It’s telling that even though I’ve never listened to this record before in my life, I know every single word of the excellent title track. It’s not an accident that American Pie is still in heavy rotation on radio stations across the country–every word (of all six verses!) is perfect, and the shifting arrangement, from piano country ballad to honky tonk rock to acoustic ballad, mix together to create a song that’s as epic as it is intimate, and as timely as it is timeless, because let’s face it: how many people who love this song are still torn up about Buddy Holly?