G _ _ A
D long, long
Em time ago, _
Am _ I can
C still remember
Em how that music used to make
D me smile.
_ _ _ _
G And I
D knew if I
Em had my chance,
Am that I could make
C those people
Em dance, and maybe they'd
C be happy for a
D while.
_ .
But _ _ _
Em _ _ February
Am made me shiver
Em with every paper
Am I'd deliver.
_
C _
G Bad news
Am on the doorstep, _
C I couldn't take one more
D step.
_ _ _ _ .
G I
D can't remember
Em if I cried when
C I read about
D his widowed bride.
_ _
G _
D Something touched
Em me _ deep inside
C the day _
D the _ _ music _
G _ .
died.
_ _ _ _ _ _ .
_ _ _ So bye _
C.
-bye Miss
G _
D American Pie, drove
G my Chevy to
C the levee,
G but the
D levee was dry.
G And them good old boys were drinking whiskey
D and rye,
Em singing,.
This'll be the day that
A I die.
_ _ _ _ .
Em _ This'll be the day that
D I die.
_ _ _ _ _
G _ .
Did you write
A the book
C of love, and do you have faith
Am in God above,
Em if the Bible
D tells you so _ .
And
G do you believe
Em in rock and roll,
Am can music
G C save your mortal soul,
Em and can
A you teach me how to dance
D real slow _ _ .
Em Well I know that
D you're in love with him,
Em cause I saw you
D dancing in the gym,
C you both
G kicked off your
A shoes.
C.
Man I dig
Em those rhythmic
D blues,
G I was a lonely
D Em teenage bronkin' buck, with
Am a pink _
C carnation and a pickup truck.
G But I knew I
Em was out of luck the
C day _
D the _
G music died.
C _
G _ I
D started singing,
G bye
C-bye
G Miss American
D Pie,
G drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee
D was dry.
G And them good
C old boys were
G drinking whiskey
D and
Em rye, singing,.
This'll be the day that
A I die.
_ _ .
Em This'll be the day that
D I die.
_ _ .
_ _ _
G Now for ten years
Am we've been on our
C own, and Moss
G grows
Am fat on a rolling stone,
Em but that's not
D how it used to be.
_ _ _
G.
When the jester
D sang
Em for the king and queen
A in a coat he
E borrowed
C from James Dean,
Em and a voice that
A came from you
D and _ me.
_
G _ _
Em.
Oh and while the king
D was looking _
Em down, the jester
D stole his thorny
G crown,
C the
G courtroom
A was adjourned, _ .
C _ _ _ _
D _ _
G and while Lennon read a book on Marx,
Am a quartet
Em _
C practiced in the park,
G and we sang
Em dirges in the dark.
The
C day _
D the _
G music died.
_
C _
G We
D were singing,
G bye
C-bye
G Miss
D American Pie,
G drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee
D was dry.
G And them good
C old boys were
G drinking whiskey
D and rye,
Em singing,.
This'll be the day that
A I die.
_ .
Em _ This'll be the day
D that I die.
_ .
_ _ _ _
G _ Helter
C skelter in the summer swelter, the birds flew
Am off with a fall out of
Em shelter, _ eight miles
D high and falling _ _ _ _ _ .
G fast,.
and landed
Em foul on the grass.
Am The players
Em tried
C for a forward pass
Em with the jester
A on the sidelines
D in a _ _ cast.
_ _ .
Em Now the halftime air
D was sweet perfume
Em while the sergeant
D played a marching
Gm tune,
C we
G all got up to
Am dance.
C.
Oh but we never got
D the chance,
G cause the players tried
Em to take the
Am field, the marching
Em C band refused to yield.
G Do
Bm you recall
Em what was revealed
C the day _
D the _ _
G.
music died.
C _ _
G We
D started singing,
G bye
C-bye
G Miss
D American Pie,
G drove my Chevy
C to the levee,
G but the levee
D was dry.
G And them good old boys were drinking whiskey
D and rye,
Em singing,.
This'll be the day that
A I die.
_ .
Em _ This'll be the day
D that I die.
_ .
_ _ Oh
G and there we
Am were all in one place,
C a generation
Am _ lost in
Em space, with no time
D left to start again.
_ _
G So come on
D Jack, be
Em nimble, Jack be quick,
Am Jack
G Flash
C sat on a candlestick,
Em cause _ fire
A is the devil's
D only _ _ friend.
_ _
Em.
Oh and as I watched
D him on the stage,
Em my hands were
D clenched and fists of
G rage,
C no
G angel
Am born in hell _
C could break that
D Satan's spell.
And
G as the planes
D climbed
Em high into the night,
Am to light the
Bm _
C sacrificial rite, I
G saw
Bm Satan
Em laughing with me like
C the day _
D the _
G music died.
C _ _
G _
D He was singing,
G bye
C-bye
G Miss American
D Pie,
G drove my Chevy
C to the levee,
G but the levee
D was dry.
G And good
C old boys were
G drinking whiskey
D and rye,
Em singing,.
This'll be the day that
A I die.
_ .
Em _ This'll be the day
D that I die.
_ .
_ _ _ _ _ _
G I
D met a girl
Em who sang the blues,
Am and I asked her for
C some happy news, _
Em.
but she just smiled
D and turned away.
_ .
_ _
G I
Bm went down
Em to the sacred
G store,
Am where I'd
G heard the music
C years before,
Em but the man there
C said the music _ wouldn't
D _ play.
_ _ _ _
Em And in the streets
A the children
Am screamed, _
Em the lovers
A cried and the
Am poets dreamed,
C but not
G a word
Am was spoken, _
Bm C the church bells all were
D broken.
_ _ .
_
G And the three
D men I
Em admire most,
G _
C the Father, Son and
D the Holy Ghost,
C _
G they
D caught the last
Em train for
G the coast,
C the day _
D the _ music _ _
G _ .
died.
_ _ _ And they were singing, _ _ bye
C-bye _
G Miss _
D American Pie, drove
G my Chevy
C to the levee,
G but the
D levee was dry.
G And good old
C boys
G were drinking whiskey
D and rye,
Em singing, This'll be the day that
A I die.
_
Em _ _ _ This'll be the day that
D I die.
_ _ _ .
_
Am They were singing,
G bye
C _ -bye
G Miss
D American Pie,
Em drove my Chevy
C to the levee,
G but the
D levee was dry.
G And good old
C boys
G were drinking whiskey
D and rye,
C singing, This'll
D be the day that
G I
C die.
_
G _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .