American Pie
Don McLean

INTRO
  G     D/F#     Em7 
A long, long time ago
Am            C                    Em               D
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
     G      D/F#    Em7    
And I knew if I had my chance
      Am                C                Em              C           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               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       D7    G
The day the music died

CHORUS
   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 ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
        Em                        A7
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
Em                        D7
This'll 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 'cause I saw you dancin' in the gym
    C                    Am            C                    D 
You both kicked off your shoes, man, I dig those rhythm and blues
        G      D/F#    Em                   Am                   C
I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck with a pink carnation and a pickup truck
    G      D/F#   Em             C       D7    G    C    G
But I knew I was out of luck the day the music died
 
I started singin'

REPEAT CHORUS
         G                    Am
Now, for ten years we've been on our own
    C                     Am          Em                     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              Am           C             D
The courtroom was adjourned - No verdict was returned
          G      D/F#   Em               Am                C
And while Lennon read a book on Marx the quartet practiced in the park
    G       D/F#   Em              C       D7    G    C    G
And we sang dirges in the dark the day the music died

We were singin'

REPEAT CHORUS

G                   Am
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
C                     Am                    Em                   D
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter - Eight miles high and falling 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                Am         C                D7
We all got up to dance, but we never got the chance
           G       D/F#     Em                 Am            C
'Cause the players tried to take the field the marching band refused to yield
   G       D/F#    Em               C       D7    G   C    G
Do you recall what was revealed the day the music died?

We started singin'

REPEAT CHORUS

        G                   Am
Oh, and there we were all in one place
  C          Am            Em                   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                     D7
Oh and as I watched him on the stage my hands were clenched in fists of rage
   C             Am         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
I saw Satan laughing with delight the day the music died

He was singin'

REPEAT CHORUS
 
CODA
  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             D
Where I'd heard the music years before but the man there said the music wouldn't play
    Em                 Am                     Em                    Am
And in the streets the children screamed, the lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
    C              Am           C                     D
But not a word was spoken - the church bells all were broken
        G     D/F#   Em               Am7     C            D7
And the three men I admire most - The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
G           D/F#           Em                 Am7    D7    G    C    G
They caught the last train for the coast the day the music died
N.C.
And they were singing

REPEAT CHORUS 2x and END
   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 ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
        Em                        A7
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
Em                        D7
This'll be the day that I die