American Pie

1. A piss-funny movie that still defines every actor who was in it almost a decade later ("hey, it's that dude/chick out of 'American Pie'"), and gave the world Steve Stifler, the man every guy wanted to be, and every girl wanted to be with. 2. American Pie, the song, is a cultural atrocity from one-hit-wonder Don McLean. The reason this song is so popular is a mystery. It's one of those indulgent, over-long, over-blown, pompous efforts that says more about the singer than the object of the song. Too complex for its own good (there are a million interpretations of the lyrics), yet contains some apparently random passages which seem to have been selected just to make a rhyme. A birthday-and-wedding staple in Australia, it contains enough references to booze and Chevys to make it popular with the younger crowd even almost 40 years later. It usually comes on near the end of the night and when it does, you're supposed to stand in a circle, put your arms around each other's shoulders and sway as though you're taking part in some sort of special experience (see also Dancing Queen, The Gambler and Khe Sanh). Personally, I only like it because it gives me 8 minutes to go outside for a dart, grab a drink and get back on for the next song. Most unfortunately, the fact that it's a tribute to dead rockers has saved it from the bucketing that it truly deserves.