Welcome to the song of the day, where we feature a single track, whether its brand new or older than us, overlooked or overplayed, our favorite or no one’s favorite; as long as its interesting, it can be the song of the day.
Sometimes the song of the day isn’t so much a great song as it is just something. If today is your 18th birthday, then you were born on the same day that Madonna’s cover of “American Pie” by Don McLean hit no. 1 on the UK singles chart.
She recorded the cover for her film, The Next Best Thing, a movie that I have not seen but that Google tells me is about a straight woman and gay man who want to have a child together. I’m by no means a Madonna hater, but this version of the song does not compare favorably to the 1972 original, and that’s before it cuts out most of Don McLean’s verses. I wouldn’t have thought that an eight-minute song that’s essentially pop music history metaphors with a chorus about famous singers dying would have been a popular dance hit, but was no. 1 in the UK and a bunch of other European countries and peaked at no. 20 on the US Adult Top 40 chart, so I guess just never underestimate the Queen of Pop.