Don McLean is selling the original manuscript and lyrics to pop anthem American Pie , including a 'lost verse ' , which included a line about the music being 'reborn ' . The singer-songwriter 's 16-page collection is expected to fetch up to $ 1.5million ( £1,006,303 ) at auction today , which offers tantalising new details about the famous anthem , originally released in 1971 . In an interview published by Christie 's auction house New York , where the manuscript is up for grabs today , McLean says American Pie is about 'heading in the wrong direction ' . Scroll down for video . Original song : Christie 's curator Tom Lecky holds the 16-page notes and manuscript for singer Don McLean 's American Pie at Christie 's auction house in New York . “ It is becoming less idyllic . I do n't know whether you consider that wrong or right but it is a morality song in a sense . ' It has long been known that the song about 'the day the music died ' refers to February 3 , 1959 , when rock n ' roll icon Buddy Holly and fellow singers Ritchie Valens and J.P. 'Big Bopper ' Richardson died in a plane crash . The eight-minute-long song was released in 1971 and was a No . 1 U.S. hit for four weeks in 1972 . McLean , 69 , a longtime Maine resident , says writing the song was ' a mystical trip into his past . ' Legendary singer : The original manuscript also reveals a deleted verse , which was crossed out and never recorded , where McLean , now 69 , writes about music being 'reborn ' . Loss : American Pie mourns the death of late-50s rock n ' roll icon Buddy Holly , who died in a plane crash on February 3 1959 , aged just 22 , which is what McLean refers to as 'the day music died ' Tragedy : J.P. 'Big Bopper ' Richardson and Ritchie Valens also died in the crash alongside Buddy Holly . The original manuscript also reveals a deleted verse , which was crossed out and never recorded , about music being 'reborn ' . It includes the lines ' I dropped to my knees and there I prayed and I promised him everything I could give . 'If only he would make the music live , ' according to the Telegraph . American Pie had a revival in 2000 when Madonna covered the song to promote the soundtrack to her flop film The Next Best Thing . Despite the Queen of Pop describing the cover as 'something a certain record company executive twisted my arm into doing ' in 2001 , her version of American Pie became a global chart hit . Christie 's New York is estimating that the American Pie manuscript will sell for $ 1million to $ 1.5million .
Original lyrics to McLean pop anthem American Pie up for auction today . Notes on Don McLean 's 60s hit expected to fetch up to $ 1.5million . The 16-pages also includes deleted verse about music being 'reborn ' .