American Pie

G     D    Em7
A long, long time ago,
Am            C                
I can still remember how that 
Em                   D
music used to make me smile
    G           D    Em7
And I know that if I had my chance,
     Am                 C         
That I could make those people 
       Em              C           
dance and maybe they'd be happy for 
D
a while

[Instrumental]
(absolute, not relative to capo)
E|-------------------------|----
B|----------16-------------|----
G|-------15----15----------|-13-
D|-13-17----------17-13-17-|----
A|-------------------------|----
E|-------------------------|----

E|---------------------|    
B|---------------------|    
G|------------------15-| x4 
D|17-13-15-13-17-13----|    
A|---------------------|    
E|---------------------|    

[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          Em
Now do you believe in rock and roll
           Am7*            C      
Think that music save your mortal 
        Em                A7   
soul if you will teach me how to 
             D
dance real slow?

[Verse 3]
       Em                  D      
Well I know that you're in love 
               Em              D
with him  'cuz I saw you dancin' in 
the gym
    C           G        A7      
You both kicked off your shoes, 
     C                    D7
man I dig those rhythm and blues
Continues after the ad
        G      D       Em        
I was a lonely teenage broncin' 
           Am                   C
buck with a pink carnation and a 
pickup truck
    G      D     Em              
But I knew I was out of luck the 
C       D7    G  C  G
day the music died, I 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

[Instrumental]
(relative to capo)
E|-------------------------|---
B|-------------------------|---
G|-------------------------|---
D|-0--------0--------------|---
A|-------------3--------3--|-2-
E|-------------------------|---

E|-------------------------|    
B|-------------------------|    
G|-------------------------| x2 
D|-------------------------|    
A|h3p2p0-2--0--2--0--------|    
E|-------------------------|    

[Verse 4]
  G     D        Em
I met a girl who sang the blues
      Am                 C        
And I asked her for some happy 
       Em                          
news, but she just smiled and turned
D
 away
       G         D      Em
Then I went down to the sacred store
          (G)             (Am)  
(G)             (C)               
 (Em)
          Am              C   
Where I'd heard the music years 
                  Em               
before, but the man there said the 
  C
music
         D
wouldn't play

[Verse 5]
         Em                 Am    
Well now in the streets the 
                 Em              
children screamed, the lovers cry 
   Am
and the poets dream
    C     G        Am       
But not a word was spoken, the 
   C                     D
church bells all were broken
                                    
 G
        G         D   Em         
And the three men I admire most, 
    Am7     C            D7
the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
G               D          Em   
They caught the last train for 
             Am7     D7    G
the coast the day the music died,
D7
We started singin'

(Chorus x2)
D7
We started singin'
D7
We started singin'
D7
We started singin'
D7
We started singin'