Don McLean - Empty Chairs (Lyrics On Screen)
Don McLean "Empty Chairs" track six on Don McLean's second studio album 'American Pie' released by United Artists Records in October 1971.
The folk-rock album reached number one on the Billboard 200, containing the chart-topping singles "American Pie" and "Vincent". Recorded in May and June 1971 at The Record Plant in New York City, the LP is dedicated to Buddy Holly, and was reissued in 1980 minus the track "Sister Fatima". The album was released to much acclaim, later being included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
Don McLean went through some rough times, which are reflected on his American Pie album. His father died when he was just 15, and his marriage was on the rocks when he recorded the album. Faced with a bout of depression, he sympathized with Vincent Van Gogh, the Dutch painter who went insane and cut off his ear. Speaking with the UK newspaper The Telegraph, he revealed that in this song about a man who loses a love, the empty chairs are Van Gogh's paintings of a chair.
The title appears only once in the song, showing up in the last verse in the line "And empty clothes that drape and fall on empty chairs."
According to McLean, his record company wanted him to change the title to "I Never Thought You Would," since that's a prominent line in the chorus. McLean refused. "To me that wasn't what the song was about," he said.