- An Author from Connecticut In Flesh, Montana In Heart Simply, the most beautiful song ever written, and the most moving song ever sung.
- Susan from Sartell So much empathy and soul. Heavy and light at the same time.
- Phil from Auckland New Zealand Don McLean is a great songwriter because he combines beautiful music with great lyrics.
- George from Vancouver, Canada I first leasrned this was about Van Gogh while listening to a beautiful cover by Samantha Siu for a Christmas fundraising concert for my favourite charity, Richmond Centre for Disability; watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJvYsgpDNUg
- Annalisa Bianchi from Australia Starry Starry night was written in 1971 when the War was active in Vietnam. Don Maclean American Pie was him expressing his political views. Bye Bye Mister American Pie is the soldiers going to war. This will be the day that l die. The day the music died.
Starry Starry nights is about Van Gogh but also the soldiers that died in the Vietnam War that looked up in the sky every night and could see the stars so clearly now where they lay.
They would not listen, they’re not listening still Perhaps they never will.
People always have to die because of War and they didn’t listen then because they are still not listening today 2021.- Sandra from 70461 I’m a Van Gogh fan and became a Don McLean fan when his “American Pie” album came out. I found a great book on Van Gogh, titled “Vincent Van Gogh, A Self Portrait in Art and Letters”. The letters are between Vincent and his younger brother Theo. The letters written in Dutch are translated by Alayne Pullen, Alastair Weir, and Cora Weir. His art is unusual to some, but after learning more about the artist and other artist of his time, you come to appreciate what you are seeing. The letters are a great window into the times and personal lives of Vincent and Theo. Theo was a Paris art dealer who was unable to sell Vincent’s work. To help Vincent, Theo would send him money, claiming he had sold one of his pieces. Thankfully Theo’s wife Johanna, saved all of Vincent’s art. Theo and Johanna gave birth to a son they named after Vincent. Vincent then painted “Almond Blossom” as a gift for his nephew. Like McLean, I believe Vincent was not crazy, but certainly depressed because of a physical illness he and Theo both had. I also believe he checked himself into the asylum because he found a place to live and eat for virtually free, allowing what money Theo sent him, to be spent on art supplies. As for his change in painting style in his later years, I believe he was simply trying to find his own style of impressionism. It has come to light that Vincent may have been shot by accident by some kids who found their father’s pistol. Vincent realized if he exposed the boys, their lives would be ruined, so he didn’t report them. Vincent died 2 days later on July 29th. Theo died just 6 months after him in January. Don McLean painted a beautiful story with his song, “Vincent”. Among the many paintings of Vincent’s besides Starry Night that I like are: “Night Cafe in the Place Lamartine”, “Self Portrait as an Artist”, “The Church at Auvers” and “Irises”. It was noted by some other writer that the only painting Vincent sold was to his brother Theo for about $25. As we now know, his paintings are virtually priceless!
- Mike from Adelaide, South Australia Utterly beautiful and the depth of the words of this song, always touches me when I hear it. Wonderful this song was used at the end of the Loving Vincent film. Will never be forgotten. Thank you Don McLean.
- Mike From Virginia from Gloucester, Va. awesome song! loved since day one, a clasric. one to go down in the book.great job!
- See Haansen from New York, Ny Leave it to the so-called “lovers” of music who don’t know the difference between pizzicato and a pepperoni pizza to dissect a musical composition in order to enjoy it.
Paint your palette blue and grey
There are some songs that you sing for years without really understanding the lyrics. Maybe the music is catchy and you mumble along or you even know the words, but never get the meaning. There is an old Don McLean song called Vincent that someone recorded as a punk song that is like that for me. I’ve been singing about a starry, starry night and painting my palette blue and grey for years without ever being struck by the words until, that is, my first week with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC).
My boss and I were travelling from my first couple of days of training in Manitoba to my first natural area management plan workshop in Alberta, and we needed a place to stay (and I think Dale wanted to impress me). After hours of driving, we finally arrived at our destination. And then, even though I said I wouldn’t, I ended up saying the same thing I’d been told every visitor says when they arrive: “Oh, wow! Amazing! I can’t believe it.”
Dale just shook his head, rolling his eyes, as he laughed at my broken promise. At least, I think he did. It was really dark and my urban eyes weren’t used to the complete lack of artificial lighting out at the Old Man on His Back Prairie and Heritage Conservation Area (OMB).
I had arrived at Saskatchewan’s flagship property and Canada’s soon-to-be newest Dark Sky Preserve. At least, we were pretty sure we had arrived. It was difficult to tell if we were even in the right yard.
We rolled down the gravel road leading to OMB in the pitch black of a September night with very little moonlight, and I can tell you that the only available lights in the neighbourhood (property manager Sue’s lone yard light, five miles north and the slow blink of the warning light at the top of the cell tower to the west) were not helping navigate at all.
But what a night!
A sliver of moon, with clouds scuttling by — I suppose they were thundering by, it is a bison ranch after all — anyway, you get the idea. Just enough light to not bump into anything, but only just. Wind enough to want to pull your coat in tight, but a sky full of stars that made you want burrow into the grass and tuck in for the night.
Couldn’t help think of Wallace Stegner’s Wolf Willow, with its mix of personal exploration and fictional ranching struggles in a setting I imagine not unlike this place, where the wind and the open space remind you of Saskatchewan’s wild past.
The next morning, with a few hours sleep on a bed not long enough for a lanky fence-hopper such as myself and on our way to Elkwater and our management planning meeting in our rental car, I had a bit more trouble imagining the wildness of this place, but I knew that night, that starry, starry night would be available the next time I visited OMB. I guess you have to have a song to sing to ever get the meaning and you have to have a place with no lights to really see a starry, starry night.
