The song American Pie...religious?

Question

I know it speaks of religious things...but is it an analogy for something else?

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

Oh, and while the king was looking down,
The jester stole his thorny crown.
The courtroom was adjourned;
No verdict was returned.

So come on: jack be nimble, jack be quick!
Jack flash sat on a candlestick
Cause fire is the devil’s only friend.

Oh, 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.
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite,
I saw satan laughing with delight
The day the music died

And the three men I admire most:
The father, son, and the holy ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died.

?
http://www.lyrics007.com/Don%20McLean%20Lyrics/American%20Pie%20Lyrics.html

Answer 1

You can look up Don MaClean's website. He talks about how people have been dissecting American Pie for 35 years (or so) and always ask him what it means. He never gives an answer. It means whatever YOU think it means.

He says he wrote it with things in mind which were meaningful to him at that time. He used evocative poetic language. It may not mean the same to you as it did to him and that is okay. It's all good.

Answer 2

This has always been one my all-time faves...tho, considering the time the song was written, if I remember correctly, it could have been based in connotations about the Viet Nam war...wasn't that when Napalm was quite a popular jungle-clearer & village destroyer while politics was odds with itself and the People?...I think the comparison of the situation to religious beliefs was ingenious since Mom & God ruled in most hearts in the zone...death in your face makes you take note of things, doesn't it?

Answer 3

Not really. It's a commentary on the American culture at the time. I know a person who taught an entire semester of the American society based on that song. He was teaching students in France. He was honored as the best instructor of the year. I have his interpretation if it interests you.

Answer 4

I've always heard that song was about Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper dying.

Answer 5

It is about the death of Buddy Holly and Big Bopper and Richie Valens in a plane crash in 1959

Answer 6

I agree, most of the lyrics written during this time period were a result of drug induced trips, so little sense.

Answer 7

Here's a break down of the song...

http://www.rareexception.com/Garden/American.php

Answer 8

Many at that time were on drugs. The Beatles sang Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (LSD).

Answer 9

how is that an analogy? seems pretty straight forward to me.

great song, by the way

Answer 10

It sounds almost as if he is questioning religion to me.