History YMMV / DonMcLean

* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: If one doesn't pay attention to the [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory disputed symbolism]] and takes the lyrics literally, what happens with the Jester can come off as a BrickJoke. First he steals the King's crown while performing for him, the court failing to convict him for it... then a verse later, during a football game, the same Jester is on the sidelines in a cast. [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty Apparently he didn't get away with the theft as much as he thought]].

* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: "American Pie" is about the plane crash that killed Music/BuddyHolly, Music/RitchieValens, and Music/TheBigBopper. That much has been confirmed. The rest of the lyrics have been much-discussed as being an extended metaphor about the evolution of {{Rock}}, with many guesses as to the identities of the names and places. The King (Music/ElvisPresley), The Jester (Music/BobDylan) and The Marching Band (Music/TheBeatles) were widely agreed-upon, but [=McLean=] {{Jossed}} all those in 2022 in the Creator/ParamountPlus documentary ''The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don [=McLean=]'s American Pie'';[[note]]Presley's not "the king" in question, Dylan is not "the jester" (as the man himself already predicted in 2017)--and the marching band actually means the military–industrial complex.[[/note]] many of the others are still disputed. Reportedly when [=McLean=] himself was asked about it, he replied "What is the meaning of 'American Pie'? [[MathematiciansAnswer It means I never have to work again]]."

* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: "American Pie" is about the plane crash that killed Music/BuddyHolly, Music/RitchieValens, and Music/TheBigBopper. That much has been confirmed. The rest of the lyrics have been much-discussed as being an extended metaphor about the evolution of {{Rock}}, with many guesses as to the identities of the names and places. The King (Music/ElvisPresley), The Jester (Music/BobDylan) and The Marching Band (Music/TheBeatles) seem to be widely agreed-upon, but many of the others are still disputed. Reportedly when [=McLean=] himself was asked about it, he replied "What is the meaning of 'American Pie'? [[MathematiciansAnswer It means I never have to work again]]."

* NightmareFuel: The penultimate verse of "American Pie" obliquely but hauntingly references the murder of Meredith Hunter at a Music/RollingStones concert, with the narrator saying "[he] saw Satan laughing with delight" at the killing.

* WeirdAlEffect: His kids were such big fans of Music/WeirdAlYankovic and have played "The Saga Begins" so much, that even Don has mixed up some of the lyrics of "American Pie" with the parody while performing it.
** To a lesser extent, Music/{{Madonna}}'s cover was this after Weird Al's parody, with lots of fans asking why Madonna was singing an unfunny version of a Weird Al song.

* SignatureSong: "American Pie", full stop.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff - "Crying" and "Vincent" did much better in the UK, both reaching #1 (in fact they did ''better'' than "American Pie" which reached #2). In fact, the parent album of "Crying", ''Chain Lightning'', was released in Europe almost three years before it came out in America, and it was the #1 success of "Crying" in the UK that prompted the song and album to finally get an American release.

* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: The well known "American Pie" is about the plane crash that killed Music/BuddyHolly, Music/RitchieValens, and Music/TheBigBopper.
** Or so we assume. Reportedly when [=McLean=] himself was asked, he replied "What is the meaning of 'American Pie'? [[MathematiciansAnswer It means I never have to work again]]."

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff - "Crying" and "Vincent" did much better in the UK, both reaching #1 (in fact they did ''better'' than "American Pie" which reached #2.)

** To a lesser extent, Music/{{Madonna}}'s cover was this after Weird Al's parody, with lots of fans asking why Madonna was singing an unfunny version of a Weird Al song.

* WeirdAlEffect: His kids were such big fans of Music/WeirdAlYankovic and have played "The Saga Begins" so much, that even Don has mixed up some of the lyrics of "American Pie" with the parody while performing it.

* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: The well known "American Pie" is about the plane crash that killed Music/BuddyHolly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper.

* ToughActToFollow: "American Pie"

* CoveredUp - "And I Love You So" is one of his songs, but has been covered by Elvis and was a hit for Perry Como. In reverse, [=McLean=]'s "Crying," a huge hit, was originally performed by Roy Orbison.
* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory - The well known "American Pie" is about the plane crash that killed Music/BuddyHolly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper

* GeniusBonus - Several. "American Pie" contains references to events and people who were notable in [=McLean's=] childhood. Furthermore, "the Levee" is not a levee, but a bar (giving the phrase "but the Levee was dry" an entirely new meaning).

* ToughActToFollow - "American Pie"
* WeirdAlEffect - His kids were such big fans of Weird Al and have played "The Saga Begins" so much, that even Don has mixed up some of the lyrics of "American Pie" with the parody while preforming it.

* TechnicianVersusPerformer: A superb singer and songwriter, but also the only performer [[{{Tropers/Whitewings}} this troper]] has ever seen who actually has a negative stage presence.

* TechnicianVersusPerformer: A superb singer and songwriter, but also the only performer [[Tropers/Whitewings this performer]] has ever seen who actually has a negative stage presence.