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               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            
But February made me shiver
Em                   Am     
With every paper I'd deliver
C          G      Am       C
■ Bad news on the doorstep ■
                              D
I couldn't take one more step ■


[Chorus]
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


[Verse]
   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      
This'll be the day that ■ I die
D7 G                   Am          
■  ■ Did you write the book of love
       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
      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   D7
This'll be the day that I die ■ 


[Verse]
            G                   Am7    
Now for ten years we've been on our own
C                       Am           
And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone
    Em                     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                 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                                    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]
G              Am          C      
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
                          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          G           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                Am   
We all got up to dance
       C                D     
Oh but we never got the chance
           G       D        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 
Singin' This'll be the day that I die


[Verse]
Em                        D  
This'll be the day that I die
D7 G                 A7         Am   
Oh and there we were all in one place
C            Am           
A generation lost in space
Em                   D          
With no time left to start again
        G          D      Em           
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
Am7          C               
To light the sacrificial rite
  G         Bm       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


[Bridge]
Em                        D   G
This'll be the day that I die ■
        D    Em                
I met a girl who sang the blues
Em    Am                 C         
And I asked her for some happy news
Em                  D               D7
But she just smiled and turned away ■ 
  G         Em                 
I went down to the sacred store
          Am        G     C           
Where I'd heard the music years before
Em                     C                  C    D
But the man there said the music wouldn't play ■


[Verse]
Em7                        Am                Am7
■   And in the streets the children screamed ■  
Em7        Em    Am            C      
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed
          G        Am     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
G     C              C   D         
■ The Father Son and the Holy Ghost
G               D    Em            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             G       D      
And them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Em                         Em7    A7 
Singin' This'll be the day that I die
Em                        D  
This'll be the day that I die


[Chorus]
          C       G      C    G        D  
They were singin' byebye Miss American Pie
G                 C                 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          G C G
Singin' This'll be the day that I die ■ ■ ■


[End]