People ask me if I left the lyrics open to ambiguity. Of course I did. I wanted to make a whole series of complex statements. The lyrics had to do with the state of society at the time.
Don McLeanI had asthma when I was a kid, asthma so bad that it would turn into pneumonia and I almost died several times. Nobody knew why back then, but now it's obvious.
Don McLeanAs I watched him on the stage, my hands were clinched in fists of rage. No angel born in hell, could break that Satan's spell.
Don McLean