'American Pie' singer Don McLean talks true meaning of his 50-year song

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"American Pie" singer Don McLean has been belting out his classic for the last 50 years. McLean recently spoke to Fox News Digital, and shared the compliment he received from country music legend Garth Brooks, who is featured in a new documentary "The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean’s ‘American Pie.'" The project, which premieres on Paramount+ Tuesday, focuses on McLean and his verse "the day the music died." "He said it's probably one of the greatest songs in music history," McLean shared. "And he says a lot of wonderful things in the movie.

And it's a very personal expression of his love for the song, going back to when he was a little boy. He feels the song in some way is a parallel to his career and his life in music that somehow the song brought him into that."   Singer-songwriter Don McLean writes the iconic song "American Pie" circa 1970 in this image provided from his personal photo collection. (Don McLean Archive Collection) Of the expression, McLean said, "Well, the day the music died, is metaphor for death, of course, but for the death of the spirit, music is the equivalent to spiritual life." "And so, you know, if the music dies, the spirit dies," he added, before sharing the meaning behind the tune. "And so each verse of ‘American Pie’ adds another layer of the story that happened on that day that the music died.

It's all poetic, really. It's not prose, you know, it's meant to be taken in metaphorical terms. A lot of that song, like a lot of songwriting." "The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean’s 'American Pie'" is streaming exclusively on Paramount+. ( Paramount+) McLean went on to talk about what went into the making of "American Pie." Don McLean performs "American Pie" for its 50th.