American Pie
Words & Music:
Don McLean
G
D Em Am
C
Em
D
A long, long time ago I can
still remember how that music used to make me smile.
G D Em Am
C
And I knew if I had my chance
that I could make those people dance
Em
C D
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 Am C
D
Bad news on the doorstep. I couldn't take one more step.
G D Em
Am7
D
I can't remember if I cried
when I read about his widowed bride,
G D Em
C
D7 G C G
Something touched me deep
inside 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
Them good ole boys were
drinkin' whiskey and rye
Em
A7 Em
D7
And singing, "This'll be
the day that I die. This'll be the
day that I die.
G
Am C
Am Em
D
Did you write the book of love
and do you have faith in God above?
If the Bible tells you so.
G D Em
Now do you believe in rock and
roll?
Am
C
Em
A7
D7
Can music save your mortal
soul? And can you teach me how to
dance real slow?
Em
Am
Em
Am
Well I know that you're in love
with him 'cause I saw you dancing in the gym,
C G A7
C
D7
You both kicked off your
shoes. Man, I dig those rhythm and
blues!
G D Em
Am
C
I was a lonely teenage broncin'
buck, with a pink carnation and a pick-up truck.
G D Em
C
D7 G C
G D7
But I knew I was out of luck
the day the music died. I started singing....
CHORUS:
Now for ten years, we've been
on our own and moss grows fat on a rolling stone,
But that's not how it used to
be.
Cause when the jester sang for
the King & Queen
In a coat he borrowed from
James Dean and a voice that came from you and me.
Oh and while the king was
looking down the jester stole his thorny crown.
The court room was adjourned --
no verdict was returned.
And while Lenin read a book on
Marx the quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
the day the music died
I started singin'...
CHORUS:
Helter skelter in the summer
swelter the birds flew off with a fallout shelter.
Eight miles high and falling
fast it landed foul on the grass.
The players tried for a forward
pass with the jester on the sidelines in a cast.
The half time air was sweet
perfume while the sergeants played a marching tune.
We all got up to dance but we
never got the chance.
'Cause the players tried to
take the field, but the marching band refused to yield.
Do you recall what was revealed
the day the music died.
I started singin'...
CHORUS:
And there we were all in one
place, a generation lost in space.
With no time left, to start
again. So come on, Jack be nimble, jack be quick,
Jack flash sat on a
candlestick. 'Cause fire is the
devil's only friend.
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.
We were singin'...
CHORUS:
I met a girl who sang the blues
so I asked her for some happy news,
But she just smiled and turned
away.
I went down to the sacred store
where I heard the music years before.
But the man there said the
music wouldn't play.
And in the streets the children
screamed, the lovers cried and the poets dreamed.
But not a word was spoken. 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 they were singing...
CHORUS: