American Pie

[G]     [D/F#]    [Em]
A long, long time ago
[Am]            [C]                  [Em]                  [D]    [Dsus4] [D] [Dsus2] [D]
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
    [G]      [D/F#]   [Em]
And I knew if I had my chance
     [Am]                 [C]                [Em]              [C]            [D]    [Dsus4] [D] [Dsus2] [D]
That I could make those people dance and maybe they'd be happy for a while
[Em]             [Am]             [Em]                [Am]
  But February made me shiver, with every paper I'd deliver
[C]        [G/B]    [Am]             [C]                        [D]
Bad news on the doorstep, I couldn't take one more step
  [G]          [D/F#]     [Em]           [C]              [D]
I can't remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride
[G]         [D/F#]       [Em]
Something touched me deep inside
    [C]       [D]     [G]
The day the music died
 
 

 
   [G]    [C]        [G]        [D]
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
         [G]            [C]             [G]         [D]
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
         [G]        [C]                  [G]           [D]
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
        [Em*]                         [A7*]  [Em*]                         [D7]  [D7sus2] [D7] [D7sus4] [D7] [D7sus2] [D7]
Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die
 
 

 [G]                 [Am]
Did you write the book of love
       [C]                 [Am]         [Em]           [D]
And do you have faith in God above, if the bible tells you so?
[G]      [D/F#]        [Em]
Do you believe in rock and roll
    [Am7]            [C]              [Em]                 [A7]           [D]
Can music save your mortal soul and can you teach me how to dance real slow?
       [Em*]                  [D*]                   [Em*]             [D*]
Well I know that you're in love with him 'cuz I saw you dancin' in the gym
    [C]           [G/B]      [Am]           [C]                    [D7]
You both kicked off your shoes, man I dig those rhythm and blues
        [G]      [D/F#]     [Em]                   [Am]                   [C]
I was a lonely teenage bronckin' buck with a pink carnation and a pickup truck
    [G]     [D/F#]    [Em]              [C]       [D7]    [G]  [C]  [G]         [D]
But I knew I was out of luck the day the music died,  I started singin'
 
 

 [G]    [C]        [G]        [D]
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
         [G]            [C]             [G]         [D]
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
         [G]        [C]                  [G]           [D]
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
        [Em*]                         [A7*]  [Em*]                         [D7]
Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die
 
 

 
         [G]                   [Am]
Now for ten years we've been on our own
      [C]                   [Am]          [Em]                     [D]         [Dsus4] [D] [Dsus2] [D]
and moss grows fat on a rolling stone but that's not how it used to be
          [G]     [D/F#]            [Em]
When the jester sang for the king and queen
     [Am7]                [C]                   [Em]             [A7]          [D]
in a coat he borrowed from James Dean in a voice that came from you and me
         [Em*]                 [D*]               [Em*]                 [D*]
Oh, and while the king was looking down, the jester stole his thorny crown
     [C]        [G/B]   [A7]       [C]                [D7]
The courtroom was adjourned, no verdict was returned
          [G]         [D/F#]  [Em]             [Am]           [C]
And while Lennin read a book on Marx, the quartet practiced in the park
    [G]       [D/F#]   [Em]               [C]       [D7]    [G]  [C]  [G]        [D]
And we sang dirges in the dark the day the music died,   we were singin'
 

 [G]    [C]        [G]        [D]
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
         [G]            [C]             [G]         [D]
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
         [G]        [C]                  [G]           [D]
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
        [Em*]                         [A7*]  [Em*]                         [D7]
Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die
 
 

 [G]                   [Am]
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
[C]                      [Am]                 [Em]                     [D]
the birds flew off with a fallout shelter, eight miles high and fallin' fast
      [G]   [D/F#]  [Em]
It landed foul on the grass
      [Am7]                [C]            [Em]                             [A7]     [D]
the players tried for a forward pass, with the jester on the sidelines in a cast
         [Em*]               [D*]                  [Em*]                 [D*]
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume, while sergeants played a marching tune
[C]          [G/B]      [A7]      [C]                  [D7]
We all got up to dance, but we never got the chance
         [G]        [D/F#]     [Em]             [Am]                  [Cm]        [C]
'Cuz the players tried to take the field, the marching band refused to yield
[G]         [D/F#]      [Em]               [C]       [D7]    [G]  [C]  [G]           [D]
Do you recall what was revealed the day the music died,   we started singin'
 

 [G]    [C]        [G]        [D]
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
         [G]            [C]             [G]         [D]
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
         [G]        [C]                  [G]           [D]
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
        [Em*]                         [A7*]  [Em*]                         [D7]
Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die
 
 
 
     [G]                [Am]
And there we were all in one place
  [C]          [Am]                  [Em]               [D]          [Dsus4] [D] [Dsus2] [D]
a generation lost in space, with no time left to start again
            [G]      [D/F#]    [Em]             [Am7]                 [C]
So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
      [Em]           [A7]             [D]
'cause fire is the devil's only friend
     [Em*]              [D*]               [Em*]                    [D*]
And as I watched him on the stage, my hands were clenched in fists of rage
   [C]      [G/B]    [A7]         [C]                  [D7]
No angel born in Hell could break that Satan's spell
           [G]            [D/F#]      [Em]             [Am]              [C]
And as the flames climbed high into the night to light the sacrificial rite
      [G]     [D/F#]     [Em]                [C]       [D7]    [G]  [C]  [G]       [D]
I saw Satan laughing with delight the day the music died,   he was singin'
 
 

 [G]    [C]        [G]        [D]
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
         [G]            [C]             [G]         [D]
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
         [G]        [C]                  [G]           [D]
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
        [Em*]                         [A7*]  [Em*]                         [D7]
Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die
 

 [G]       [D/F#]     [Em]
I met a girl who sang the blues
      [Am]                 [C]               [Em]                  [D]
And I asked her for some happy news, but she just smiled and turned away
[G]         [D/F#]     [Em]
I went down to the sacred store
       [Am]              [C]                        [Em]                  [C]
Where I'd heard the music years before, but the man there said the music
          [D]
wouldn't play
    [Em*]                [Am*]                    [Em*]                  [Am*]
And in the streets the children screamed, the lovers cried and the poets dreamed
    [C]     [G/B]      [Am]          [C]                     [D]
But not a word was spoken, the church bells all were broken
        [G]         [D/F#]  [Em]           [C]                      [D]
And the three men I admire most, the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
[G]               [D/F#]       [Em]                [C]       [D]     [G]
They caught the last train for the coast the day the music died,
N.C.
And they were singin'
 

 [G]    [C]        [G]        [D]
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
         [G]            [C]             [G]         [D]
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
         [G]        [C]                  [G]           [D]
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
        [Em*]                         [A7]   [Em*]                         [D7]  [D7sus2] [D7] [D7sus4] [D7] [D7sus2] [D7]
Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die
                  [G]    [C]        [G]        [D]
They were singin' bye, bye Miss American Pie
         [G]            [C]             [G]         [D]
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
         [G]        [C]                  [G]           [D]
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
        [C]                [D7]         [G]   [C]   [G]
Singin' this will be the day that I die