Can you define what you mean by religious song? Because yes, possibly, and also no, possibly

I'm not really sure because it is a song about American pop culture and how it both changes and doesn't change yet it has a lot of religious lyrics like

"The church bells all were broken/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"

And

"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"

Does religious imagery make a song religious? And it is about the evolution of American music, is it drawing a direct connection between religion and American music?

I would like to hear those strong opinions you said you have about the song in the tags though

I wouldn't consider it religious no. The main idea of the song isnt really related to religion. The only religious lyrics are supporting imagery, which is mostly just due to cultural christianity. I don't think theres any actual religious message, its just God = good thing, Devil = bad thing in the song

Hmm, Okay, I just was thinking out loud, but yeah I see what you mean, it just has the religious lyrics due to being made in America

I think there's plenty of analytical meat on the bones here though, American folk music developed by especially black southerners that evolved into the early rock and roll being mourned in the song had deeply religious roots. The song itself isn't religious but its making a meaningful statement on the relation between music and religion both in general and in American culture specifically. It's also probably worth analyzing the imagery itself (i.e. it's really not making much out of the religious aspect but the imagery itself is about as powerful as you can get, like the absence of God and the physical presence of Satan). I certainly wouldn't reduce the religious imagery down to "because it's American," there's clearly a lot of artistic intent behind it far beyond "people will recognize this."