On the list of Worst Ways to Spend $1.2 Million Dollars, buying Don McLean's original manuscript to the 1971 classic "American Pie" is probably in the top fifty, if not top ten. You can buy a house or a speedboat or a flock of exotic birds for a fraction of that kinda money, but some dummy would rather just have an old stack of papers.

The Associated Press reports that an unnamed bidder bought the manuscript and notes to "American Pie" in an auction at Christie's on Tuesday. The buyer spent over one million dollars on sixteen pages of "the original working manuscript and typed drafts of the song."

McLean said writing "American Pie" was like "a mystical trip into his past," the AP reports. Here's a video of the song (with Lyrics), which we will gratefully provide to you for free. Interpret them however you see fit.


Image via AP. Contact the author at dayna.evans@gawker.com.