American Pie

This particularly enigmatic song has been discussed at least once a year
since Usenet had a newsgroup for discussing music. These discussions
frequently repeat themselves, but occasionally introduce new information
and new interpretations. Having tired of watching the same process repeat
itself for ten years, I've created this, the annotated "American Pie".

This posting consists of: the lyrics to the song (left-justified) with
comments (indented); the chords, for those who'd like to tackle it;
some miscellaneous notes; and references. Comments are most welcome;
comments backed up with references are *very* welcome. I have attempted
to note where the interpretation is questionable.

The roots of this posting are in the "Great American Pie" Usenet discussion
of 1983; much of it comes from wombat's (the original wombat, not me)
posting in net.music on June 16, 1985. As Robert Williams has pointed
out to me, the entire song can be viewed as one big projective test, so
interpretations vary quite a bit. I've tried to be inclusive while
also indicating which ones I buy into and which I don't; your mileage
may vary.


AMERICAN PIE by Don McLean

The entire song is a tribute to Buddy Holly and
a commentary on how rock and roll changed in
the years since his death. McLean seems to be
lamenting the lack of "danceable" music in
rock and roll and (in part) attributing that
lack to the absence of Buddy Holly et. al.

(Verse 1)
A long, long time ago...

"American Pie" reached #1 in the US in 1972, but
the album containing it was released in 1971.
Buddy Holly died in 1959.

I can still remember how
That music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance,
That I could make those people dance,
And maybe they'd be happy for a while.

One of early rock and roll's functions was to
provide dance music for various social events.
McLean recalls his desire to become a musician
playing that sort of music.


But February made me shiver,

Buddy Holly died on February 3, 1959 in a plane
crash in Iowa during a snowstorm.

With every paper I'd deliver,

Don McLean's only job besides being a full-time
singer-songwriter was being a paperboy.

Bad news on the doorstep...
I couldn't take one more step.
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride

Holly's recent bride was pregnant when the crash took
place; she had a miscarriage shortly afterward.

But something touched me deep inside,
The day the music died.

The same plane crash that killed Buddy Holly also
took the lives of Richie Valens ("La Bamba") and
The Big Bopper ("Chantilly Lace"). Since all three
were so prominent at the time, February 3, 1959
became known as "The Day The Music Died".
So...

(Refrain)

Bye bye Miss American Pie,

Don McLean dated a Miss America candidate
during the pageant. (unconfirmed)

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
Singing "This'll be the day that I die,
This'll be the day that I die."

One of Holly's hits was "That'll be the Day"; the
chorus contains the line "That'll be the day
that I die".

(Verse 2)
Did you write the book of love,

"The Book of Love" by the Monotones; hit in 1958.

And do you have faith in God above,
If the Bible tells you so?

In 1955, Don Cornell did a song entitled
"The Bible Tells Me So". Rick Schubert
pointed this out, and mentioned that he
hadn't heard the song, so it was kinda
difficult to tell if it was what McLean
was referencing. Anyone know for sure?

There's also an old Sunday School song which goes:
"Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so"

Now do you believe in rock 'n roll?

The Lovin' Spoonful had a hit in 1965 with John
Sebastian's "Do you Believe in Magic?". The song
has the lines:
"Do you believe in magic/it's like trying to tell
a stranger 'bout rock and roll."

Can music save your mortal soul?
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

Dancing slow was an important part of early rock
and roll dance events -- but declined in importance
through the 60's as things like psychedelia and
the 10-minute guitar solo gained prominence.

Well I know you're in love with him
'Cause I saw you dancing in the gym

Back then, dancing was an expression of love, and
carried a connotation of committment. Dance partners
were not so readily exchanged as they would be later.

You both kicked off your shoes

A reference to the beloved "sock hop". (Street
shoes tear up wooden basketball floors, so dancers
had to take off their shoes.)

