American Pie

  G     D/F#    Em7
A long, long time ago
Am            C                  
I can still remember how that 
Em                  D
music used to make me smile
    G      D/F#   Em7
And I knew if I had my chance
     Am                 C         
That I could make those people 
       Em              C          
dance and maybe they'd be happy 
  D
for a while
    Em       Am              Em  
But February made me shiver, with
               Am
 every paper I'd deliver
C        G/B    Am             
Bad news on the doorstep, I 
C                     D
couldn't take one more step
  G          D/F#     Em          
I can't remember if I cried when I
 Am7            D
 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            
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the 
G        D
levy was dry
         G        C               
And them good old boys were 
   G           D
drinkin' whiskey and rye
        Em*                        
Singin' this will be the day that I
 A7*   Em*                      
 die, this will be the day that I 
   D7
die


[Verse 2]

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


[Chorus]

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


[Verse 3]

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


[Chorus]

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


[Verse 4]

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


[Chorus]

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


[Verse 5]

     G                Am
And there we were all in one place
    C        Am            Em    
a generation lost in space, with 
               D
no time left to start again
            G      D/F#   Em     
So come on Jack be nimble, Jack 
          Am7                 C
be quick, Jack Flash sat on a candle
       Em                   A7    
stick, 'cuz fire is the devil's 
         D
only friend
     Em*              D*          
And as I watched him on the stage,
     Em*                    D*
 my hands were clenched in fists of 
rage
   C      G/B    A7         C   
No angel born in Hell could 
               D7
break that Satan's spell
           G            D/F#      
And as the flames climbed high 
Em             Am        
into the night to light the 
      C
sacrificial rite
      G     D/F#     Em          
I saw Satan laughing with delight
      C       D7    G  C  G     
 the day the music died,   he was 
  D
singin'


[Chorus]

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


[Verse 6]

  G    D/F#       Em
I met a girl who sang the blues
      Am                 C        
And I asked her for some happy 
       Em                      D
news, but she just smiled and turned
 away
  G       D/F#      Em
I went down to the sacred store
       Am              C      
Where I'd heard the music years 
               Em                 
before, but the man there said the 
C
music
         D
wouldn't play
    Em*                Am*    
But in the streets the children 
                Em*                
screamed, the lovers cried and the 
  Am*
poets dreamed
    C     G/B      Am       
But not a word was spoken, the 
   C                     D
church bells all were broken
        G       D/F#   Em        
And the three men I admire most, 
    Am7     C             D7
the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
G             D/F#          Em  
They caught the last train for 
             C       D7    G
the coast the day the music died,
N.C.
And they were singin'


[Chorus]

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