An extended, very long time in the past, I can nonetheless keep in mind

How that music used to make me smile

And I knew if I had my likelihood

That I might make these folks dance

And perhaps they’d be completely happy for some time …

In case you’re of a sure age otherwise you’re a scholar of pop music historical past, simply studying these lyrics will probably drop Don McLean’s “American Pie” into the jukebox of your thoughts. You possibly can already hear that lonely piano accompanying McLean’s plaintive lyrics, and you realize precisely when the music kicks into the subsequent degree and also you’re able to sing together with one of many catchiest choruses of all time.

McLean’s epic poem hit No. 1 on the Billboard pop charts in January of 1972 and has been a part of the popular culture panorama ever since, promoting thousands and thousands of data worldwide; inspiring well-known cowl variations by Madonna and Garth Brooks, amongst others; turning into the centerpiece of a heartbreakingly efficient mourning sequence on “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist,” and even serving because the title (with no different connection) for a collection of raunchy comedies that grew to become so big that should you Google “American Pie,” the film exhibits up first, the music second.

Come on, Google. Present some respect!

For many years, McLean has largely declined to get into the specifics of the much-studied, usually misinterpreted lyrics to his iconic opus, however within the Paramount+ documentary “The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean’s ‘American Pie,’ ” the 76-year-old singer-songwriter takes us by means of the genesis of his pop masterpiece, corrects a variety of frequent misperceptions (“And whereas the king was trying down, the jester stole his thorny crown” had nothing to do with Bob Dylan or Elvis Presley) and supplies invaluable context to probably the most enduring and authentic items of pop music ever composed.

Director Mark Moormann skillfully weaves McLean’s biography into a bigger narrative in regards to the often-intertwining paths of the social and political modifications going down in America and the music that usually mirrored and typically influenced the tradition. It may appear a bit a lot for a single music to be the main focus of a 90-minute documentary, however on the brief listing of songs that advantage such intensive scrutiny, you’d have to incorporate “American Pie.”

McLean talks about his upbringing in New Rochelle, New York, and his early days as a musician, and the way he was impacted by the information of “The Day the Music Died,” i.e., Feb. 3, 1959, when a airplane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and “The Large Bopper” J.P. Richardson crashed close to Clear Lake, Iowa.

By the early 1970s, “The nation was in a sophisticated state of psychic shock,” mentioned McLean. “And so I mentioned, I gotta have an enormous music about America. In the future all of it got here out, like a genie out of a bottle. I knew I had a tiger by the tail.”

After a radical and well-edited chronicle of the writing and recording of “American Pie” and its influence on the tradition, we come full circle, with McLean taking part in the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake — the identical venue the place Holly, Valens and Richardson carried out their final present. In a stunning contact, McLean meets Connie Valens, Ritchie’s sister, who says, “You immortalized my brother, J.P. and Buddy. You took a horrible tragedy and made rock ’n’ roll historical past. Thanks.”