Sage-Tips

What does Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry mean?

2. The line occurs in Don McLean’s song American Pie. Chevy is a Chevrolet motor car and a levy (usually spelled levee) is a pier or quay. It was dry because there was no water where there should have been.

What does the levy was dry mean?

“The levee was dry” might be taken to mean that no one has any booze there, but in the next breath we hear “them good ol’ boys were drinking whiskey and rye”. As to a levee being dry of water, that would be the normal case, so there’s no reason for the “but”.

What type of car did Don McLean drive to the levee but the levee was dry?

Chevy
“I wanted to capture, probably before it was ever formulated, a rock and roll American dream,” McLean, 69, told Reuters. McLean’s famous chorus features memorable lines like: “Bye-bye, Miss American Pie/Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry.”

What is the meaning behind American Pie song?

The song title itself is a reference to apple pie, an unofficial symbol of the United States and one of its signature comfort foods, as seen in the popular expression “As American as apple pie”. By the twentieth century, this had become a symbol of American prosperity and national pride.

Is it levy or levee?

A Final Word on Levee or Levy If you are talking about a river or flood water, you will use levee. Levee can also be used to talk about a formal reception for someone. If you are talking about taxes or military service, you will use levy.

What is an American Levey?

15 Answers 7. votes. A levee is simply a man-made embankment built to keep a river from overflowing its banks or to prevent ocean waves from washing into undesired areas.

Who wrote the song Drove my Chevy to the levy?

Don McLean
American Pie, Pt. 1/Composers

What are dirges in the dark?

Dirges are funeral songs, often sung in the dark. Another metaphor for death and dying.

How does a levee work?

A levee is a natural or artificial wall that blocks water from going where we don’t want it to go. The banks form levees made of sediment, silt, and other materials pushed aside by the flowing water. Levees are usually parallel to the way the river flows, so levees can help direct the flow of the river.

What song has the line ‘ drove my Chevy to the levee’?

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry Them good ol’ boys were drinkin whiskey and rye Singing “This’ll be the day that I die, This’ll be the day that I die.” One of Holly’s hits was “That’ll be the Day”; the chorus contains the line “That’ll be the day that I die”. “The Book of Love” by the Monotones was a hit in 1958.

What song did we start singing when we got to the levee?

We started singing bye, bye, Miss American Pie. Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry. Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye. And singin’ this’ll be the day that I die.

What does the “levee was dry” mean in the song?

The “levee” mentioned in the song therefore represents a tradition that many american males to this day recognize as a certain coming of age or rite of passage. The song speaks in a nostalgic toned narrative but its easy to draw the comparison of the “levee was dry” with some sort of anticlimax.

What does Don McLean mean by “the levy”?

Don McLean is referring to The Levy, a bar in his hometown of New Rochelle New York. That bar was also sometimes known as The Barge. When he arrived at the bar to get something to drink, good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye, but he missed last call.