*Another New Game*

This one is called "One Hit Wonders" I'm sure you all know at least one but...are you too shy to post? Or...are you all just prima donnas thinking...Really? I so do not need to post on the main boards?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N03Uoj6p9QA

When this was first released in the 60's I never paid much attention to the lyrics but now.....OMG... some of the predictions seem really old already and...we're only on 2015 so......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................this space is reserved for your one hit wonder..

Let me be obvious. This man was eclipsed by his daughter the first month of Hannah Montana. He also got more play on her show than he ever did in his own time. Except for this song, the most popular line dance song of the early 90s: Billy Ray Cyrus, Achy Breaky Heart.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=byQIPdHMpjc

Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs, by Brian and Michael in 1978 was a tribute to the artist L. S. Lowry. Lowry died 2 years previous to this.

I remember singing a comedy version at school. It went "..he fell down on his can, his aerosol went bang, and all they found was a flat can and wooden clogs!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVR-PyRC4io

Enjoy!

My senior year English teacher praised these lyrics

https://youtu.be/pgScpzXzupA

From Wikipedia:

Don Mclean's tombstone had an inscription with words from the fourth verse of his song:

What a way to live a life, and what a way to die

Left to live a living death with no one left to cry
A petrified amazement, a wonder beyond worth

A man who found more life in death than life gave him at birth.

I remember taking a bunch of Japanese students line dancing one time and Achy Breaky Heart was played more than once...twice...maybe even thrice....they all had a ball BTW!

Michael...LS Lowry is one of my favourite artists...I have serveral copies of his work.

Mike....Is there some secret in the lyrics to American Pie? I have no idea what it's about but have read several 'theories'.

Another blast from the past that made me laugh...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFtLONl4cNc

Most agree the day the music died was in reference to the plane crash that took Buddy Holly Bob Dylan is thought to be the Jester that stole Elvis Presley's thorny crown . I don't know all of the metaphors lol

Mmm...very good thoughts Mike and...I would like other people to add their thoughts too...full lyrics which have had me wondering for many a year..

A long long time ago
I can still remember how
That music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while

But February made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step

I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
Something touched me deep inside
The day the music died
So

[Chorus]
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
Do you believe in rock and roll?
Can music save your mortal soul?
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

Well, I know that you're in love with him
'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues

I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died
I started singin'

[Chorus]
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Now, for ten years we've been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rolling stone
But, that's not how it used to be

When the jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me

Oh and while the king was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned

And while Lennon read a book on Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died
We were singin'

[Chorus]
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
And singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Helter skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast

It landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast

Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance

'Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?
We started singin'

[Chorus]
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
And singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again

So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
'Cause fire is the devil's only friend

Oh and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in Hell
Could break that Satan's spell

And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died
He was singin'

[Chorus]
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away

I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn't play

And in the streets the children screamed
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken

And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died
And they were singing

[Chorus]
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

They were singing
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die

Read more: Don McLean - American Pie Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Here's what we thought back when it came out:

Agree that the music died was Buddy Holly, Richey Valens & the Big Bopper dying.
The widowed bride was Jackie Kennedy.
The issue about the bible and rock & roll was the reaction to John Lennon saying the Beatles were bigger than Jesus, yet rock & roll lived on.
The ten years we've been on our on were the tumultuous sixties and early seventies; fat growing on the Rolling Stones was not only the Stones' commercial sell-out but also the co-opting of the social revolution back into the mainstream.
Dylan, the jester, actually did sing for the queen in England. His coat was rebelliousness and he spoke for a whole generation.
When Elvis, the king, was drafted Dylan surpassed him in popularity. The verdict was the whitewash of the Warren Report on Kennedy's assassination.
Helter Skelter refers to Sharron Tates' murder by Charles Manson's cult. The birds were the Byrds who electrified Dylan's Tambourine Man. Eight Miles High, also Byrds, refers to the mass use of drugs, especially hallucinogens.
Next, the war in Vietnam, hugely unpopular and which forced Johnson to resign (landed foul). The forward pass was the hope Bobby Kennedy gave, but he was shot before even getting the chance.
The jester on the sideline was Dylan who'd nearly died in a motorcycle crash & had removed himself from political action.
The players were the protesters at Grant Park @ the 1968 Democratic Convention while the marching band was Mayor Daley's police who brutally put down the protest on national TV. What was revealed was the corruption at the heart of politics.
A generation lost in space all in one place: Woodstock.
Jack & his fire: the Watts riots burning the ghetto.
No angel born in hell: the Hells Angels (hired as security at the Free Concert at Altamont) killed a man during the Stones' performance.
The flames stanza is Jim Morrison with his satanic obsessions finally dying of an overdose. Satan laughing was for Jimi Hendrix's death as well.
The girl was Janis Joplin, completing the death trio.
The Sacred Store was the Filmore East which closed with the Allman Brothers in 1971.
The children, poets & lovers were the massive demonstration against the Vietnam War in Wash DC; they weren't even acknowledged as being there by President Nixon but the police locked hundreds up. Not even the Courts helped.
The final passage refers to the loss of religion by much of American youth and the sellout of televangelists (last train to the coast).
The chorus pretty much describes a good weekend growing up in the South USA. Many counties were "dry" but we still managed to get booze.
American Pie is the hopes of a generation; bye bye is their disillusionment.