Comments: 69
- An Author from Connecticut In Flesh, Montana In Heart Simply, the most beautiful song ever written, and the most moving song ever sung.
- Susan from Sartell So much empathy and soul. Heavy and light at the same time.
- Phil from Auckland New Zealand Don McLean is a great songwriter because he combines beautiful music with great lyrics.
- George from Vancouver, Canada I first leasrned this was about Van Gogh while listening to a beautiful cover by Samantha Siu for a Christmas fundraising concert for my favourite charity, Richmond Centre for Disability; watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJvYsgpDNUg
- Annalisa Bianchi from Australia Starry Starry night was written in 1971 when the War was active in Vietnam. Don Maclean American Pie was him expressing his political views. Bye Bye Mister American Pie is the soldiers going to war. This will be the day that l die. The day the music died.
Starry Starry nights is about Van Gogh but also the soldiers that died in the Vietnam War that looked up in the sky every night and could see the stars so clearly now where they lay.
They would not listen, they’re not listening still Perhaps they never will.
People always have to die because of War and they didn’t listen then because they are still not listening today 2021. - Sandra from 70461 I’m a Van Gogh fan and became a Don McLean fan when his “American Pie” album came out. I found a great book on Van Gogh, titled “Vincent Van Gogh, A Self Portrait in Art and Letters”. The letters are between Vincent and his younger brother Theo. The letters written in Dutch are translated by Alayne Pullen, Alastair Weir, and Cora Weir. His art is unusual to some, but after learning more about the artist and other artist of his time, you come to appreciate what you are seeing. The letters are a great window into the times and personal lives of Vincent and Theo. Theo was a Paris art dealer who was unable to sell Vincent’s work. To help Vincent, Theo would send him money, claiming he had sold one of his pieces. Thankfully Theo’s wife Johanna, saved all of Vincent’s art. Theo and Johanna gave birth to a son they named after Vincent. Vincent then painted “Almond Blossom” as a gift for his nephew. Like McLean, I believe Vincent was not crazy, but certainly depressed because of a physical illness he and Theo both had. I also believe he checked himself into the asylum because he found a place to live and eat for virtually free, allowing what money Theo sent him, to be spent on art supplies. As for his change in painting style in his later years, I believe he was simply trying to find his own style of impressionism. It has come to light that Vincent may have been shot by accident by some kids who found their father’s pistol. Vincent realized if he exposed the boys, their lives would be ruined, so he didn’t report them. Vincent died 2 days later on July 29th. Theo died just 6 months after him in January. Don McLean painted a beautiful story with his song, “Vincent”. Among the many paintings of Vincent’s besides Starry Night that I like are: “Night Cafe in the Place Lamartine”, “Self Portrait as an Artist”, “The Church at Auvers” and “Irises”. It was noted by some other writer that the only painting Vincent sold was to his brother Theo for about $25. As we now know, his paintings are virtually priceless!
- Mike from Adelaide, South Australia Utterly beautiful and the depth of the words of this song, always touches me when I hear it. Wonderful this song was used at the end of the Loving Vincent film. Will never be forgotten. Thank you Don McLean.
- Mike From Virginia from Gloucester, Va. awesome song! loved since day one, a clasric. one to go down in the book.great job!
- See Haansen from New York, Ny Leave it to the so-called “lovers” of music who don’t know the difference between pizzicato and a pepperoni pizza to dissect a musical composition in order to enjoy it.
Leave it to those who have never been diagnosed with a mental illness to write their conjectures on what such an individual must have been feeling when he ended his life.
Leave it to the “art lovers” who have neither sculpted nor painted since nursery school to claim they know what the artist must have been thinking when he painted what & how he chose.
Leave it to us to seek justification for that tremor or squeeze felt in the chest when we hear this song.
As evidenced in this forum, one needn’t have lived in the 1970s to appreciate Don MacLean’s “Vincent” because good music in any genre will be remembered long after the youngest of us is dust. We needn’t justify our feelings because art is not about facts, figures, or who has the most expert opinion. If you love it, shout it!
I am not an authority on any topic discussed here, but I positively LOVE this song as I positively LOVE thousands more! I LOVE Van Gogh’s paintings too. Not because he was mentally disturbed and not In spite of it either. In a world that numbs and insulates us from the things around us, I love these things because they MOVE me!
VINCENT parallels the song American Pie in that it is also an allusion. The song is NOT about Van Gogh, but Van Gogh is the allusion. Likewise, American Pie is NOT about Buddy Holly, rather dedicated to him. Buddy Holly is an allusion (not illusion, but allusion).
The name Vincent translates “the conqueror” from the Roman name Vincentius, which was from Latin vincere “to conquer”. Revelation 6:2
I ask you, whose “eyes that know the darkness in my soul” ? Van Gogh ? Or He who sees a man’s heart ? 1 Samuel 16:7
And when no hope was left in sight on that starry starry night . . . Mark 4:36 By the way, Van Gogh was shot by someone during broad daylight. It was not a suicide. He knew who did it but would not tell, likely an accident.
“You took your life as lovers often do” . . . John 5:13
“Like the stranger that you’ve met, the ragged man in ragged clothes” Matthew 25:38
Once you know what American Pie is about, you know who Vincent is .
So where did I get all this?
I just bought the book “American Pie Apocalypse”, 411 pages and it deciphers the song line for line. At the end of the book it also reveals VINCENT .
Pie in Latin means mercy/charity/love . . . do you “miss American pie” ? ? ?
So where’s the Kwan ? No, now it’s just “show me the money”.
“After the first glass you see things as you’d wish they were.
After the second you see things as they are not.
After the third you see things as they really are and that is the most horrible thing in the world.”
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