American Pie - Mclean Don, ukulele chords

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

   F#     C#    D#m7
A long, long time ago,
 G#m            B                D#m
I can still remember how that music
                  C#
Used to make me smile
     F#      C#    D#m7
And I know if I had my chance,
      G#m                 B
That I could make those people dance
      D#m              B   C#
And maybe theyʼd be happy for a while

     D#m       G#m
But February made me shiver,
       D#m          G#m
With every paper Iʼd deliver
 B        F#      G#m
Bad news on the doorstep,
    B                      C#
I couldnʼt take one more step
   F#          C#        D#m
I canʼt remember if I cried
         G#m7            C#
When I read about his widowed bride
 F#         C#          D#m
Something touched me deep inside
 B       C#7    F#   B F#
The day the music died

Chorus:
    F#    B        F#        C#
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
          F#            B            F#        C#
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
          F#        B                  F#           C#
And them good old boys were drinkinʼ whiskey and rye
         D#m                          G#7
Singinʼ this will be the day that I die,
  D#m             C#7
This will be the day that I die

 F#                 G#m
Did you write the book of love
        B                 G#m
And do you have faith in god above,
  D#m           C#
If the bible tells you so?
 F#      C#          D#m
Do you believe in rock and roll
     G#m7            B
Can music save your mortal soul
           D#m              G#7  C#
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

        D#m                  C#
Well I know that youʼre in love with him
          D#m           C#
ʼCuz I saw you dancinʼ in the gym
     B           F#        G#7
You both kicked off your shoes,
        B                    C#7
Man I dig those rhythm and blues
         F#      C#       D#m
I was a lonely teenage broncinʼ buck
         G#m         B
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
     F#      C#     D#m              B
But I knew I was out of luck the day
     C#7    F#  B  F#
The music died, I started singinʼ

Chorus:
    F#    B        F#        C#
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
          F#            B            F#        C#
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
          F#        B                  F#           C#
And them good old boys were drinkinʼ whiskey and rye
         D#m                          G#7
Singinʼ this will be the day that I die,
  D#m       C#7
This will be the day that I die

          F#                   G#m
Now for ten years weʼve been on our own,
       B                   G#m
and moss grows fat on a rolling stone
 D#m          C#
But thatʼs not how it used to be
           F#      C#             D#m
When the jester sang for the king and queen
      G#m7                B
in a coat he borrowed from James Dean
        D#m     G#7     C#
In a voice that came from you and me
      D#m                  C#
And while the king was looking down,
      D#m        C#
The jester stole his thorny crown
      B        F#          G#7    B             C#7
The courtroom was adjourned, no verdict was returned
           F#        C#    D#m
And while Lenin read a book on Marx,
      G#m             B
The quartet practiced in the park
     F#        C#      D#m             B
And we sang dirges in the dark the day
        C#7     F#  B  F#
The music died, we were singinʼ

Chorus:
    F#    B        F#        C#
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
          F#            B            F#        C#
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
          F#        B                  F#           C#
And them good old boys were drinkinʼ whiskey and rye
         D#m                          G#7
Singinʼ this will be the day that I die,
  D#m       C#7
This will be the day that I die

 F#                   G#m
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
 B                      G#m
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter,
  D#m           C#
Eight miles high and fallinʼ fast
       F#   C#     D#m
It landed foul on the grass
       G#m7                B
The players tried for a forward pass,
  D#m       G#7  C#
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast
          D#m                C#
Now at halftime there was sweet perfume,
        D#m    C#
While sergeants played a marching Tune
 B          F#        G#7      B                  C#7
We all got up to dance, but we never got the chance
           F#      C#         D#m
ʼCuz the players tried to take the field,
      G#m     B
The marching band refused to yield
     F#    C#          D#m              B
Do you recall what was the feel the day
      C#7    F# B F#
The music died, we started singinʼ

Chorus:
    F#    B        F#        C#
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
          F#            B            F#        C#
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
          F#        B                  F#           C#
And them good old boys were drinkinʼ whiskey and rye
         D#m                          G#7
Singinʼ this will be the day that I die,
  D#m           C#7
This will be the day that I die

      F#                G#m
And there we were all in one place,
     B        G#m            D#m                   C#
A generation lost in space, with no time left to start again
             F#        C#    D#m
So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick,
   G#m7         B
Jack Flash sat on a candle
        D#m                            G#7  C#
Stick, ʼcuz fire is the devilʼs only friend
      D#m               C#
And as I watched him on the stage,
      D#m             C#
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
    B      F#       G#7         B                 C#7
No angel born in Hell could bread that Satanʼs spell
            F#               C#      D#m
And as the flames climbed high into the night
     G#m  B
To light the sacrificial rite
        F#     C#           D#m            B
I saw Satan laughing with delight the day
     C#7     F#  B  F#
The music died, he was singinʼ

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

     D#m                 G#m
But in the streets the children screamed,
      D#m       G#m
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed
     B     F#        G#m          B                     C#
But not a word was spoken, the church bells all were broken
         F#         C#   D#m
And the three men I admire most,
      G#m7     B  C#7
The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
 F#               C#          D#m
They caught the last train for the coast
      G#m7     C#7    F#
The day the music died,
 C#7
And they were singinʼ

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