American Pie Chords by Don McLean

[Start]

[Verse]
G D    Em           
A long long time ago
  Am  C                       Em   
I can still remember how that music
                D    
Used to make me smile
    G         D     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    
■  But February made me shiver
                 Am         
With every paper I'd deliver
C          G      Am      
■ Bad news on the doorstep
C                             D
I couldn't take one more step ■
G D              Em        
I can't remember if I cried
       C              D            
When I read about his widowed bride
G         D          Em   C     
Something touched me deep inside
        D         G   
The day the music died
   C           G        D  
So byebye Miss American Pie
         G        C                 D            
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
G                 C                  D              
And them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Em                                A7 
Singin' This'll be the day that I die
Em                      D   D7 
This'll be the day that ■ I die
G                   Am      Am7 
■ Did you write the book of love
    Am C                     Am   
And do you have faith in God above
Em              D           
■  If the Bible tells you so
       G   D          Em           
Now do you believe in rock 'n' roll
Am        Em   C               
Can music save your mortal soul
Em      Am                        D        
And can you teach me how to dance real slow
G    D Em                  D         Em 
Well I know that you're in love with him
                 D                 
'cause I saw you dancin' in the gym
C               G        Am   
You both kicked off your shoes
Em    C                    D    
Man I dig those rhythm and blues


[Chorus]
        G      Em                    
I was a lonely teenage bronckin' buck
       Am                   C           
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
G          D       Em            
But I knew ■ I was ■  out of luck
    C       D     G    C
The day the music died ■
G           D       G      C    G        D  
■ I started singin' byebye Miss American Pie
         G            C             G         D  
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
G             C                  G           D  
Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Em                              Am   
Singin' This'll be the day that I die
Em                        D  
This'll be the day that I die


[Verse]
D7 D   D7      G                   Am     
■  Now for ten years we've been on our own
C              G        Am      Am7   Em
And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone ■ 
                           D    
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         A7                D 
And a voice that came from you and me


[Chorus]
       Em                 D           
Oh and while the king was looking down
Em                   D           
The jester stole his thorny crown
C   G             Am       
The courtroom was adjourned
C              D       
No verdict was returned
    G                  Em          
And while Lenin read a book on Marx
  Am      C                    
A quartet practiced in the park
    G       Em                
And we sang dirges in the dark
    C       D       G    C
The day the ■ music died ■
G       D       G      C    G        D  
We were singin' byebye Miss American Pie
         G            C             G     D      
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
G             C                  G           D  
Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Em                                Am 
Singin' This'll be the day that I die
Em                        D  
This'll be the day that I die


[Verse]
D7 G              Am7                
■  Helter skelter in a summer swelter
    C                     Am      Em     
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
                 D               
Eight miles high and falling fast
G              Em          
It landed foul on the grass
Am                      C           
The players tried for a forward pass
         Em            Am             D   
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast


[Chorus]
        Em               D            
Now the halftime air was sweet perfume
Em                       D            
While sergeants played a marching tune
C                G     Am
We all got up to dance ■ 
Am7 C                    D     
Oh  but we never got the chance
           G                Em            
'cause the players tried to take the field
Am                C               
The marching band refused to yield
G      Bm          Em          
Do you recall what was revealed
    C       D     G    C
The day the music died ■
G          D       G C           G        D  
We started singin' ■ byebye Miss American Pie
         G            C             G         D  
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
G             C                  G       D      
Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Em                                Am  A7
Singin' This'll be the day that I die ■ 


[Verse]
Em                        D  
This'll be the day that I die
G                    Am              
Oh and there we were all in one place
C            Am7          
A generation lost in space
Em                   D          
With no time left to start again
        G          D      Em      Em7  
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


[Chorus]
Em                  D               
Oh and as I watched him on the stage
Em                        D            
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
C        G       Am7 
No angel born in Hell
C                      D    
Could break that Satan spell
           G              D    Em7           
And as the flames climbed high into the night
Am           C               
To light the sacrificial rite
  G                  Em          
I saw Satan laughing with delight
    C       D     G    C
The day the music died ■
G      D       G      C    G        D  
He was singin' byebye Miss American Pie
         G            C             G     D      
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
G             C                  G           D  
Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Em                                Am 
Singin' This'll be the day that I die
Em                        D  
This'll be the day that I die
G         D        Em            
■ I met a girl who sang the blues
Em    C                            
And I asked her for some happy news
Em                  D              
But she just smiled and turned away
  G         Em                 
I went down to the sacred store
          Am        Bm    C           
Where I'd heard the music years before
Em                     C                  D    Em7
But the man there said the music wouldn't play ■  


[Verse]
                       Am7               Am
And in the streets the children screamed ■ 
Em               Am            C      
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed
          G        Am7    C
But not a word was spoken ■
G C                         D     
■ The church bells all were broken
G             D     Em         
And the three men I admire most
    C                  C    D    
The Father Son and the Holy Ghost
G               D    Em            Em7   D
They caught the last train for the coast ■
C       D           G     
The day ■ the music ■ died
                      C           G        D  
And they were singin' byebye Miss American Pie
         G            C             G         D  
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
    G             C                  D              
And them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Em                     Em7        Em A7 
Singin' This'll be the day that I ■  die
Em                           D   D7
■  This'll be the day that I die ■ 


[Chorus]
D                   C G      C G    D           
■ They were singin' ■ byebye ■ Miss American Pie
         G            C         G         D      
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
G             C                  G       D      
Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
C                      D        D7    C G
Singin' This'll be the day that I die ■ ■


[End]