He picked up old forms common in folk music both Irish and American, which in turn echoed traditions of romantic poetry: long, rhymed epics that tell compelling, often dark, spiritual, and mysterious narratives which gain momentum in meter, with slowly unfolding force.īut in American popular music, few songwriters wrote epics, and none ever attempted anything so bold as to describe the rise and fall of rock & roll in an infectious and expansive radio-friendly pop song.
Sure, Bob Dylan had written multiverse songs that blew our minds with expansive, poetic lyrics before this. Which is only one reason why Don McLean’s “American Pie” remains such a remarkable song.
Which is no small feat: there are so many disparate aspects to songwriting one must master before gaining the knowhow, power and ability to write any song well, so it makes perfect sense.Įven those undisputed geniuses of song, from Gershwin, Stephen Foster, Woody Guthrie and Hank Williams to Dylan and The Beatles, Paul Simon and beyond, all had to master the form itself before doing their greatest work. Mostly the mission becomes about working within the form, and the challenge of discovering something new within this limited space. Stretching the form itself – that is something rarely tried mostly. They’re busy enough just trying to write a good song. Most songwriters don’t try to do anything new.
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