Is the jester Bob Dylan? The football game Vietnam? The “girl who sang the blues” Janis Joplin? (One thing’s certain: Buddy Holly’s plane was NOT named “American Pie.”)

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.

Over the years, “American Pie” has become one of the most dissected and argued-about songs in the pop music canon. I want to get the best deal that I can for them. “I have two children and a wife, and none of them seem to have the mercantile instinct. “I’m going to be 70 this year,” the singer and songwriter said in February. 'American Pie' manuscripts set to hit auction block