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The world-famous hit by American singer-songwriter Don McLean (b. 1945) is officially called ‘Vincent’, but is more often referred to by the opening line 'Starry, Starry Night'. McLean says he was reading a biography of Vincent van Gogh when he stumbled upon the idea of composing a song about him.
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- Bart Herbison: Don McLean, one of the greatest that ever wrote in any language or put a finger on an instrument. Let me tell you how great this song is, as if you don’t already know.
- Don McLean: That’s exactly the way I felt when I heard “Heartbreak Hotel” in 1956. I guess I was 11. We used to gather around and play the new record with a group of kids, listening to the new album by somebody they liked.
- BH: It literally feels like it was yesterday. Jon’s across the room by the sliding glass doors and we both just look up and look at the radio (surprised).
- DM: It was back to that “American Pie,” album, which didn’t have “American Pie” (the song) at the time because I hadn’t written it. I was in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
- Confronting Mental Illness
- ‘Starry Night’
- Returning to “Vincent”
“Vincent” revealed a truth about Van Gogh many may not have known or openly discussed when it was originally released as a single in 1972. Now, I understand what you tried to say to me And how you suffered for your sanity And how you tried to set them free They would not listen, they did not know how Perhaps they’ll listen now McLean’s lyrics addre...
Don McLean first came across Van Gogh’s story while working a gig playing guitar and singing in schools during the fall of 1970, and came across a biography of the reclusive artist. McLean was immediately pulled into Van Gogh’s life story, which inspired him to write a song in tribute to the misunderstood artist. You took your life as lovers often ...
Following the success of McLean’s No. 1 hit “American Pie,” in 1972, “Vincent” reached No. 1 on the U.K. charts and peaked at No. 2 on the Adult Contemporary and No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. In collaboration with the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit in Los Angeles and the International Society for Bipolar Disorders, in 2022, McLean filmed a ne...
- Senior Writer
- 4 min
McLean wrote the lyrics in 1971 after reading a book about the life of Van Gogh. It was released on McLean's 1971 American Pie album; the following year, the song topped the UK Singles Chart for two weeks, and peaked at No. 12 in the United States, where it also hit No. 2 on the Easy Listening chart.
The words and imagery of this song represent the life, work, and death of Vincent Van Gogh. The opening line, "Starry, starry night," refers to A Starry Night , one of the Dutch impressionist's most famous paintings.
Jan 31, 2024 · One morning, when the unprecedented success of the album seemed almost implausible, he came across a biography of van Gogh’s life. “Suddenly,” he recalled, “I knew I had to write a song arguing that he wasn’t crazy.” Ahead of producing his own, McLean sat down with van Gogh’s – a print of The Starry Night. With bright blues and ...
Feb 24, 2010 · When McLean sings of the dead painter seeing into the darkness of his own soul, he’s asserting a kinship of creativity, a shared sensitivity to life’s beauty and pain. Van Gogh painted the...
