Vincent (Starry Starry Night) Lyrics

Lyric discussion by archagon 

Cover art for Vincent (Starry Starry Night) lyrics by Don McLean

I can't find a single mention of this reference on Google, so I thought I'd post it here for posterity:

The "silver thorn" line is referring to Oscar Wilde's short story "The Nightingale and the Rose", in which a nightingale <spoiler alert> pierces its heart with the thorn of a rose in order to turn it red, so that a student may give it to a girl he likes. However, the girl rejects him, and the boy angrily throws the rose into the gutter.

Song Meaning