Man, I dig those rhythm 'n' blues
Some history. Before the popularity of rock and
roll, music, like much else in the U. S., was
highly segregated. The popular music of black
performers for largely black audiences was
called, first, "race music", later softened to
rhythm and blues. In the early 50s, as they were
exposed to it through radio personalities such as
Allan Freed, white teenagers began listening,
too. Starting around 1954, a number of songs
from the rhythm and blues charts began appearing
on the overall popular charts as well, but
usually in cover versions by established white
artists, (e. g. "Shake Rattle and Roll", Joe
Turner, covered by Bill Haley; "Sh-Boom", the
Chords, covered by the Crew-Cuts; "Sincerely",
the Moonglows, covered by the Mc Guire Sisters;
Tweedle Dee, LaVerne Baker, covered by Georgia
Gibbs). By 1955, some of the rhythm and blues
artists, like Fats Domino and Little Richard were
able to get records on the overall pop charts.
In 1956 Sun records added elements of country and
western to produce the kind of rock and roll
tradition that produced Buddy Holly.
(Thanks to Barry Schlesinger for this historical
note. ---Rsk)

I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck

"A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation)", was a hit
for Marty Robbins in 1957.

But I knew that I was out of luck
The day the music died
I started singing...

Refrain

(Verse 3)
Now for ten years we've been on our own

McLean was writing this song in the
late 60's, about ten years after the crash.

And moss grows fat on a rolling stone

It's unclear who the "rolling stone" is
supposed to be. It could be Dylan, since
"Like a Rolling Stone" (1965) was his first
major hit; and since he was busy writing
songs extolling the virtues of simple love,
family and contentment while staying at home
(he didn't tour from '66 to '74) and raking
in the royalties. This was quite a change
from the earlier, angrier Dylan.

The "rolling stone" could also be Elvis, although
I don't think he'd started to pork out by the
late sixties.

It could refer to rock and rollers in general,
and the changes that had taken place in the business
in the 60's, especially the huge amounts of cash
some of them were beginning to make, and the
relative stagnation that entered the music at
the same time.

Or, perhaps it's a reference to the stagnation
in rock and roll.

But that's not how it used to be
When the jester sang for the King and Queen

The jester is Bob Dylan, as will become clear later.
There are several interpretations of king and queen:
some think that Elvis Presley is the king, which seems
pretty obvious. The queen is said to be either Connie
Francis or Little Richard. But see the next note.

An alternate interpretation is that this refers to
the Kennedys -- the king and queen of "Camelot" --
who were present at a Washington DC civil rights
rally featuring Martin Luther King. (There's
a recording of Dylan performing at this rally.)

In a coat he borrowed from James Dean

In the movie "Rebel Without a Cause", James Dean has
a red windbreaker that holds symbolic meaning
throughout the film (see note at end). In one
particularly intense scene, Dean lends his coat
to a guy who is shot and killed; Dean's father
arrives, sees the coat on the dead man, thinks
it's Dean, and loses it.

On the cover of "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan",
Dylan is wearing just such as red windbreaker,
and is posed in a street scene similar to one
shown in a well-known picture of James Dean.

Bob Dylan played a command performance for
the Queen and Prince Consort of England.
He was *not* properly attired, so perhaps
this is a reference to his apparel.




And a voice that came from you and me

Bob Dylan's roots are in American folk music,
with people like Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie.
Folk music is by definition the music of the
masses, hence the "...came from you and me".

Oh, and while the King was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown

This could be a reference to Elvis's decline and
Dylan's ascendance. (i.e. Presley is looking down
from a height as Dylan takes his place.) The thorny
crown might be a reference to the price of fame.
Dylan has said that he wanted to be as famous as
Elvis, one of his early idols.

The courtroom was adjourned,
No verdict was returned.

This could be the trial of the Chicago Seven.

And while Lennon read a book on Marx,

Literally, John Lennon reading about Karl Marx;
figuratively, the introduction of radical politics
into the music of the Beatles. (Of course, he
could be referring to Groucho Marx, but that doesn't
seem quite consistent with McLean's overall tone.
On the other hand, some of the wordplay in Lennon's
lyrics and books is reminiscint of Groucho.)

The quartet practiced in the park

There are two schools of thought about this; the
obvious one is the Beatles playing in Shea Stadium,
but note that the previous line has John Lennon
*doing something else at the same time*. This
tends to support the theory that this is a reference
to the Weavers, who were blacklisted during the
McCarthy era. McLean had become friends with Lee Hays
of the Weavers in the early 60's while performing
in coffeehouses and clubs in upstate New York and
New York City. He was also well-acquainted
with Pete Seeger; in fact, McLean, Seeger, and others
took a trip on the Hudson river singing
anti-pollution songs at one point. Seeger's LP
"God Bless the Grass" contains many of these songs.

And we sang dirges in the dark

A "dirge" is a funeral or mourning song, so perhaps
this is meant literally...or, perhaps, this is a
reference to some of the new "art rock" groups which
played long pieces not meant for dancing.

