Legendary 'American Pie' singer blasts 'disingenuousness' of Hollywood's present-day politics

Singer-songwriter Don McLean "a long, long time ago" etched a spot for himself in the pantheon of music legends when his story-song chart-topper “American Pie” was released in 1971.

A folk singer at heart, McLean's tune about "the day the music died" — i.e., the 1959 small plane crash that took the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson (aka the Big Bopper) — and the tumultuous times the United States went through during the 1960s became a darling ditty for the protest-heavy hippie counterculture.

But McLean doesn't seem to feel that same spirit from today's culture.

In an interview with WFPK-FM, host Kyle Meredith asked McLean if "what we're going through" as a society and the "current politics of the day" influence his songwriting right now. And McLean answered with a definitive "no" — and then some.

“I think there’s a lot of disingenuousness around now,” he said. "And I think it was more sincere when we were dealing with our friends and buddies being killed in Vietnam.”

Without specifically mentioning the well-known phrase #MeToo, McLean hammered one example of Tinseltown's response to the widespread movement against sexual harassment.

“To have people in Hollywood all dressing in black as if they’ve suddenly discovered the casting couch after 60 years ... is a laugh," McLean said.

Here's the full interview. The relevant portion begins at the 4:15 mark:

(H/T: Consequence of Sound)