Don McLean Explains ‘American Pie’

That’s not to say he finally tells us what the lyrics mean: “Carly Simon’s still being coy about who ‘You’re So Vain’ was written about. So who cares, who gives a fuck?” But he does discuss the song’s structure as a fusion of folk, rock, and old-school popular song and about the roots of its inspiration in his suburban New York upbringing and family tragedies. – The Guardian