In 1972 the great Irish balladeer Don McClean introduced the song "American Pie." It was and still is a classic. The song is full of symbolism and even to this day almost thirty years after the song was first introduced, McClean will not reveal the real meanings behind much of that symbolism.
In that song, he sings about "the day the music died." What did he mean by that? Years ago a newspaper reporter offered his opinion about what that phrase meant and it soon became part of a cultural myth. I was one of those who thought the reporter's interpretation was fact, when he was actually wrong. Many people today still believe the reporter's interpretation is the true one. It isn't.
I can tell you what McClean did NOT mean by the expression "the day the music died":
He did NOT mean the death of Buddy Holly or of Billy Holiday.
He did NOT mean the introduction of the pink WTS songbook in 1966 called "Singing and Accompanying Yourselves With Music in Your Hearts," (aka "The Songbook From HELL!" Although, I think that songbook should take second place since it also epitomizes the concept "the day the music died.")
So what did McClean actually mean by "the day the music died?" I know the answer because I listened to an interview with Don McClean on the radio about a week ago and he revealed it then.
There are no prizes and no penalties for participating. We don't DF, or "publically reprove" for wrong answers and we don't give out elder appointments for right answers. Honest!
Farkel, takin' his Chevy to the levee
"I didn't mean what I meant."