G     D    Em7
a long, long time ago, 
Am            C                Em                   D
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
    G      D    Em7
And I know 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      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
Something touched me deep inside
    C       D7    G   C   G
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 levy but the levy was dry
         G        C                  G           D
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
        Em                          A7   
Singin' this will be the day that I die, 
Em                          D7
this will be the day that I die

 
VERSE
G                 Am      
Did you write the book of love
       C                 Am         Em           D
And do you have faith in god above, if the bible tells you so?
G      D          Em
Do you believe in rock and roll
    Am7            C                    
Can music save your mortal soul and can 
 Em                      A7        D
you teach me how to dance real slow?
       Em                  D              
Well I know that you're in love with him  
       Em              D
'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
        G      D       Em                   
I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck with a 
Am                   C
pink carnation and a pickup truck
    G      D     Em              C   
But I knew I was out of luck the day 
    D7    G  C  G
the music died, I started singin'


Chorus
   G    C        G        D
So 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
        Em                          A7   
Singin' this will be the day that I die, 
Em                          D7
this will be the day that I die


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


Chorus
   G    C        G        D
So 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
        Em                          A7   
Singin' this will be the day that I die, 
Em                          D7
this will be the day that I die


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


Chorus
   G    C        G        D
So 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
        Em                          A7   
Singin' this will be the day that I die, 
Em                          D7
this will be the day that I die


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


Chorus
   G    C        G        D
So 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
        Em                          A7   
Singin' this will be the day that I die, 
Em                          D7
this will be the day that I die


LAST VERSE
  G     D        Em
I met a girl who sang the blues
      Am                 C           
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                 C
but the man there said the music
         D
wouldn't play
    Em                 Am                 
But 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         
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 the coast the 
Am7     D7    G
day the music died,
D7
And they were singin'


FINAL Chorus
   G    C        G        D
So 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                D7         G   C   G
Singin' this will be the day that I die.