The day the music died.
We were singing...

Refrain

(Verse 4)
Helter Skelter in a summer swelter

"Helter Skelter" is a Beatles song which appears
on the "white" album. Charles Manson, claiming
to have been "inspired" by the song (through which
he thought God and/or the devil were taking to him)
led his followers in the Tate-LaBianca murders.

Is "summer swelter" a reference to the "Summer of
Love" or perhaps to the "long hot summer" of Watts?

The birds flew off with the fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast

The Byrd's "Eight Miles High" was on their
late 1966 release "Fifth Dimension". It was
one of the first records to be widely banned because of supposedly drug-oriented lyrics.

It landed foul on the grass

One of the Byrds was busted for possesion of marijuana.

The players tried for a forward pass

Obviously a football metaphor, but about what?
It could be the Rolling Stones, i.e. they were
waiting for an opening which really didn't happen
until the Beatles broke up.

With the jester on the sidelines in a cast

On July 29, 1966, Dylan crashed his Triumph 55
motorcycle while riding near his home in Woodstock,
New York. He spent nine months in seclusion while
recuperating from the accident.

Now the halftime air was sweet perfume

Drugs, man.

While sergeants played a marching tune

Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band".

Or, perhaps McLean refers to the Beatles' music
as "marching" because it's not music for dancing.

Alternatively, the "marching tune" could refer
to the draft. (See below)

We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance

The Beatles' 1966 Candlestick Park concert only
lasted 35 minutes.

Or, following on from the previous comment, perhaps
he meant that there wasn't any music to dance to.

'Cause the players tried to take the field,
The marching band refused to yield.

This could be a reference to the dominance of
the Beatles on the rock and roll scene. For instance,
the Beach Boys released "Pet Sounds" in 1966,
an album which featured some of the same sort of studio
and electronic experimentation as "Sgt. Pepper",
but the album sold poorly because the Beatles'
release got most of the press.

Some folks think this refers to either the 1968
Deomcratic Convention or Kent State.

This might also be a comment about how the
dominance of the Beatles in the rock world
led to more "pop art" music, leading in turn
to a dearth of traditional rock and roll.

Or finally, this might be a comment which follows
up on the earlier reference to the draft: the
government/military-industrial-complex establishment
refused to accede to the demands of the peace movement.

Do you recall what was revealed,
The day the music died?
We started singing

Refrain

(Verse 5)
And there we were all in one place

Woodstock.

A generation lost in space

Some people think this is a reference to
the US space program, which it might be;
but that seems a bit too literal. Perhaps this
is a reference to "hippies", who were sometimes
known as the "lost generation", partially because
of their particularly acute alientation from
their parents, and partially because of their
presumed preoccupation with drugs.

It could also be a reference to the awful TV
show, "Lost in Space", whose title was sometimes
used as a synonym for someone who was rather high...
but I keep hoping that McLean had better taste. :-)

With no time left to start again

The "lost generation" spent too much time being
stoned, and had wasted their lives? Or, perhaps,
their preference for psychedelia had pushed rock
and roll so far from Holly's music that it couldn't
be retrieved.

So come on Jack be nimble Jack be quick

Probably a reference to Mick Jagger of the
Rolling Stones; "Jumpin' Jack Flash" was
released in May, 1968.

Jack Flash sat on a candlestick

The Stones' Candlestick park concert?
(unconfirmed)

'Cause fire is the devil's only friend

It's possible that this is a reference to
the Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil".

An alternative interpretation of the last four
lines is that they may refer to Jack Kennedy
and his quick decisions during the Cubam Missile
Crisis; the candlesticks/fire refer to ICBMs
and nuclear war.

And as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in hell
Could break that satan's spell

While playing a concert at the Altamont
Speedway in 1968, the Stones appointed
members of the Hell's Angels to work security
(on the advice of the Grateful Dead). In the
darkness near the front of the stage, a young
man named Meredith Hunter was beaten and stabbed to
death -- by the Angels. Public outcry that
the song "Sympathy for the Devil" had somehow
incited the violence caused the Stones to
drop the song from their show for the next
six years. This incident is chronicled in
the documentary film "Gimme Shelter".

It's also possible that McLean views the Stones
as being negatively inspired (remember, he had
an extensive religious background) by virtue
of "Sympathy for the Devil", "Their Satanic
Majesties' Request" and so on. I find this a bit
puzzling, since the early Stones recorded a lot
of "roots" rock and roll, including Buddy Holly's
"Not Fade Away".

