McLean's grandfather and father, both also named Donald McLean, had roots originating in Scotland. The Buccis, the family of McLean's mother, Elizabeth, came from Abruzzo in central Italy. They left Italy and settled in Port Chester, New York at the end of the 19th century. He has other extended family in Los Angeles and Boston. Though some of his early musical influences included Frank Sinatra and Buddy Holly, as a teenager, McLean became interested in folk music, particularly the Weavers' 1955 recording At Carnegie Hall. He often missed long periods of school because of childhood asthma, particularly music lessons, and although McLean slipped back in his studies, his love of music was allowed to flourish. By age 16, he had bought his first guitar and began making contacts in the music business, becoming friends with the folk singers Erik Darling and Fred Hellerman of the Weavers.
McLean recorded Tapestry in 1969 in Berkeley, California during the student riots. After being rejected 72 times by labels, the album was released by Mediarts, a label that had not existed when he first started to look for a label. He worked on the album for a couple of years before putting it out. It attracted good reviews but little notice outside the folk community, though on the Easy Listening chart "Castles in the Air" was a success, and in 1973 "And I Love You So" became a number 1 Adult Contemporary hit for Perry Como.
McLean's major break came when Mediarts was taken over by United Artists Records, thus securing the promotion of a major label for his second album, American Pie. The album launched two number one hits in the title song and "Vincent". American Pie's success made McLean an international star and piqued interest in his first album, which charted more than two years after its initial release.
In 2004, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In January 2018, BMI certified that "American Pie" and "Vincent" had reached five million and three million airplays respectively.
His composition "And I Love You So" has been sung by Elvis Presley, Perry Como, Helen Reddy, Glen Campbell, and others, and in 2000, Madonna had a hit with a rendition of "American Pie". His other hit singles include "Vincent" (US #12, UK #1 in 1972), "Dreidel" (US #21 in 1972), a rendition of Roy Orbison's "Crying" (US #5, UK #1 in 1980), a rendition of the Skyliners' "Since I Don't Have You" (US #23 in 1980), and "Wonderful Baby" (US AC #1 in 1975).
The More You Pay
Don McLean Lyrics
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Here's a horse the likes of which you've never seen,
And the straw hats in the sun, with a face beneath each one,
Shown doubtful and the auctioneer got mean.
Do you think that you can find a horse like this every day?
I don't think there's any better on this earth,
And the more you pay, the more it's worth.
Prancin' and a dancin' in the silver sun,
They watched her from behind, as she did her bump and grind,
Walkin' naked, sad and graceful for their fun.
Oh how I wished I could afford that lady painted white,
A queen with high nobility of birth,
But the more you pay, the more it's worth.
My pockets hung with empty blues,
Silent heels were standin' on my growin' pains,
My bid was not too bad, two bits was all I had,
And the stable boy just handed me the reins.
Well the gallery went wild, and the auctioneer half smiled,
What we don't sell we shoot or give away,
'Cause the more you pay, the more it's worth.
And where was the boy, who rode on her back,
With his arms holding tight round her neck?
How tightly he clung,
When they both were young,
And fate had not let this poor girl be so
Disgraced.
The song “The More You Pay” by Don McLean is about an auction, where an auctioneer is selling a rare horse. The auctioneer boasts that the horse is one of a kind and there is no horse like it in the world. The people at the auction seem doubtful and the auctioneer becomes aggressive.
Then, a beautiful snow-white mare appears, prancing and dancing in the sun. The people watched her with admiration and envy as she did her excellent bump and grind. The singer wishes he could afford to buy the horse, but he doesn’t have enough money. He feels his pockets, which are empty, and realizes he can only bid two bits, which is not much.
When he puts in his bid, the gallery goes wild, and the auctioneer smiles. However, the singer knows that he has no chance of winning the auction. The auctioneer makes it clear that he will not sell the horse for such a low price, and if he doesn't sell it, he will give the horse away or shoot it.
The song then takes a poignant turn when the singer wonders about the boy who once rode the mare. He imagines the way the boy must have clung tightly to the beautiful horse, and he wonders what became of the boy and the mare. The song ends with a nod to the fact that beauty is often a fleeting thing, and that many once-great things end up discarded and forgotten.
Overall, the song has a melancholic yet powerful tone. The lyrics paint a picture of a world where money and power are king, and where beauty and grace are often commodified, sold, and ultimately forgotten. The song is a critique of the way that society often values things that are surface-level, rather than things that have true substance and value.
Line by Line Meaning
The auctioneer said, I'm not through yet,
The auctioneer announces that the auction is not over yet
Here's a horse the likes of which you've never seen,
The auctioneer presents a special horse that has never been seen before
And the straw hats in the sun, with a face beneath each one,
The audience under their hats, with their faces showing, begins to look uncertain
Shown doubtful and the auctioneer got mean.
The auctioneer becomes irritable as the audience looks less interested
Do you think that you can find a horse like this every day?
The auctioneer questions the rarity of the horse he's presenting
I don't think there's any better on this earth,
The auctioneer claims there is no better horse in existence
And the more you pay, the more it's worth.
The value of the horse increases with the price paid for it
Then out she came, a snow-white mare,
A white mare enters the scene
Prancin' and a dancin' in the silver sun,
The horse is seen dancing and frolicking in the sun
They watched her from behind, as she did her bump and grind,
The audience watched intently as the horse performed its maneuvers
Walkin' naked, sad and graceful for their fun.
The horse was forced to perform for the audience despite feeling exposed and unhappy
Oh how I wished I could afford that lady painted white,
The artist desires to own the beautiful white mare
A queen with high nobility of birth,
The horse is perceived as having high status
But the more you pay, the more it's worth.
The horse's value goes up with the amount paid for it
My pockets hung with empty blues,
The singer is broke and has no money
Silent heels were standin' on my growin' pains,
The artist's footsteps are muffled as he stands in discomfort
My bid was not too bad, two bits was all I had,
The artist manages to make a bid with the little money he has
And the stable boy just handed me the reins.
The stable boy gives the singer control of the horse
Well the gallery went wild, and the auctioneer half smiled,
The audience is excited and the auctioneer is pleased as the bidding goes up
What we don't sell we shoot or give away,
The auctioneer threatens to dispose of unsold horses in cruel ways
'Cause the more you pay, the more it's worth.
The auctioneer reiterates that the horse's value goes up with the price paid for it
And where was the boy, who rode on her back,
The artist wonders where the previous rider of the mare is
With his arms holding tight round her neck?
The previous rider used to hold onto the horse's neck tightly
How tightly he clung,
The previous rider held onto the horse closely
When they both were young,
The previous rider and the horse grew up together
And fate had not let this poor girl be so
The horse was not treated as poorly in the past as it is now
Disgraced.
The horse is viewed as being degraded and mistreated in its current situation
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The Goddess
No. As The Auctioneer explains "what we don't sell we shoot or give away - cuz the more you pay, the more it's worth" so the horse is given to the persona/narrator rather than shooting it to death. The Gallery goes wild in celebration that the horse will go to someone instead of being killed.