article_snippet.sent: I'm going to be 70 this year," the singer and songwriter said in February.
article_snippet.sent: Don McLean has said that the opening lines were inspired by the death of Buddy Holly, but after that, it's all been conjecture -- which hasn't stopped a marching band's worth of analysts from trying to parse the symbols in the 8-minute, 33-second opus.
article_snippet.sent: Is the jester Bob Dylan?
article_snippet.sent: The "girl who sang the blues" Janis Joplin?
article_snippet.sent: Over the years I've dealt with all these stupid questions of 'Who's that?'
article_snippet.sent: These are things I never had in my head for a second when I wrote the song.
article_snippet.sent: the song catapulted the former folk singer to headliner status.
article_snippet.sent: the song hit No. 1 in early 1972, despite the song length.
article_snippet.sent: (The 45-rpm single split the song in half on the song A and B sides.)
highlights_snippet.sent: The song is dense with symbolism; Don McLean says lyrics, notes will reveal meaning .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: "Pie" is Don McLean's biggest hit, was No. 1 in 1972 .