"A long, long time ago," Don McLean began writing those famous words that are known the world over.
It's now been half a century since American Pie - all eight and a half cryptic minutes of it - and to celebrate he has announced a 50th Anniversary American Pie Tour.
The legendary singer-songwriter will play a fully-seated concert at Dublin's 3Arena on October 7 2022 to commemorate "the day the music died".
One of America's most enduring artists, McLean is enjoying being back in Ireland again, despite continuous Covid testing.
"I certainly don't have this disease," says the 76-year-old, who credits taking 5,000mg of vitamin C a day for his good health.
As well as spending his youth playing gigs in small clubs and coffee houses, McLean was a successful five-string banjo player, called upon to play on a number of studio records.
These include those of jazz and blues singer Leon Redbone and Irish folk group The Clancy Brothers - something he still credits as a "great honour".
"I love the Clancy Brothers and actually practiced banjo playing to their records, so when I got a call to play on their Greatest Hits record I was so ready," he reminisces.
"They were re-recording 25 of their most popular tracks and I played on three or four of them, including the Irish Rover."
McLean recorded his first album, Tapestry, in Berkeley, California in 1969.
As he was singing And I Love You So inside the studio, student riots were going on outside.
The album achieved some commercial success, but his transition to international stardom began in 1971 with the release of his second, which earned him two number one hits - Vincent and the title track American Pie.
Covered by everyone from Madonna to boxer Tyson Fury, American Pie is one of the most analysed songs in history.
McLean's handwritten manuscript of the lyrics was auctioned by Christie's, selling for just over $1.2 million.
Many believe American Pie was inspired by the death of Buddy Holly in a plane crash in February 1959 and whilst there is a general agreement that the song is about the cultural and political decline of the US in the 1960s, there have been many theories over who McLean was referring to in his lyrics.
The Vietnam war, social revolution, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, JFK, Mick Jagger, Martin Luther King, Charles Manson, Hells Angels, The Beatles, hallucinogenic drugs, God, the Devil... they're all in there, aren't they?
Not quite ready to reveal the full meaning behind the song, McLean hints that some of the ambiguity will be cleared up in a biography and documentary movie which he hopes will be released later this year to celebrate the song's 50th anniversary.
"I think it will be very interesting to people who are still interested in this song," says McLean.
"How it was written, why it was written and what each verse was hoping to accomplish will all be in the movie."
A children's book and animated features about the song and a Broadway musical are also in development.
And whilst he isn't planning on appearing on Broadway himself, he is very much involved. "If I don't like it, it won't happen," says McLean, who says the musical could take another three years to make.
One thing he did reveal, though, was that it wasn't him driving the "Chevy to the levee", in the song.
"I never had a Chevrolet. I have a BMW and three horses and am happy with that," he laughs.
American Pie could be summed up as a melodic metaphor for the state of America in the mid-1960s. And I ask McLean if he believes the song is still representative of the country he lives in today.
"American life is a lot different now. People's behaviour has become more uncivilised as time has gone on. It's sad to say, but people don't seem to care how they look or dress much, and they are eating a lot of the wrong things, which is certainly contributing to diseases like diabetes," he says.
"I don't think we've been heading in the right direction and I don't think the majority of the population is even aware of what the government are doing. If they want to have a war in Afghanistan they couldn't care less. That's not the way it used to be."
Over the decades, the star has seen many changes in the music scene - not least the advent of the internet and streaming. It is something he has embraced, establishing a Don McLean YouTube channel and uploading 11 of his albums and 173 tracks digitally.
"I think it's great. And if the artists can get more money from it I'm in favour of that," he says.
When it comes to his favourite decade he looks back to the start of his career as his highlight - knockbacks and all.
"The people I met and experiences I had were probably the most interesting during that decade of the 1960s when I was an unknown," he says.
"I was going to school at the same time as learning how to be a musician and getting closer and closer to making a record album and breaking through as an artist.
"Of course, some of the best music ever was produced during the 1960s, which was very inspiring. As a result I would challenge myself as a songwriter to do more and more to be as good as those making music at the time."
He isn't particularly complimentary about today's music, however: "I don't understand it. There is no depth. Most of it is packaging and about being very bombastic on stage."
So no balloons, glitter or smoke effects at his anniversary show next year?
"No, but I don't mind big screens and big amplifiers. If you give me enough amplification I could go up against anybody. The key is moving air," he boasts.
And will Irish audiences get to hear him sing his highly original interpretation of The Mountains of Mourne?
"When the time comes to do the touring I am always ready, but I don't really think about set lists or things like that," he explains.
"Mountains O' Mourne was on my Playin' Favorites album in 1973. It was a bag of songs I just felt like singing. I heard the song sang by The Kingston Trio when I was young and liked it."
"Then I heard Frank Hyde cover it around the time I was making that record. He sang the fourth verse about Diddy McClaren, and that made me really want to do the song," he adds.
Health and pandemics permitting, McLean says 2022 won't be his last visit to Ireland.
"I don't know if I'm going to do any more touring, but I will come over for two or three bigger shows and definitely hope to play Belfast again."
:: Don McLean's 50th Anniversary American Pie Tour plays Dublin's 3Arena on October 7 2022. Tickets from Ticketmaster.ie.
