Marking the move to the most explosive period of the 1960s, which took place between 1966 and 1969, the fourth verse mirrors the changes in culture and society:
” Helter Skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast
Now the half-time air was a sweet perfume
While sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance
‘Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?”
The Byrds perform live on stage in London in 1971. Left to Right: Clarence White, Gene Parsons, Roger McGuinn, Skip Battin. (Photo by Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns)
Becoming more pragmatic and organized under the new left, the revolution of the 1960s fragmented into numerous causes such as Black Power, women’s rights, and anti-war and counterculture movements, as well as revolutionary youth movements and progressive labor. The advent of drugs and philosophies of peace that eventually came to characterize the generation of this time in the eyes of the public marked a period of sexual and spiritual freedom.
At the beginning of this verse, McLean references the Manson murders and the song “ Eight Miles High ” by The Byrds, as well as Dylan’s motorcycle accident and how the new generation tried to take his place while he recovered on the sidelines.