American Pie

[Verse]
  E     B    C#m
A long, long time ago,
F#m            A
I can still remember,
              C#m    
  how that music used
             B
to make me smile.
    E           B   C#m
And I knew if I had my chance,
     F#m           
  that I could make
       A
those people dance,
    C#m           
  and maybe they'd
    A           B
by happy for a while.
C#m           F#m
But February made me shiver,
C#m               F#m
with every paper I'd deliver.
A        E           F#m
Bad news on the doorstep;
  A                       B
I couldn't take one more step
  E       B           C#m
I can't remember if I cried,
       F#m         
  when I read about
     B
his widowed bride;
E         B          C#m
something touched me deep inside,
    A       B     E      \
the day the music died.


[Chorus]
    E   A         E        B
So, bye-bye, Miss American Pie,
         E            A     
  drove my Chevy to the levee
         E         B
but the levee was dry.
     E        A         
  Them good ole boys were
          E           B
drinking whiskey and rye,
        C#m~        
  singing this'll be
                F#~
the day that I die,
C#m~                       B
this'll be the day that I die.


[Verse]
E                 F#m
Did you write the book of love,
       A        
  and do you have
          F#m
faith in God above,
C#m           B
if the Bible tells you so?
       E     B     
  Now do you believe
    C#m
in rock and roll,
    F#m              A
can music save your mortal soul?
   C#m                
  And can you teach me
  F#            B
how to dance real slow?


[Verse]
       C#m~              
  Well I know that you're
    F#m~
in love with him,
         C#m~     
  'cause I saw you
         F#m~
dancing in the gym
    A    E               F#
You both kicked off your shoes,
      A                    B
man I dig those rhythm and blues!
        E      B       
  I was a lonely teenage
  C#m
bronching buck,
       F#m             
  with a pink carnation
       A
and a pick-up truck.
    E      B     C#m          
  But I knew I was out of luck
     A        B     E
the day, the music died.
E         B
I started singing


[Chorus]
E   A         E        B
Bye-bye, Miss American Pie,
         E            A     
  drove my Chevy to the levee
         E         B
but the levee was dry.
     E        A         
  Them good ole boys were
          E           B
drinking whiskey and rye,
        C#m~        
  singing this'll be
                F#~
the day that I die,
C#m~                       B
this'll be the day that I die.


[Verse]
        E          
  Now for ten years,
            F#m
we've been on our own;
    A              
  and moss grows fat
      F#m
on a rolling stone,
    C#m                B
but that's not how it used to be.
         E      B    
  When the jester sang
         C#m
for the King and
            F#m               
  Queen, in a coat he borrowed
  A
from James Dean,
      C#m         
  and a voice that
  F#                 B
came from you and me


[Verse]
        C#m~       
  Oh, and while the
          F#m~
king was looking down,
    C#m~              F#m~
the jester stole his thorny crown,
    A          E      F#
the court room was adjourned,
   A             B
no verdict was returned.
          E      
  And while Lennon
  B      C#m
read a book on Marx,
    F#m                A
the quartet practiced in the park;
    E       B      C#m
and we sang dirges in the dark,
    A       B     E
the day the music died,
        B
we were singing


[Chorus]
E   A         E        B
Bye-bye, Miss American Pie,
         E            A     
  drove my Chevy to the levee
         E         B
but the levee was dry.
     E        A         
  Them good ole boys were
          E           B
drinking whiskey and rye,
        C#m~        
  singing this'll be
                F#~
the day that I die,
C#m~                       B
this'll be the day that I die.