American Pie

Cherry

By jennifer

Thu, 17 Apr 2025
  • 177 reads
11 comments
 
American Pie (Edited Version)
 
Jennifer Pickup, 17.04.2025
 
Four decades plus since I first heard
those piano chords behind the opening words,
and that shiver…it never fades.
The record player in the lounge
would spin that favoured record round and round, and round,
and you and I would sing along.
I’m not pretending, even now,
that I’d have every word off pat, and I don’t think
we two ever did, come to that!
There is a tape of us somewhere,
way back before I ever had a worldly care,
singing like fools, our voices shared.
Before I trod the road to school,
I learnt to love a song so much it hurt my soul,
and, thanks to you, that is still true.
Yesterday, on the radio,
it played from start to finish on the morning show,
and the memories, they did flow.
Though all these years lie in between,
whenever I hear that song, it’s just like a dream –
for, once again, you’re here with me…
And now, I’m singing to a ghost –
I still can’t believe the last train steamed away and
took the man I admired the most.
I find the L.P. in its sleeve,
turn on the record player from the seventies –
magical, it still sounds pristine.
And, in a voice for you and me,
like the jester, I sing for the past that has been,
for I won’t let this music die…
Certificate PG
Poem
Hurricane Warning (2025)
Autobiography

Comments

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Oh! Jennifer, I know exactly how you feel. My dad's favourite song was Sunny Afternoon by the Kinks, of course going back to the early 60s.

Your poem reminded me of my of late beloved dad. I really enjoyed reading and I hope you treasure those memeories always.

Lovely read and a great tribute to your late dad.

By the way that's a lovely photo of you both.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by jennifer on

Sunny Afternoon - another wonderfully evocative song!

I love how music has that power to transport us to a time and a place. My musical tastes have evolved over time, but I still love my Dad's music collection - Don McLean, Simon and Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell...We played Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel at his funeral, another fond favourite that always moves me when I hear it. (And I also love Disturbed's cover of The Sound of Silence!)

J x

 

Submitted by marandina on

Inconic song, great poem.

There's nothing like music to evoke memories. 

The significance is brought home through your words.

Just lovely.

 

Submitted by jennifer on

It's funny how, as a child, you don't realise the significance of songs and music - you love them at face value. Then, when you grow up, you discover more layers, more meaning, but the core of it is that you connect with others over a love of music. Some music you don't always love, some music stays with you in your heart forever. And some music, it's hard to tell if it's the music itself or the memory it evokes that you love - Oasis reminds me of my secondary school days, Green Day, Aerosmith, and Guns n' Roses were a big part of my soundtrack to college. At the moment, my soundtrack is RØRY.

J x

 

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

This is so powerful Jennifer (as are all special songs) but I'm so sorry you're going to have to do some editing on this one. Apparently only a maximum of three words are tolerated from song lyrics - anything more and we run the risk of a problem with their copyright lawyers (lyric owners are really bad for this). I hope you can find a creative way round this, and it's such a shame but as you know, we don't have the funds for being sued. You will also need to edit within our 24 hour takedown policy.

 

Submitted by jennifer on

Thank you. Edit complete!

J x

 

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

Thank you Jennifer!

 

Submitted by Sooz006 on

Beautiful. 

And very clever. Cracking poem. 

My partner often finishes his last set with American Pie, and I dislike it because I've heard it so often.  And when he learns a new song, I hear it a million times, so now I only recommend songs that I don't like for him to learn.  :)

 

Submitted by jennifer on

Oh no! Too much of a good thing!

But does it ever flip? Do you ever recommend a song that you don't like to start with, and then fall in love with it because you love his version of it, or it just grows on you?

J x

 

Submitted by steve-r on

Good Poem Jennifer, I always get a little disappointed when they play the short version on the radio.

Not disappointed with your version :) Thanks.

Submitted by Mark Say on

American Pie was one of the first songs to really stir my soul in my early teens, and it's touching to read of it in the context of a strong emotional connection like this.