A reference to the Monotones' "Book Of Love," a hit in 1958.
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
Possible references to Don Cornell's "The Bible Tells Me So" (1955) or (more likely) the song "The Love of Jesus", by Anna Bartlett Warner, often sung in Bible schools. It's more probable that McLean picked the phrase out of thin air, however.
Do you believe in rock n' roll?
Can music save your mortal soul?
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
Slow dancing was an important part of the dating ritual at the time; the other two lines are apparently McLean's way of questioning the public's devotion to rock and roll during the crash. Bear in mind, too, that rock was a music often assaulted by religious leaders as being ungodly.
Well, I know that you're in love with him
'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym
A "sock hop," often held in high-school gymnasiums, was a significant social event for teenagers. (The identity of "him" is ambiguous. It's more probably just a rhyme for "gym.")
You both kicked off your shoes
Another reference to the sock hop, so called because teens danced in their socks so as not to ruin the floor. These were the days when dress shoes were still the norm for schoolwear.
Man, I dig those rhythm & blues
R&B was, of course, a major -- some say THE major -- influence on the development of rock and roll.
I was a lonely, teenage broncin' buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
Conveys an image of sexual independance. A "bucking bronc" is a cowboy term that refers to a bronco horse that's still wild; McLean reverses the phrase. A vehicle was a tremendously important (and still rather rare) item for a teen to own, and a pickup truck carried, then as now, special significance in Texas because of its many functions as a workhorse. Pink carnations were often what young males wore to social events in the Fifties; see Marty Robbins' 1957 hit "A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation)."
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died.
I started singin'...
