American Pie

G     D/F# Em         Am            C      
1. A long long time ago I can still remember      
               Em                                D             
How that music used to make me smile      
         G       D/F#   Em      
And I knew if I       had my chance      
        Am                         C                                 
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/B     Am             C                   D      
Bad news on the doorstep, I couldn't take one more step      
  G       D      Em                   Am                    D      
I can't remember if I cried, when I read about his widowed bride      
      G               D              Em           C          D7       G    C   G      
But something touched me deep inside, 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 drinking whiskey and rye      
        Em                        A7   Em                        D7     
Singin' this'll be the day that I die, this'll be the day that I die.     
     
    G                         Am                          C                         Am      
2. Did you write the book of love and do you have faith in God above?      
Em             D                          
If the Bible tells you so.     
G      D          Em    
Do you believe in Rock 'n Roll?      
       Am                    C      
Can music save your mortal soul?       
       Em                        A                          D      
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?      
          Em                          D      
Well, I know that you're in love with him       
             Em                     D      
'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym      
       C                 G/B       Am                
You both kicked off your shoes,      
           C                               D     
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues      
           G        D/F#      Em      
I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck       
           Am                           C      
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'      

(Chorus)     
      
                 G              Am      
3. Now for ten years we've been on our own       
         C              Am                      Em                      D      
And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone,  but that's not how it used to be      
          G        D         Em      
When the jester sang for the King and Queen      
     Am                      C      
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean       
      Em           A               D      
And 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      Am         C                D      
The courtroom was adjourned, no verdict was returned      
          G      D      Em                Am                C      
And while Lenin read a book on Marx, the quartet practiced in the park      
    G        D      Em              C       D7          G     C  G     
And we sang dirges in the dark, the day the music died.     We were singing      

(Chorus)      
         
    G                    Am      
4. Helter-Skelter in a summer swelter,       
       C                             Am      
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter      
Em                           D                   
Eight miles high and falling fast     
G  D/F#          Em     
It landed foul on the grass      
       Am                      C      
The players tried for a forward pass       
              Em               A7                 D      
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast      
              Em                      D      
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume       
               Em                         D      
While the sergeants played a marching tune      
C      G       Am           C                    D      
We all got up to dance, but we never got the chance      
                 G          D/F#    Em                   
'Cause the players tried to take the field       
       Am                      C      
The marching band refused to yield      
G             D      Em             C          D7      G    C  G      
Do you recall what was revealed the day the music died?        We stared singing      

(Chorus)      

           G                 Am                 
5. Oh, and there we were all in one place      
   C                Am     
A generation lost in space      
        Em                   D                           
With no time left to start again.       
            G       D               Em     
So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick     
Am                        C      
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick       
           Em           A7              D      
'Cause fire is the Devil's only friend      
             Em                       D      
Oh, and as I watched him on the stage,       
      Em                                D      
My hands were clenched in fists of rage      
C            G/B       Am           C                          D      
No angel born in hell could break that Satan's spell      
                 G                       D/F#  Em      
And as the flames climbed high into the night       
     Am                C      
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 singing      

(Chorus)      


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

    

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

    
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