To say that
"American Pie" is a strange
song for Madonna to cover is
understatement. After all, since when was
Madonna a "lonely, teenage broncin'
buck with a pink carnation and a pickup
truck"? But then again, many of the
lyrics, particularly those about singing
and "making those people dance"
seem to fit Madonna quite accurately.
After a huge first week in the US, where
the song debuted at a remarkable #43 (the
highest airplay-only debut for a female
ever at that time), "American
Pie" quickly reached its highest
airplay position in only its third week,
and began its descent down the charts,
lasting only 9 weeks. The track peaked at
a disappointing #29. The song performed
much better on the Club Play chart where
it spent a week at #1. It is Madonna's
23rd #1 on that chart, far more than any
other artist (Janet Jackson is in second
place with roughly half of Madonna's
current total). Note that this is
actually a step down from the performance
of her four previous club singles.
Frozen, Ray of Light, Nothing Really
Matters, and Beautiful Stranger all spent
multiple weeks atop the chart (2, 4, 2,
and 2 respectively), and all hit #1 in
their fourth or fifth week on the chart,
whereas American Pie took six. The video
did relatively well on MTV and VH1,
hitting strong peaks of #6 on both. In
contrast to its weak US performance,
"American Pie" was one of the
biggest global smashes of 2000, topping
the charts in dozens of countries.
The song features William Orbit's
trademark bubbly production and a
plaintive vocal from Madonna. Madonna's
"Next Best Thing" co-star
Rupert Everett adds back-up vocals and
has a cameo in the video. The video
features Madonna dancing in front of a
large American flag, interspersed with
images of American life, including some
non-traditional images. The video shows
interracial families as well as a lesbian
couple and a gay male couple kissing.
In addition to
singing back-up vocals and appearing in
the video, Rupert Everett is the one who
suggested that Madonna record
"American Pie" for "The
Next Best Thing" soundtrack.
Initially she resisted, but then decided
to give it a try anyway. After the song
became an international smash, Madonna
declared "I guess I don't know
what's good for me!" Later, when
asked why "American Pie" was
not included on GHV2, Madonna claimed,
tongue in cheek, that she was
"punishing" the track, as she
regretted letting her record label
convince her to add the song to her
"Music" album internationally.
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