♪ DROVE MY CHEVY TO THE LEVY WITH THE LEVEE WAS DRY ♪♪ >> Tucker: IT'S BEEN A MOST YEAR SINCE'S BE 21 WAS NEVER ONE TRANCE IN AMERICA, BUT STILL UBIQUITOUS. EVERYWHERE. SOMETIMES THE LYRICS EVEN GET REFERRED TO ON CABLE NEWS SHOWS. >> THAT IS THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY'S POSITION. IF YOU'RE NOT SOLD YET, IF YOU SUSPECT THERE ARE SOME LINKS MISSING FROM THAT LOGIC CHAIN, NANCY PELOSI HAS SOMETHING PEOPLE A DENSE CLUSTER OF FAMILIAR PHRASES DESIGNED TO CONVEY THE IMPRESSION THAT WERE FOUND FOR THINKING IS TAKING PLACE. LIKE THAT OLD DON McLEAN SONG, "DROVE MY CHEVY TO THE LEVEE BUT THE LEVEE WAS DRY." DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING, BUT IT KIND OF MOVES YOU ANYWAY. >> Tucker: THEN WE STARTED THINKING ABOUT IT, AND WE REALIZE MAYBE THAT IS NOT FAIR. "AMERICAN PIE"'S LYRICS MAY MEAN SOMETHING. TO FIND OUT, WE GO TO THE MAN WHO WROTE THEM. PROBABLY THE MOST FAMOUS SONGWRITER IN THIS COUNTRY, DON McLEAN JOINS US TONIGHT. MR. McLEAN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING ON. >> THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. I WATCH YOUR SHOW OFTEN. >> Tucker: THANK YOU, I APPRECIATE THAT. THIS IS A QUESTION EVERY PERSON WHO HAS EVER DRIVEN ON AN AMERICAN INTERSTATE HAS ASKED HIM OR HERSELF. WHERE IS THE LEVEE, AND WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? WHAT DO THE LYRICS MEAN? >> WELL, CAN I JUST TAKE A MOMENT AND EXPLAIN, THERE ARE MANY POEMS AND SONGS IN FOLK MUSIC, CERTAINLY, THAT ARE NOT PARTICULARLY, EXACTLY PROSAIC. THAT'S WHY THEY ARE POETRY. BUT I HAVE AN IDEA -- I HAVE NO IDEA FOR A BIG SONG ABOUT AMERICA, AND I DIDN'T WANT TO WRITE "THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND," OR SOME SONG LIKE THAT. I CAME UP WITH THIS NOTION THAT POLITICS AND MUSIC FLOW PARALLEL TOGETHER, FORWARD, THROUGH HISTORY. 'S OF MUSIC YOU GET IS RELATED SOMEHOW TO THE POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT THAT IS GOING ON. >> Tucker: YES. >> AND IN THE SONG "AMERICAN PIE," THE VERSES GET SOMEWHAT MORE DIRE EACH TIME, UNTIL YOU GET TO THE END. BUT THE GOOD OLD BOYS ARE ALWAYS THERE, SINGING, SINGING "BYE, BYE, MISS AMERICAN PIE" COME ALMOST LIKE FIDDLING WHILE ROME IS BURNING. THIS IS ALL IN MY HEAD. IT STARTED TO TURN OUT TO BE TRUE, BECAUSE YOU NOW HAVE A KIND OF MUSIC IN AMERICA THAT IS REALLY MORE SPECTACLE, IT WAS MORE TO LIBERACE THAN IT DOES TO ELVIS PRESLEY. AND IT IS SOMEWHAT MEANINGLESS AND LOUD AND BLOVIATING, AND THEN WE HAVE THIS SORT OF SPECTACLE IN WASHINGTON, THIS KIND OF POLITICS, WHICH HAS GOTTEN SO OUT OF CONTROL. AND SO, THE THEORY SEEMS TO HOLD UP. AGAIN, IT WAS ONLY MY THEORY, AND THAT IS HOW I WROTE THE SONG. THAT WAS THE PRINCIPLE BEHIND IT. >> Tucker: SO HE SET OUT TO WRITE, AS YOU SAID, A BIG SONG ABOUT AMERICA. AND BOY, DID YOU SUCCEED. 50 YEARS LATER, YOU KNOW, IT'S ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS SONGS EVER WRITTEN IN ENGLISH, AND ONE OF THE MOST RESILIENT AND RESONANT. WE ARE STILL LISTENING TO IT EVERY DAY. WHAT KIND OF REACTION DO YOU GET FROM PEOPLE TO THE SONG NOW? >> WELL, THE SONG HAS BEEN PART OF THEIR LIVES NOW. YOU KNOW, I'M PART OF THEIR LIVES. AND THE ALBUMS THAT I MADE IN THE 1970s GO ALONG WITH THAT, BUT OF COURSE, THE KINGPIN IS THE SONG "AMERICAN PIE" THE SONG "AMERICAN PIE." AND REALLY, ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME IN MY SHOW. I SING THE AMERICAN SONGBOOK, SONGS THAT I'VE WRITTEN, WHETHER IT IS "CASTLES IN THE AIR," "I LOVE YOU SO," ALL OF THE SONGS -- >> Tucker: "HUNTER WOOD." >> ALL ROADS LEAD TO "AMERICAN PIE" AT THE END, USUALLY, AND IT'S A SUMMING UP OF EVERYTHING THAT IS GOING ON. I DON'T REALLY DO A SET, YOU KNOW, I'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR SO MANY YEARS, THAT I KIND OF MAKE UP A NEW SHOW EVERY NIGHT. BUT I JUST TELL YOU ONE THING ABOUT YOURSELF THAT I'VE NOTICED? AND THAT IS THAT YOU DO SOMETHING THAT NOBODY ELSE DOES. YOU GET A GUEST ON, AND THEN YOU ASK THEM A CORE QUESTION, AND I THINK THAT NOBODY ELSE DOES THAT. IT'S A VERY WELL THOUGHT OUT QUESTION, AND NINE TIMES OUT OF TEN, THE GUEST CAN'T ANSWER IT, WHICH MAKES IT VERY AMUSING AND FUN, BECAUSE YOU DON'T GET INTO THE WHOLE THING GOING EVERYWHERE HE WANTS YOU TO GO, YOU MAKE THEM COME TO THAT QUESTION, AND THAT IS VERY PHILOSOPHICAL. THAT IS SOCRATIC. AND I LOVE THAT. I THINK THAT IS TERRIFIC. >> Tucker: I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT. THE BASICS ARE WHAT MATTERS TO ME. I'M A VERY BASIC PERSON. DON McLEAN, IT IS AN HONOR TO HAVE YOU ON TONIGHT. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I CAN'T TELL YOU THE NUMBER OF TIMES I THOUGHT ABOUT YOU ALONE