And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
This could be a reference to Jimi Hendrix
burning his Stratocaster at the Monterey
Pop Festival.

It's possible that this refers to the burial
of Kennedy, but I'm not sure I buy this.
For one thing, it doesn't fit chronologically,
and for another, McLean seems more interested
in music than politics.

I saw satan laughing with delight
The day the music died
He was singing...

Refrain

(Verse 6)
I met a girl who sang the blues

Janis Joplin.

And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away

Janis died of an accidental heroin overdose
on October 4, 1970.

I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before

There are two interpretations of this:
The "sacred store" was Bill Graham's Fillmore East,
one of the great rock and roll venues of all time.
Alternatively, this refers to record stores,
and their longtime (then discontinued)
practice of allowing customers to preview
records in the store.
It could also refer to record stores as "sacred"
because this is where one goes to get "saved".
(See above lyric "Can music save your mortal soul?")

But the man there said the music wouldn't play

Perhaps he means that nobody is interested in
hearing Buddy Holly et.al.'s music? Or, as above,
the discontinuation of the in-store listening booths.

And in the streets the children screamed

"Flower children" being beaten by police
and National Guard troops?

The lovers cried and the poets dreamed

The trend towards psychedelic music in the 60's?

But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken

It could be that the broken bells are the dead
musicians: neither can produce any more music.

And the three men I admire most
The Father Son and Holy Ghost

Holly, The Big Bopper, and Valens
-- or --
Hank Williams, Presley and Holly
-- or --
JFK, Martin Luther King, and Bobby Kennedy
-- or --
the Catholic aspects of the deity.
McLean had attended several Catholic schools.

They caught the last train for the coast

Could be a reference to wacky California religions,
or could just be a way of saying that they've left.
Or, perhaps this is a reference to the famous
"God is Dead" headline in the New York Times.

The day the music died

This tends to support the conjecture that the "three
men" were Holly/Bopper/Valens, since this says that
they left on the day the music died.

And they were singing...


Refrain (2x)



Chords to the song:

The song appears to be in G; the chords are:

Intro: G Bm/F# Em . Am . C .
Em . D . . .
G Bm/F# Em . Am . C .
Em . A . D . . .
Em . Am . Em . Am .
C G/B Am . C . D .
G Bm/F# Em . Am . C .
G Bm/F# Em . Am . D .
G . C . G . D .

Chorus: G . C . G . D .
G . C . G . D .
G . C . G . D .

Em . . . A . . . (all but
Em . . . D . . . last chorus)

C . D . G C G . (last chorus)


Other notes:

"Killing Me Softly With His Song", Roberta Flack's Grammy Award-winning
single of 1973, was written by Charles Gimble and Norman Fox about McLean.

The Big Bopper's real name was J.P. Richardson. He was a DJ for a
Texas radio station who had one very big novelty hit, the very well
known "Chantilly Lace". There was a fourth person who was going to
ride the plane. There was room for three, ahd the fourth person lost
the toss -- or should I say won the toss. His name is Waylon
Jennings...and to this day he refuses to talk about the crash.

About the "coat he borrowed from James Dean": James Dean's red
windbreaker is important throughout the film, not just at the end.
When he put it on, it meant that it was time to face the world, time to
do what he thought had to be done, and other melodramatic but
thoroughly enjoyable stuff like that. The week after the movie came
out, virtually every clothing store in the U.S. was sold out
of red windbreakers. Remember that Dean's impact was similar
to Dylan's: both were a symbol for the youth of their time, a reminder
that they had something to say and demanded to be listened to.

American Pie is supposed to be the name of the plane that crashed,
containing the three guys that died. (Reported by Ronald van Loon
from the discussion on American Pie, autumn 1991, on rec.music.folk)

Dan Stanley mentioned an interesting theory involving all of this;
roughly put, he figures that if Holly hadn't died, then we would not
have suffered through the Fabian/Pat Boone/et.al. era...and as a consequence,
we wouldn't have *needed* the Beatles -- Holly was moving pop music away
from the stereotypical boy/girl love lost/found lyrical ideas, and was
recording with unique instrumentation and techniques...things that Beatles
wouldn't try until about 1965. Perhaps Dylan would have stuck with the
rock and roll he played in high school, and the Byrds never would have
created an amalgam of Dylan songs and Beatle arrangements.

