‘I wouldn’t mind a techno version of ‘American Pie’, I like techno’: Don McLean in concert

Don McLean has been asked to explain the lyrics of 'American Pie' an "infinite" number of times but he never has. "It takes the magic away from the song," he says, quite reasonably. He once said, again quite reasonably, that all the song meant to him was "I never have to work again".

"That was my little joke," he says. "It stops people from asking."

How about Madonna's version of the song? "That was like Christmas to me as a publisher, from a business point of view." Yeah, is it a good version? "You know, she put her whole reputation on the line. It's funny how much abuse she takes. And she just takes it. I'm for anything that sounds good. I wouldn't mind a dance version or a techno version. I like techno."

New Yorker McLean (64), as you may have guessed, has quite a wry sense of humour. "I try to tell the truth in interviews," he explains. "I'm like a child sometimes and, you know, I've gone so much farther than I ever thought I would. When I was starting out in the late 1960s in the coffee-house folk scene, all I wanted was not to have to work for somebody. I've sung 'American Pie' with Garth Brooks at the Lincoln Memorial in front of a million people. That song has become a mantra for him. I've had an amazing life."

Three years ago, McLean's official biography was published. His friend Alan Howard had written it – with his blessing. "I wanted to get the first shot at telling my story and telling it accurately. I have de-emphasised some things, exaggerated other things and left some stuff out completely. I was in complete control. Publishers want kiss-and-tells these days but there are things I don't want to talk about. I don't want to talk about my failings. I work hard."

Titled Killing Us Softly With His Songs (after he unwittingly inspired the lyrics to the song made famous by Roberta Flack), McLean clearly fears being misrepresented.

"The internet is great and all but the speed with which untruths go around is amazing," he says. "I remember this myth going around that Buddy Holly's plane was called American Pie. I mean, that's complete rubbish. I invented the phrase American Pie – and I copyrighted it."

McLean's second most famous song, 'Vincent (Starry Starry Night)', was also culled from his 1971 sophomore album. "I didn't become a one-hit wonder," he says. "I became a two-hit wonder." But given what's been learnt about Van Gogh's life and death in the intervening 40 years (that he had epilepsy; that perhaps he didn't cut his own ear off), is the story of the song maybe contributing to these myths McLean so detests?

"I wrote that song having no knowledge of anything and it scored all over the world," he says. "Today to be able to sing a slow ballad with complete control is a lost art. I recently read that Van Gogh's brother had the same illness as he did. I just loved his paintings and was in a particular frame of mind when I wrote it. It makes me think of Greta Garbo. I'm a lot like Greta Garbo. I want to be left alone. I want to be left alone with my wife and children. Maybe I have the same sensibilities as Garbo. I'm certainly not a modern guy and that's the way I like it. A large part of me can be found in the 1950s."

McLean hasn't stopped recording over the past few decades, keeping the great American songbook of Woody Guthrie, Marty Robbins et al close to his heart. His latest album is called Addicted to Black, a tongue-in-cheek allusion to the lack of colour in celebrity culture. It features among other things an ode to Dwight Eisenhower. "I'm lost in the 1950s," he says. "It's when everything happened. Eisenhower was an extraordinary president. He won WWII and warned us about the military industrial complex which was a great thing to do."

So will it, as he's suggested, really be his last album? "It's been on my mind. I don't like the music business anymore. I don't like how new artists sound. There are no record companies anymore. They all want part of your touring money, merchandising, publishing, everything. I have all that. The industry just does not exist anymore. Kids don't have the ability to write songs anymore. It's become a sideshow for freaks."

Don McLean plays the Grand Canal Theatre, Dublin, on 9 May