Whatever that song is about, it's a master class, melodically and lyrically; always loved it.

Yeah, I have no idea if all that is what McLean meant, but we generally thought it was.
BTW, Roberta Flack arrived in Denver one day & heard a local singer's composition on the radio. She immediately bought the rights to the song & made it a hit. Killing Me Softly With His Song was about American Pie.

Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

Couldn't choose between that (you're welcome) or..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlItMpGYQTo

The 2nd video is the one that all my friends pulled me out on the dance floor whenever it came on. They're real sweet. lol.

I like Larry's interpretation . I just realized the role Sharron Tate played in Valley of the Dolls . We would not think of saying Alice in Wonderland promoted the drug culture .https://youtu.be/WANNqr-vcx0
My mother read the book titled Helter Skelter because of a cousin murdered by the Manson cult . Music an lyric is a very powerful medium . We all have a choice how any medium influences or personal life

If the link does not work google
Jefferson Airplane "White Rabbit

https://youtu.be/eq-4WBs3eno

Wow Larry! Thanks for the decoding...surely this must make Don Maclean the king of Metaphors? What about the chorus...drove my chevy to the levee but the levee was dry? What do you think that part meant?

An Australiana one hit wonder which is quite catchy...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMdbVHPmCW0

Hey Ya stands out in my mind as the musical part of the remake of The Flight of the Phoenix that had more special effects and comedy than the one Jimmy Steward stared in lol

"Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" is a song by the Canadian folk rock group Crash Test Dummies, It was released in October 1993 as the first single from their second album God Shuffled His Feet. It was very successful all around the world, peaking at number one in Germany, Australia and on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks chart. It also became a top five hit in both the UK Singles Chart and the U.S.

https://youtu.be/GaUqpnHvua8

Then the crash test dummies allowed weird al to inject more humor

https://youtu.be/cCbg3_Yp8dg

Would you believe this song made #1 in 15 countries...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFacWGBJ_cs

Heard It Through the Grapevine
- California Raisins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qozjbbEv9zY

Knock on Wood - Amii Stewart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAbq_qkzFR0

Super tramp was whipping then out about the time I was discovering the power of infatuation

Give a little bit
https://youtu.be/YzktQty-sbU

then...
the logical song ....

https://youtu.be/fBoYZqmcZuc

"When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful,
A miracle, oh it was beautiful, magical.
And all the birds in the trees, well they'd be singing so happily,
Joyfully, playfully watching me.
But then they send me away to teach me how to be sensible,
Logical, responsible, practical.
And they showed me a world where I could be so dependable,
Clinical, intellectual, cynical.

There are times when all the world's asleep,
The questions run too deep
For such a simple man.
Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned
I know it sounds absurd
But please tell me who I am.

Now watch what you say or they'll be calling you a radical,
Liberal, fanatical, criminal.
Won't you sign up your name, we'd like to feel you're
Acceptable, respectable, presentable, a vegetable!

At night, when all the world's asleep,
The questions run so deep
For such a simple man.
Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned
I know it sounds absurd
But please tell me who I am."

Too Shy -Kajagoogoo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsjzcT1QKYs

Check out the hairdos LOL!!!

MacArthur Park - Richard Harris

Don't leave this song out in the rain - it'll melt

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=macarthur%20park%20youtube&es_th=1