A     E    Gbm7
a long, long time ago, 
Bm            D                Gbm                   E
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
    A      E    Gbm7
And I know if I had my chance,
     Bm                 D            
That I could make those people dance 
    Gbm              D           E
and maybe they'd be happy for a while               
    Gbm       Bm                   Gbm          Bm
But February made me shiver, with every paper I'd deliver
D        A      Bm          D                      E
Bad news on the doorstep, I couldn't take one more step
  A          E        Gbm           Bm7            E
I can't remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride
A         E          Gbm
Something touched me deep inside
    D       E7    A   D   A
The day the music died



Chorus
   A    D        A        E
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
         A            D            A        E
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
         A        D                  A           E
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
        Gbm                          B7   
Singin' this will be the day that I die, 
Gbm                          E7
this will be the day that I die

 
VERSGb
A                 Bm      
Did you write the book of love
       D                 Bm         Gbm           E
And do you have faith in god above, if the bible tells you so?
A      E          Gbm
Do you believe in rock and roll
    Bm7            D                    
Can music save your mortal soul and can 
 Gbm                      B7        E
you teach me how to dance real slow?
       Gbm                  E              
Well I know that you're in love with him  
       Gbm              E
'cuz I saw you dancin' in the gym
    D           A        B7     
You both kicked off your shoes, 
      D                    E7
man I dig those rhythm and blues
        A      E       Gbm                   
I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck with a 
Bm                   D
pink carnation and a pickup truck
    A      E     Gbm              D   
But I knew I was out of luck the day 
    E7    A  D  A
the music died, I started singin'


Chorus
   A    D        A        E
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
         A            D            A        E
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
         A        D                  A           E
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
        Gbm                          B7   
Singin' this will be the day that I die, 
Gbm                          E7
this will be the day that I die


VERSGb
         A                   Bm              
Now for ten years we've been on our own,
      D                   Bm          
and moss grows fat on a rolling stone 
Gbm                      E
but that's not how it used to be
          A      E             Gbm
When the jester sang for the king and queen 
     Bm7                D                
in a coat he borrowed from James Dean in 
   Gbm                      B7     E
a voice that came from you and me
     Gbm                  E           
And while the king was looking down, 
    Gbm                 E
the jester stole his thorny crown
     D        A          B7    D             E7
The courtroom was adjourned, no verdict was returned
          A        E    Gbm           
And while Lenin read a book on Marx, 
    Bm                D
the quartet practiced in the park
    A        E      Gbm             
And we sang dirges in the dark the 
D         E7     A  D  A
day the music died, we were singin'


Chorus
   A    D        A        E
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
         A            D            A        E
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
         A        D                  A           E
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
        Gbm                          B7   
Singin' this will be the day that I die, 
Gbm                          E7
this will be the day that I die


VERSGb
A                   Bm
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
D                      Bm                  
the birds flew off with a fallout shelter, 
Gbm                   E
eight miles high and fallin' fast
      A   E     Gbm
It landed foul on the grass
      Bm7                D            
the players tried for a forward pass, 
Gbm                             B7    E
with the jester on the sidelines in a cast
         Gbm                E             
Now at halftime there was sweet perfume, 
      Gbm                  E
while sergeants played a marching tune
D          A        B7      D                  E7
We all got up to dance, but we never got the chance
          A      E         Gbm             
'Cuz the players tried to take the field, 
    Bm              D
the marching band refused to yield
    A    E          Gbm              
Do you recall what was the feel the 
D        E7       A  D  A
day the music died, we started singin'


Chorus
   A    D        A        E
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
         A            D            A        E
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
         A        D                  A           E
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
        Gbm                          B7   
Singin' this will be the day that I die, 
Gbm                          E7
this will be the day that I die


VERSGb
     A                Bm
And there we were all in one place,
    D        Bm            Gbm                   E
a generation lost in space, with no time left to start again
            A        E    Gbm              
So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, 
 Bm7                 D
Jack Flash sat on a candle 
       Gbm                            B7     E
stick, 'cuz fire is the devil's only friend
     Gbm               E            
And as I watched him on the stage, 
    Gbm                     E
my hands were clenched in fists of rage
   D      A       B7         D                 E7
No angel born in Hell could bread that Satan's spell
           A               E      Gbm             
And as the flames climbed high into the night to 
Bm              D
light the sacrificial rite
       A     E           Gbm            D      
I saw Satan laughing with delight the day the 
E7     A  D  A
music died, he was singin'


Chorus
   A    D        A        E
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
         A            D            A        E
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
         A        D                  A           E
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
        Gbm                          B7   
Singin' this will be the day that I die, 
Gbm                          E7
this will be the day that I die


LAST VERSGb
  A     E        Gbm
I met a girl who sang the blues
      Bm                 D           
And I asked her for some happy news, 
    Gbm                          E
but she just smiled and turned away
  A         E      Gbm
I went down to the sacred store
          Bm              D             
Where I'd heard the music years before, 
        Gbm                 D
but the man there said the music
         E
wouldn't play
    Gbm                 Bm                 
But in the streets the children screamed, 
    Gbm                   Bm
the lovers cried and the poets dreamed
    D     A        Bm          D                     E
But not a word was spoken, the church bells all were broken                                    
        A         E   Gbm         
And the three men I admire most, 
    Bm7     D            E7
the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
A               E          Gbm                
They caught the last train for the coast the 
Bm7     E7    A
day the music died,
E7
And they were singin'


FINAL Chorus
   A    D        A        E
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
         A            D            A        E
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
         A        D                  A           E
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
        D                E7         A   D   A
Singin' this will be the day that I die.