Lynn Gold tells me that "Life" magazine carried an annotated version
of American Pie when the song came out; does anybody have a copy?

Andrew Whitman brings a sense of perspective to all of this by noting:

>As to what they threw off the bridge, Bobbie Gentry once went on record with
>the statement that it was the mystery that made the song, and that the mystery
>would remain unsolved. Don McLean later used the same device to even greater
>success with "American Pie," which triggered a national obsession on figuring
>out the "real meaning" of the song.

Well, probably not a national obsession, but certainly the life's work
of many talented scholars. According to the latest edition of the
"American Pie Historical Interpretive Digest" (APHID), noted McLean
historian Vincent Vandeman has postulated that cheezy country
songs may have played a much more prominent role in the epic
composition than had originally been thought. In particular, the
"widowed bride," usually supposed to be either Ella Holly or
Joan Rivers, may in fact be Billie Jo. According to this radical
exegesis, the "pink carnation" of McLean's song is probably what
was thrown off the Tallahatchie Bridge, and was later found by
the lonely, teenaged McLean as he wandered drunkenly on the levee.

Of course, such a view poses problems. McLean vehemently denies any
knowledge of Choctaw Ridge, and any theory linking the two songs
must surely address this mysterious meeting place of Billie Jo and
her husband Billy Joe. Vandeman speculates that Choctaw Ridge may
have been the place McLean drove his Chevy after drinking whiskey
and rye, and that McLean may have been unaware of the name because
of his foggy mental state. Still, there appear to be many tenuous
connections in Vandeman's interpretation - Tammy Wynette as the
girl who sang the blues, the proposed affair between Wynette and
Billie Joe which later led to d-i-v-o-r-c-e and Billy Joe's
suicide, the mysterious whereabouts of George Jones, and why
McLean insisted on driving a Chevy to the levee instead of a more
economical Japanese car.

My own view is that none of it makes much sense. Vandeman's theory
is intriguing, but it seems far more logical to hold to the traditional
interpretation of "American Pie" as an eschatological parable of
nuclear destruction and the rebirth of civilization on Alpha Centauri.

If you are interested in more about Hip Hop online, check out Broot Force Music. They have a lot of stuff on their website, including New Hip Hop Music Downloads. They also have services, like mixing services, here: http://brootforcemusic.com/mixing-services/.

Thanks, Andrew. I'll take it under advisement. ;-)

Read More

Archipelagos

Table of Contents

Earth Specs 4
The Earth: A Living Wasteland 3
Getting Started 5
Hoverspace Operations 6
Purifying an Archipelago 7
Purifying Procedures 9
Know Your Botany 10
Creating Land Bridges 11
Deactivating Nodes & Obelisks 11
A Word on Necromancers 13
Beware of the B-90 14
Using Your Maps 14
Energy Maintenance 14
Survival Tips 15

THE EARTH: A LIVING WASTELAND

Where humans once danced and played, mutated apparitions now roam in
eternal torment.

Where flowers and trees once thrived, plant-like viral mutations
now ebb their contaminating way across the land. And where massive
expanses of mountains, plains, forests and deserts once hosted a myriad of
life forms, vast oceans have buried their homes.

It was man himself who turned his living playground into a living
graveyard - with poisons, plastics, and nuclear waste. He melted the polar
caps, flooding the continents. And all that's left are thousands of
decaying land masses. Masses known today as the Archipelagos.

After most of the Earth's natural resources were covered by water,
man turned back to nuclear power. He built obelisk reactors an all
inhabited archipelagos. To distribute the power, he connected the obelisks
to node stations scattered across each island.

It's hardly surprising that this nuclear system eventually began to
fail. Rising radiation levels killed what little was left of warm-blooded
animal life. The only surviving plants are eerie genetic mutations created
in an attempt to clean up the environment.

Banshee Air Purifiers howl across many of the islands. And the
disembodied souls of lost spirits, called Necromancers, dance their
bloodthirsty dance along the water's edge.

You will enter this infernal nightmare alone. And alone you'll
begin purifying the islands - one by one.

