The Day the Music Died, February3, 1959.

[11 Bravo]

Rest in Peace Ricardo Valenzuela, J. P. Richardson, and Buddy Holly. (I was only 8, but to this day I can remember my Mom crying in the kitchen.)

[VelmaD]

1. I adore Buddy Holly

My momma played his music all the time when I was little. She was only 17 when he and Richie and the Big Bopper died and she was devestated. It was the music of her high school dances.

I went to Texas Tech for 4 years out in Lubbock and got to make repeated pilgramages to the statue of him they have there.

[Bertha Venation]

2. bad news on the doorstep

I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried
when I read about his widowed bride
but something touched me deep inside
the day the music died

RIP

[11 Bravo]

4. Did you know that the "widowed bride" reference was to

Jackie Kennedy? McLean was trying to explain how two of the seminal events of his lifetime affected him differently.

[Bertha Venation]

8. I didn't!

But that song is so packed with such references, I'm not a bit surprised.

[TheMightyFavog]

3. For the obligatory song we all know and love...

A long long time ago
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while
But February made me shiver
�@�@with every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died
So...

*Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singing this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
Now do you believe in rock and roll?
Can music save your mortal soul?
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

Well, I know that you're in love with him
'cause I saw you dancing in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues
I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died
I started singing(*)

Now, for ten years we've been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rolling stone
But that's not how it used to be
When the jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me
Oh and while the king was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned
And while Lenin read a book on Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died
We were singing(*)

Helter skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
Landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance
'Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?
We started singing(*)

Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again
So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
'Cause fire is the devil's only friend
And as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in hell
Could break that Satan's spell
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died
He was singing(*)

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn't play
And in the streets the children screamed
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire most
�@the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died
And they were singing(*)

[NightTrain]

11. Don't presume that we all love it

Personally, I can't stand the damned thing!

[Djinn]

12. personally I prefer

the version an australian radio station used to play years ago

drove the holden to the goulburn
but the goulburn was dry
and good ol boys are drinkin' stubbies of Vic
singing this'll eb the day that I'm sick

[OneTwentyoNine]

5. The CAA report of the crash....

http://yes.co.th/buddyholly/aircraft-investigation-report.html

One thing strange is that they mention the prop as being at the cruise setting. The aircraft took off in crap,windy,gusty weather and probably overweight although its not mentioned. The last thing you want to do in that situation is start pitching the prop into a cruise postion when you need max RPM for climbing.They were no where near a cruise altitude.

David

[geniph]

6. I've wondered for years

just where Buddy would have gone musically had he lived. The influence from those few short years of his life is immeasurable - what if he had lived, and continued to innovate? How different would music be today?

[jimbo fett]

7. Is Justin Timberlake the musical heir to Holly? Hmmm....

Who knows what Buddy Holly would've done had he lived.

[Kat45]

9. It gets pretty depressing hearing that phrase every year on

your birthday. The one notable event on my birthday: "the day the music died." Bummer.

[NightTrain]

10. Someday, I'll have to get back to my novel, "The Day The Music Lived."

I started writing it in 1997, got about 100 pages into the manuscript, and set it aside. Haven't looked at the bloody thing since.

The premise is that the plane stays in the air on 2/03/59 and makes a bumpy but safe landing. From that point, the novel followed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper through their respective lives. By the time I put the book aside, I was up to the summer of 1962.

I really oughta get back to work on it!