Another Look at the Past through Rose-Colored Glasses
Other elements in this verse point to McLean’s remembrance of the golden age in American history, a time of pickup trucks, sock hops, and pink carnations. Most people had started to believe that the 1950s had been a charmed moment in time, a period of unprecedented economic prosperity that followed World War II. This was a time when the majority of Americans found themselves free from many uncertainties and finally able to enjoy themselves. Purchasing automobiles, suburban homes with white picket fences, and kitchen appliances, they celebrated the achievement of the American dream. By the time the 1960s ended, this American dream had begun to fade as radical changes took the country by storm.
New England neighborhood with white picket fences (Photo by Visions of America/UIG via Getty Images)
The religious references in the second verse are most likely related to a belief that many Americans conceived in the 1950s – they lived in a country blessed by God. With the line “Do you believe in rock ‘n’ roll/ Can music save your mortal soul”, the music itself becomes an object of faith in the song, and McLean suggests that the music of the golden post-war period is a symbol of the unquestioning innocence of those times.
Now becoming a staple of the song, we encounter the theme of the sacredness of the music multiple times as the verses go on. Everything that relates to religious metaphors in the next verses refers back to the music, which in turn is a metaphor in its own right – one for the faith and innocence of the 1950s.