3

EARTH SPECS

LOCATION

Galaxy Milky Way
Revolutionary Center Sun #689
Distance from Center 149,600,000 km
Diameter 12,756 km

AGE 4.7 billion earth years

COMPOSITION
Surface Nickel-iron, silicates
Atmosphere 89% CO, 1% 0, 9% argon
1% unknown

REMAINING PLANT LIFE Viral Trees
Eco-Eggs
Sand Pods

REMAINING ANIMAL LIFE None

SUPERNATURAL LIFE Necromancers

HUMAN ARTIFACTS Reactor Nodes
Obelisks
B-900 Air Cleaners
(BanShees)

4

GETTING STARTED

IBM PC and Compatibles

1. Insert the correct 'Archipelagos' boot disk into the drive and from the
MS-DOS prompt, select the correct drive specifier. 2. Type "ARCHI" and
press RETURN. The game will now begin to load.

ATARI ST and Commodore Amiga

1. Turn off the computer and insert the 'Archipelagos' disk into the drive.
2. Switch the computer on. The game will now begin to load.

Entering your Classified Counter-Code

You will be asked to type in a classified counter-code from your Hoverspere
Activation Codes. You will be given the following information.

Codebook Page - 0
Alpha Code - X
Numeric Code - 00

First find the correct page. Then look for the designated letter across
the top of the chart. Now locate the prescribed number along the left side
of the chart.

The box that falls where the designated alpha column and numeric
row coincide is your counter-code. Type in this number and press the
RETURN KEY.

5

Selecting an Archipelago

You can select any archipelago provided you have already completed the
archipelago preceding it.

For example, if you have purified Archipelago #9, you can type in
Archipelago #10 and begin there.

Once you've completed Archipelago #100, you are then free to select
any archipelago from 1 to 9,999.

PURIFYING AN ARCHIPELAGO

The concept behind purifying an archipelago is really quite simple:
deactivate the radioactive node/obelisk power system.

In order to shut down an obelisk, you must first eliminate all the
nodes scattered about that archipelago. Plus, there must be a direct land
connection between all nodes and the obelisk in order to completely drain
all radioactivity. Which means that on certain archipelagos, you'll
actually have to create land bridges to let the radioactivity flow.

6

Once all your nodes are eliminated, a self-destruct timer will be
activated. You'll have 90 seconds to return to the obelisks and shut it
down. Or else the entire island will suffer from a major meltdown, taking
everything (including you) with it.

Coming in contact with contaminated surfaces always means instant
death. The oceans the surrounding coastlines have also absorbed high doses
of contamination. So hover only above normal land surfaces.

HOVERSPHERE OPERATIONS

Your Hoversphere is a silicon-plasma ball. It hovers about 10 meters above
the ground, to give you an all-encompassing 360 degree viewing and to
protect you from most poisonous ground pollutants.

Hoversphere operations have been made intuitively easy - to let you
focus your energies on the task at hand. A simple crosshair is used to
direct all hoversphere movements.

The computer display system shows you what remains of the earth's
surface. As you can see, it is now sectioned into a grid of squares. This
makes it easier for you to target locations and move across the surface.
You can move in two ways - depending on how fast and how far you wish to
travel. The two wary are:

To Move By Squares - If the crosshair is not on the screen, press the right
mouse button. Using your mouse, position the crosshair on an empty square.
Then press the left button and you'll fly to that square.

7

To Make Sweeping Pans - Press the right mouse button. (The Crosshair will
disappear). Then move the mouse left or right.

To toggle between the above modes, press the right mouse button.

Keyboard users: Use the RETURN KEY instead of the right mouse button, and
the SPACEBAR instead of the left mouse button. Move the cursor using the
cursor keys.

IMPORTANT: Because there have been different models of Plasmic
Hoverspheres, operational specs may vary. Be sure to refer to the
operational guide specific to your system.

Operations for all systems

To pan left, move the crosshair to the left edge of screen.
To pan right, move the crosshair to the right edge of the screen.
To face the opposite direction, press F3
To discharge disinfectant or to create land, press F1
To view map, press F2
To leave map mode, press the right mouse button or the RETURN key.

System-specific Operations

For IBM PC and Compatibles

To change color palette, press F5
To terminate operations, press ESCAPE
Moving in keyboard mode, use the cursor (ARROW) keys.
To toggle between pan and action modes, press the RETURN key.
To move to the square the cursor is pointing to, press the SPACEBAR.

For the Atari ST and Amiga

To terminate operations, press HELP
To turn music ON/OFF, press F7

8

PURIFYING PROCEDURES

In observing the earth's surface, you'll immediately notice a pattern of
colored squares. The colors themselves may vary depending on which type of
plasmic hoversphere your looking through. But the effects - poisonous vs.
safe squares - will be the same.

