American Pie by Don McLean Transcribed by John Gaughan (john@johngaughan.net) Key: G Time: 4/4 Chorus: G C G D G C | Bye bye Miss A- | -merican Pie, drove my | Chevy to the levee but the | G D G C G D | levee was dry Them | good old boys were drinking | whiskey and rye singin' | Em A7 Em D7 | this'll be the day that I | die | This'll be the day that I | die | | Last time through chorus: C D7 G C G | this'll be the day that I | die | || Verse 1: G D Em7 Am C || A | long, long time ago | I can still remember how that | Em D G D Em7 | music used to make smile | And | I knew if I had my chance that | Am C Em C | I could make those people dance and | maybe they'd be happy for a | D Em Am Em Am | while | But February made me shiver | with every paper I deliver | C G Am C D | Bad news on the doorstep I | couldn't take one more step I | G D Em Am7 D | can't remember if I cried when I | read about his widowed bride But | G D Em C D7 | something touched me deep inside the | day the | music | G | died | So | Verse 2: G Am C Am | Did you write the | book of love and do | you have faith in | God above | Em D G D Em | if the Bible | tells you so | | Do you believe in | rock and roll, can | Am7 C Em A7 D | music save your | mortal soul, and | can you teach me | how to dance | real slow | | Em D Em D | Well I know that you're in | love with him, 'cause I | saw you dancin' | in the gym | C G A7 C D7 | you both kicked off your | shoes, man I | dig those rythym and | blues | G D Em Am C | I was a lonely teenage | broncin' buck, | with a pink carnation and a | pickup truck but I | G D Em C D7 G C | knew I was out of | luck the | day the | music | died | G D7 | I started singin' | Verse 3: G Am C | Now for ten years we've been | on our own and | moss grows fat on a | Am Em D | rolling stone But | that's not how it | used to be | when the | G D Em Am7 | jester sang for the | king and queen in a | coat he borrowed from | C Em A7 D | James Dean and a | voice that | came from you and | me | Oh and | Em D Em D | while the king was | looking down the | jester stole his | thorny crown | C G A7 C D7 | The courtroom was | adjourned, | no verdict was | returned And while | G D Em Am C | Lennon read a | book on Marx the | quartet practiced | in the park And | G D Em C D7 G C | we sang dirges in the | dark The | day the | music | died | G D7 | We were singin' | Verse 4: G Am C | Helter Skelter | in the summer swelter the | birds flew off with a | Am Em D | fallout shelter | Eight miles high and | falling fast | | G D Em Am7 C | it lounded foul | on the grass | The players tried for a | forward pass | Em A7 D | with the jester on the | sidelines in a | cast | now the | Em D Em | half-time air was | sweet perfume while | the sergeants played a | D C G A7 C | marching tune | We all got up to | dance oh but we | never got the | D7 G D Em | chance Cause the | players tried to | take the field, the | Am C G D Em | marching band | refused to yield | Do you recall what | was revealed, the | C D7 G C G D7 | day the | music | died | we started singin' | Verse 5: G Am C Am | And there we were all in | one place A | generation | lost in space | Em D G D Em | With no time left to | start again | So come on, | Jack be nimble | Jack be quick | Am7 C Em A7 D | Jack Flash sat on a | candlestick cause | fire is the | devil's only | friend | oh | Em D Em D | And as I watched him | on the stage my | hands were clenched in | fists of rage | C G A7 C D7 | No angel born in | hell could | break that Satan's | spell And as the | G D Em Am C | flames climbed high in- | -to the night | to light the sacri- | -ficial rite I saw | G D Em C D7 | Satan laughing | with delight the | day the | music | G C G D7 | died | he was singin' | Verse 6: G D Em7 Am C | I met a girl who sang the blues and | I asked her for some happy news | Em D G D Em7 G | But she just smile and turned | away | I went down to the sacred store where | Am G C Em C | I'd heard the music years before | But the man there said the music wouldn't | D Em Am Em | play | And in the streets the | children screamed the | lovers cried and the | Am C G Am C D | poets dreamed | But not a word was spoken the | church bells all were broken | G D Am G Am7 D | And the three men I admire most, the | Father, Son and the Holy Ghost | G D Em C D7 G | They caught the last train for the coast | The day the music | died | | and they were singin' |