The Madonna we know today is one associated with glamor (and yes, that now extends to particularly expensive “beauty treatments”), with being “cosmopolitan.” Rarely, if ever, does she try to do much to actively remind people that she’s from the Midwest. Instead, she frequently cites New York as her “true home” because that’s the place she was really “born” as her real self (it’s more than slightly cheesy, yet she’s not the only “New Yorker” to tout this “chestnut” repeatedly). She’s also prone to straying as far as possible from anything “red state”-related.
And yet, in 2000, Madonna was perhaps feeling motivated to “unite” the nation during an election year that had already started to stoke fears among liberals of a Republican win. After all, Al Gore still had the (cum) stain of Bill Clinton on him by default, and many voters didn’t see him as being charismatic enough for the presidency (little did they know, charisma would eventually be the last requirement on people’s minds, instead just hoping for their presidential hopefuls to stand upright and/or not spew the most toxic, baseless rhetoric). To boot, the election was still somewhat far-off in the minds of the American people when “American Pie” was released on February 8th. They had no idea that, almost exactly nine months later, on November 7th, the U.S. would be sent into its first political tailspin of the century as George W. Bush refused to cede the election when the networks started to call it in favor of Gore. Instead, he leaned on Florida, saying it wasn’t over yet. Hence, “recount” would become the word of the year so late into it. But yes, before all that, it was easy to wax poetic about America through a cover of Don McLean’s classic.
To lend an even more personal touch to her William Orbit-ified version of the track, Madonna’s video was intended as a “slice of life” homage to “real” Americans. In other words, the bottom of the barrel people so often referred to derisively as “working class.” Even though Madonna’s own father, Silvio “Tony” Ciccone, was more on the middle-class side of things (he worked as an optical engineer for Chrysler and General Dynamics), it hasn’t stopped her from frequently identifying with the more “blue collar” ilk, at least for the purposes of her “working really hard to make her dream come true” lore. And she did work really hard (yeah, sucking cock!, the misogynists might say as a means to denigrate that hard work). While Tony was the height of the American dream when Madonna was a child and teenager, she then came along to top him (no sexual Electra complex reference intended) on that front. All because of the intense work ethic he instilled within her. A work ethic that one tends to see more in working-class people than middle- and upper-class ones, if only because they’re constantly saddled with more physical, grueling grunt work.
So it is that “American Pie” pays tribute to this sect of the American population: cab drivers, construction workers, a mother with her daughters, cops, gun sellers… Yes, those last two groups sound decidedly un-Madonna. And they are. Which is part of what makes this video such a unique and rare part of her oeuvre. For, along with this walk of life, she intermingles her usual bread and butter: the gays. It seems to be a move, on her part, designed to show that America is filled with so many different kinds of people who can coexist. That is, once upon a time…
Even though, looking back, the U.S. doesn’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to showcasing “harmony.” And whenever there was, it was usually belied by the numerous “separate but equal” policies of the nation. For example, the treatment of the LGBTQIA+ community (long before it had that many-lettered moniker). In 2000, gay marriage still wasn’t legal. It wouldn’t be until 2003, and that was only in Massachusetts. As a result, Madonna including so many gay couples kissing in this particular video (one duo even does it front of a church, gasp!) intermixed with “red state types” (that might have later been disgusted to find that they were featured in the same “narrative”) was a big deal. Big enough for her to cop to her Midwestern roots for just four minutes and thirty-five seconds’ worth of time (hell, she even decided to dress “average” in a Charlotte Russe-looking tank top and jeans—though the label on the latter is Cosmic Wonder).
What’s more, some of the lyrics, despite being written by McLean, are actually quite tailored to Madonna’s own story, including the lines, “I knew that if I had my chance/I could make those people dance/And maybe they’d be happy for a while.” This being the crux of what has driven her to make music for decades (well, that and an insatiable need to be loved and adored). There’s also the mention of how, “I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck” (a play on “bucking bronco,” of course). A description that perfectly suits the teenage Madonna, who felt constantly out of place and was always rebelling in insidious ways (like wearing flesh-colored tights during a performance at school to make everyone think she was pantyless). Then there are the many allusions to religion that also speak to Madonna’s Catholic upbringing, such as, “And do you have faith in God above/If the Bible tells you so?” and “The three men I admire the most, the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost…”
But more than any lyric, perhaps the most fitting for how Madonna has lived her life is: “Now do you believe in rock and roll?/And can music save your mortal soul?” Even in the darkest hours of the past forty-plus years during which she’s been in the spotlight, Madonna has always seemed to believe that it can. Especially in 2000, when life seemed fairly sinister and uncertain (though no one had any clue that, in hindsight, 2000 would feel like a cakewalk compared to 2024).
And so, perhaps in the name of “unity”—and setting it as the tone for the new century—Madonna conceded, for just one day out of life, to admit that her past was rooted in the lusterless nature of being an “average American.” Though Madonna never did look quite like any of this lot (maybe that’s why she still keeps herself separate from them via a splitscreen). Probably thanks to her strong Italian and French ancestry. But then, what’s more averagely American than being descended from immigrants?
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