American Pie - Mclean Don, guitar chords

Published: 2021-09-21 16:37
Selection chords: Katie Paterson

   G     D    Em7
A long, long time ago,
 Am            C                Em
I can still remember how that music
                  D
Used to make me smile
     G      D    Em7
And I know if I had my chance,
      Am                 C
That I could make those people dance
      Em              C   D
And maybe theyʼd be happy for a while

     Em       Am
But February made me shiver,
       Em          Am
With every paper Iʼd deliver
 C        G      Am
Bad news on the doorstep,
    C                      D
I couldnʼt take one more step
   G          D        Em
I canʼt remember if I cried
         Am7            D
When I read about his widowed bride
 G         D          Em
Something touched me deep inside
 C       D7    G   C G
The day the music died

Chorus:
    G    C        G        D
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
          G            C            G        D
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
          G        C                  G           D
And them good old boys were drinkinʼ whiskey and rye
         Em                          A7
Singinʼ this will be the day that I die,
  Em             D7
This will be the day that I die

 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
Do you believe in rock and roll
     Am7            C
Can music save your mortal soul
           Em              A7  D
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

        Em                  D
Well I know that youʼre in love with him
          Em           D
ʼCuz I saw you dancinʼ in the gym
     C           G        A7
You both kicked off your shoes,
        C                    D7
Man I dig those rhythm and blues
         G      D       Em
I was a lonely teenage broncinʼ buck
         Am         C
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
     G      D     Em              C
But I knew I was out of luck the day
     D7    G  C  G
The music died, I started singinʼ

Chorus:
    G    C        G        D
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
          G            C            G        D
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
          G        C                  G           D
And them good old boys were drinkinʼ whiskey and rye
         Em                          A7
Singinʼ this will be the day that I die,
  Em       D7
This will be the day that I die

          G                   Am
Now for ten years weʼve been on our own,
       C                   Am
and moss grows fat on a rolling stone
 Em          D
But thatʼs not how it used to be
           G      D             Em
When the jester sang for the king and queen
      Am7                C
in a coat he borrowed from James Dean
        Em     A7     D
In a voice that came from you and me
      Em                  D
And while the king was looking down,
      Em        D
The jester stole his thorny crown
      C        G          A7    C             D7
The courtroom was adjourned, no verdict was returned
           G        D    Em
And while Lenin read a book on Marx,
      Am             C
The quartet practiced in the park
     G        D      Em             C
And we sang dirges in the dark the day
        D7     G  C  G
The music died, we were singinʼ

Chorus:
    G    C        G        D
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
          G            C            G        D
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
          G        C                  G           D
And them good old boys were drinkinʼ whiskey and rye
         Em                          A7
Singinʼ this will be the day that I die,
  Em       D7
This will be the day that I die

 G                   Am
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
 C                      Am
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter,
  Em           D
Eight miles high and fallinʼ fast
       G   D     Em
It landed foul on the grass
       Am7                C
The players tried for a forward pass,
  Em       A7  D
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast
          Em                D
Now at halftime there was sweet perfume,
        Em    D
While sergeants played a marching Tune
 C          G        A7      C                  D7
We all got up to dance, but we never got the chance
           G      D         Em
ʼCuz the players tried to take the field,
      Am     C
The marching band refused to yield
     G    D          Em              C
Do you recall what was the feel the day
      D7    G C G
The music died, we started singinʼ

Chorus:
    G    C        G        D
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
          G            C            G        D
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
          G        C                  G           D
And them good old boys were drinkinʼ whiskey and rye
         Em                          A7
Singinʼ this will be the day that I die,
  Em           D7
This will be the day that I die

      G                Am
And there we were all in one place,
     C        Am            Em                   D
A generation lost in space, with no time left to start again
             G        D    Em
So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick,
   Am7         C
Jack Flash sat on a candle
        Em                            A7  D
Stick, ʼcuz fire is the devilʼs only friend
      Em               D
And as I watched him on the stage,
      Em             D
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
    C      G       A7         C                 D7
No angel born in Hell could bread that Satanʼs spell
            G               D      Em
And as the flames climbed high into the night
     Am  C
To light the sacrificial rite
        G     D           Em            C
I saw Satan laughing with delight the day
     D7     G  C  G
The music died, he was singinʼ

Chorus:
   G     D        Em
I met a girl who sang the blues
       Am                 C
And I asked her for some happy news,
      Em           D
But she just smiled and turned away
   G         D      Em
I went down to the sacred store
           Am              C
Where Iʼd heard the music years before,
          Em     C
But the man there said the music
          D
Wouldnʼt play

     Em                 Am
But in the streets the children screamed,
      Em       Am
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed
     C     G        Am          C                     D
But not a word was spoken, the church bells all were broken
         G         D   Em
And the three men I admire most,
      Am7     C  D7
The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
 G               D          Em
They caught the last train for the coast
      Am7     D7    G
The day the music died,
 D7
And they were singinʼ

Chorus:
   G     D        Em
I met a girl who sang the blues
       Am                 C
And I asked her for some happy news,
      Em           D
But she just smiled and turned away
   G         D      Em
I went down to the sacred store
           Am              C
Where Iʼd heard the music years before,
         Em     C
But the man there said the music
          D
Wouldnʼt play