Guide to Colored Squares

For IBM PC and Compatibles
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
COLOR TYPE EFFECTS
Purple or Blue NORMAL LAND SAFE
White NORMAL SAND NO ACCESS
Pink INFECTED LAND NO ACCESS
Light Pink INFECTED SAND NO ACCESS
Cyan THE SEA NO ACCESS

For the Atari ST and Amiga
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
COLOR TYPE EFFECTS
Green NORMAL LAND SAFE
Yellow NORMAL SAND NO ACCESS
Red INFECTED LAND NO ACCESS
Brown INFECTED SAND NO ACCESS
Blue THE SEA NO ACCESS

As you can see from studying the chart above, most of the earth's surface
is unsafe. (Which is precisely why you're here.) Your hoversphere's
computer will not allow you to move to an infected, or sand square. By
removing the obelisk you'll be able to render the entire surface of an
archipelago free from hazardous materials. But in doing so, you may have
to disinfect certain areas - square by square - to be able to execute your
strategy.

To Disinfect an Infected Square - Place your crosshair on the infected
square and press F1.

9

KNOW YOUR BOTANY

Identifying plant life on earth isn't very difficult. But you should be
well aware of the dangers surrounding each type of flora.

Viral Trees

Originally created to help fight pollution, this hearty species now does
just the opposite. Not only do these trees move towards you, but they also
infect the land around them with a deadly toxin. If a square you're
standing on becomes infected, you will too.

Eco-Eggs

It's egg-like flower was designed to soak up toxic waste. Unfortunately
Eco-Eggs are extremely fragile. When one of these flowers breaks open, it
can quickly infect an entire island.

Sand Pods

The chemical resins in these low-growing, clustered plants are not too
dissimilar from the disinfectant your hoversphere uses. Since there are no
fuel stations currently on Earth, you may wish to use these plants to
refuel. (See Energy Maintenance, page 14.)

10

CREATING LAND BRIDGES

In order to work your way around an archipelago, there will be times when
you need to create land where water or sand now exists. You also need to
build land bridges to connect radioactive node points to the obelisk. (See
Deactivating Nodes & Obelisks, below)

Creating land is a two step process. First you must turn water to
sand. Then turn the sand to land.

Here's is the procedure:

1. Locate the body of water which you want to change to land.
2. Place the crosshair on the square you wish to convert and press F1.
Water will change to sand.
3. To change sand to land, press F1 again.

DEACTIVATING NODES & OBELISKS

In order to successfully purify an archipelago, you must deactivate its
obelisk. But since all radioactive nodes are linked to the obelisk, the
nodes must be destroyed first.

Also, in order for the obelisk to absorb the energy from a
deactivated node, there must be a direct land path from the node to the
obelisk. So in certain cases, you'll have to create land bridges. (See
Creating Land Bridges, above) from the node of the obelisk.

11

To Deactivate a Node

1. If necessary, create a land bridge to the obelisk. NOTE: the number of
nodes remaining to destroy will be indicated in the bottom right corner of
the screen. A tone will sound if the node is not connected to the obelisk.

2. Move towards the node until it is in range of your crosshair. (Avoid
getting any closer than three squares from the node.) 3. Place the
crosshair on the square that houses the node and press the left mouse
button. The node will now collapse, and your hoversphere will absorb its
excess energy.

To Shut Down The Obelisk

1. Once all the nodes have been destroyed, a 90-seconds-to-melt-down timer
will be activated. You must approach the obelisk as quickly as possible.

2. Place your crosshair on the obelisk's square then press the left mouse
button. (Keyboard users: use the spacebar.) 3. Congratulate yourself!
You've just purified an archipelago.

12

A WORD ON NECROMANCERS

By now you've probably heard plenty about Necromancers, those other EP's -
like yourself - who didn't make it.

Necromancers are a very recent phenomena so we haven't had time to
do a thorough study on them. But from the reports we've received there are
a few things we know for certain:

1. They're dangerous paranormal entities! Direct contact with them is
almost certain death.

2. They eat away at island edges. Which means they can quickly destroy
land bridges you've worked so diligently to create.

BEWARE OF THE B-9000 (BANSHEE)

The Banshee is an Air Cleaner placed on earth only a few decades ago. And
it's doing a very good job.

But its creators didn't forsee our coming and - unfortunately -
didn't build a discrimination device into it. Which means that the Banshee
attempts to clean up everything. Including you!

