American Pie Misheard Lyrics - "Rythmic" blues

Don McLean sings rhythmic blues, not "rhythm and blues."  

  In 1972 Don McLean released the classic hit American Pie.  But one line is misheard by nearly everyone. 

In the first verse he laments seeing another boy dancing with his girl in the high school gym, realizes he is "out of luck." Feeling down, he digs those rhythmic blues. It's a pun.

If you listen closely, especially on earphones, you can clearly hear the "c" sound at the end of the word. And you hear the short i of "rhythimic" vs. the uhnd sound had he sung rhythm and blues. 

Rhythmic blues also makes much better sense lyrically. He is "digging" those rhythmic blues, not digging those rhythm and blues, which would be a trite line. McLean is making a clever play on words, one of many in the song.

They jury is still out on "whiskey in Rye" (NY) versus "whiskey and rye."  Since he lived in New Rochelle, a few miles south of Rye, it's possible he did sing whiskey in Rye.  You can listen to it thinking, "It's in Rye" and it sounds like it. But if you listen and think it's "and rye" then it sounds like that.

But it's rhythmic for sure!