and their natural anthropological development have lead many to the conclusion that the complex cognitive processes involved have a strong evolutionary component (Gerrig & Zimbardo 2005). In principle, semiotics differs from linguistics in that the latter refers mainly to the process of communication whereas the former refers more particularly to the process by which elements of communication evolve their significance and meaning. Likewise, language generally refers only to spoken or written words whereas semiotics includes every mode and vehicle of transmitting information, including symbols, gestures, and music (Tarasi 1997).

Cultural Context of Don McLean's American Pie:

Don McLean's American Pie debuted in 1972 at the height of the countercultural revolution associated with the rebelliousness of the Hippies, the wave of cultural change of the 1960s, and the national social controversy of the Vietnam War. It was also a time of profound social change in race relations, human rights, and the women's liberation movement as well.

In many respects, the counterculture manifested a marked distrust of government policies, authorities, and other aspects of the "establishment," and powerful symbolism arose in myriad contexts through styles of clothing, language, artistic expression, lifestyles, music, drug use, and direct challenges to many of the social and cultural assumptions in society that had previously never been questioned, challenged, or broken on an any large scale (Macionis 2003).

The song is replete with multiple levels of symbolism as a reflection of the multidimensional elements of social issues and cultural changes taking place in the country at the time (O'Brien 1999). According to music historians, the title of the song refers to the name of the plane on which three generational music icons (Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper") all perished when it crashed in February of 1959.

At the time, the day was referred to as "The Day the Music Died," which also provided a theme for the song (O'Brien 1999).

By the time American Pie rose to the top of the music charts, many of those in the audience of the artists it memorialized were already part of the establishment, having left their cultural symbols of youth behind. In that respect, music historians came to view the song as a bridge between the past of the previous generation and the evolving contemporary culture of the 1970s (O'Brien 1999).

Semiotics of the Music:

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 delivered, bad news on the door step, I couldn't take one more step, I can't remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride but something touched me deep inside, the day, the music, died. So... In virtually all known human cultures, dance is associated with happiness and celebration; for that reason, dancing is often employed as a symbol representing joy and happiness rather than denoting the literal act of dancing, such as in the phrase "dancing all the way home." The symbolic significance of shivering, therefore, is dual, in that February evokes connotations of both literal cold (as in the cold of winter) and also represents the universal physiological experience of one's blood "running cold" in connection with fear and psychological trauma such as the news of sudden death of another.

The semiotic significance of the month of February is particular to societies in regions where winters are typically very cold; in the U.S. For example, the letters spelling out the month on calendars are sometimes spelled out in letters further symbolizing coldness, shaped from snow. February would therefore have evolved no such symbolism in societies where the climate is perpetually cold or perpetually warm. In the Western Hemisphere, however, the month has naturally come to symbolize coldness.

Similarly, the symbolic significance of the newspaper is limited to cultures where news arrives at one's doorstep through that medium, whereas the semiotic relevance of both a widowed bride and of being touched deep inside is likely universal throughout human cultures. In fact, so much so that the physical gesture of pressing one's open palm against the heart is understood across cultural and linguistic barriers as n expression of feelings of empathy.

Did you write the book of love and do you have faith in God above, if the bible tells you so, and 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 cuz I saw you dancin in the gym you both kicked off your shoes and I dig those rhythm and blues. I was a lonely teenage bronkin buck with a pink carnation and a pick up truck but I knew I was out of luck, the day, the music, died. I started singin

The semiotic significance of God, the Bible, rock n' roll, and slow dancing, would all seem to derive from the cultural connection between music and sexuality and, even more particularly, from the conflict between so-called "traditional" cultural sexual mores and the behavior that music was thought to inspire. Specifically, rhythm and blues was a genre of music with multiple connotations and symbolic relevance: in the previous generation of the 1950s and 60s, religious leaders and other conservatives had railed against the sexual immorality supposedly linked to excessive gyrations and hip movement that evolved in dance.

Just as importantly, by the 1970s, the movement toward racial sensitivity had already resulted in a change from the term "race music" to "rhythm and blues" because the former had taken on an offensive symbolism of racial bigotry that was on the verge of becoming culturally unacceptable (O'Brien 1999). In particular, this change represents the distinction between language and semiotics in that purely non-literal influences inspired the semiotic evolution of elements of language. Whereas "rhythm" does correspond to a component of music and "blues" does correspond to a thematic focus of so-called "race music," the impetus for the change was strictly moral and ethical and not any need for linguistic precision. An earlier verse demonstrates the same distinction between the literal meaning of communication and the semiotic evolution of symbolic meaning, also in relation to the racial issues that provide their only symbolic relevance:

drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry, Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye Singing "This'll be the day that I die, This'll be the day that I die.