The best way to handle them is simply to avoid them. A strange
moaning sound should alert you to their presence.

13

USING YOU MAPS

To help you figure out where you are - and where you need to go, your
hoversphere is equipped with a system that can generate a map of any
archipelago.

To access the map, press F2.

ENERGY MAINTENANCE

Throughout your mission on Earth, you'll continuously be using precious
energy. Disinfecting or creating land drains energy rapidly.

Fortunately, every time you destroy a node, you'll absorb its
excess energy. But that won't always be enough. So here's another method
of energy maintenance:

1. Locate a cluster of Sand Pods. (See Know your Botany, page 10).

2. Place the cursor on a square with Sand Pods and press the left mouse
button.

3. Absorb the Sand Pod's energy and your energy bar should increase.

14

SURVIVAL TIPS

Remember to point at the square, not the object.

Sand Squares - whether infected or not - DO NOT LINK the nodes to
the obelisk. But land squares, even infected ones, DO LINK the nodes to
the obelisk.

When traveling across a vastly infected area (red), disinfect a
square to give yourself a safe place to move from.

The terra-formed moon you see always hangs low in the norther sky.
Use it to orient yourself.

Deactivate the node closest to the obelisk last. That way you
won't have to worry about having enough time to get to the obelisk when the
90-second self-destruct timer goes off.

Necromancers can't cross water. So when confronted with a
persistent Necromancer, create an island or peninsula to try and lure him
away from the shore. He may then become permanently stranded out there.

Fortunately, you can usually hear the screaming Banshees before you
can see them. This gives you time to get out of their path. You'll have
to act fast, because these are the fastest moving objects in all the
Archipelagos.

When creating land bridges for the purpose of linking nodes to the
obelisk, remember that linked squares must share one side. Diagonal
connections will not suffice.

Lightning may cause Eco-Eggs to explode.

15

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How To Start Developing Your Fan Base As A Hip Hop Artist Now

What used to be the best ways to get famous, or at least get some fame at all, in the Hip Hop game? The number one thing artists used to do was send in demos to the famous record labels and hope that someone notices you out of the millions of demos sent in every year. If you wanted any recognition at all, you probably had to perform countless shows locally as well. You could have went to the local radio station and hoped to get played if the DJ liked you. Luckily, today holds a completely different Hip Hop industry. Nowadays you can create an even bigger buzz using tactics that are ten times easier. This article will show you some great ways to build your buzz!

The number one thing you must do as a Hip Hop artist today is generate a buzz online. The number one place people listen to new music is the internet. There are plenty of radio stations that stream music online that have open submissions for music that they play. You can even find hundreds of music-based communities to submit your music to, get reviews, and gain new fans. Getting yourself out in as many outlets as possible is the best way to generate a buzz. The internet happens to be the biggest outlet that you can put your music on and gain thousands of new fans, with the right amount of talent and music, of course.

Don't get me wrong, doing shows locally is still a great way to generate a buzz. Performing at local concerts and building yourself online is necessary, since you need more than just a local buzz though. So, how do you generate a buzz online? After all, there is a lot more competition online than there is locally. Lucky for you, this article will show you a great way to market your music online. If you aren't using social media sites yet to market your music, you are definitely doing something wrong!

Twitter, Youtube, and Facebook should be your top priorities when it comes to marketing yourself online. You need to post your music and videos on Youtube all the time, and make sure you are staying active with the community as well. Get out there, comment on other musicians' videos, collaborate like crazy, which can build a great fan base, and keep at it. Posting videos with links to free music downloads is a great idea every once in a while as well. Every new video you put on Youtube should be posting to Facebook and Twitter, so your followers and fans can get it right away. Do whatever you can to get a huge following on Facebook and Twitter, including posting on many Hip Hop forums. You can find plenty of these types of forums by just searching for Hip Hop Forums in Google or Bing.

Some of the newest faces in Hip Hop, like Hopsin, have generated almost all of their fans through the internet. If you want to be the next act to do so, you need to have good music and a willingness to market yourself. If you find that you can't market yourself online, there are thousands of marketing agencies out there waiting to help you. I'm sure there are plenty out there that will even give you discounts if they like your music. Good luck with the music career!

If you are interested in more about Hip Hop online, check out Broot Force Music. They have a lot of stuff on their website, at http://brootforcemusic.com. They also have services, like logo design, here: http://brootforcemusic.com/graphic-design-services/.

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