GDEm7
A long, long time ago,
AmCEm
I can still remember how that music
D
Used to make me smile
GDEm7
And I know if I had my chance,
AmC
That I could make those people dance
EmCD
And maybe theyʼd be happy for a while
EmAm
But February made me shiver,
EmAm
With every paper Iʼd deliver
CGAm
Bad news on the doorstep,
CD
I couldnʼt take one more step
GDEm
I canʼt remember if I cried
Am7D
When I read about his widowed bride
GDEm
Something touched me deep inside
CD7GCG
The day the music died
Chorus:
GCGD
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
GCGD
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
GCGD
And them good old boys were drinkinʼ whiskey and rye
EmA7
Singinʼ this will be the day that I die,
EmD7
This will be the day that I die
GAm
Did you write the book of love
CAm
And do you have faith in god above,
EmD
If the bible tells you so?
GDEm
Do you believe in rock and roll
Am7C
Can music save your mortal soul
EmA7D
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
EmD
Well I know that youʼre in love with him
EmD
ʼCuz I saw you dancinʼ in the gym
CGA7
You both kicked off your shoes,
CD7
Man I dig those rhythm and blues
GDEm
I was a lonely teenage broncinʼ buck
AmC
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
GDEmC
But I knew I was out of luck the day
D7GCG
The music died, I started singinʼ
Chorus:
GCGD
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
GCGD
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
GCGD
And them good old boys were drinkinʼ whiskey and rye
EmA7
Singinʼ this will be the day that I die,
EmD7
This will be the day that I die
GAm
Now for ten years weʼve been on our own,
CAm
and moss grows fat on a rolling stone
EmD
But thatʼs not how it used to be
GDEm
When the jester sang for the king and queen
Am7C
in a coat he borrowed from James Dean
EmA7D
In a voice that came from you and me
EmD
And while the king was looking down,
EmD
The jester stole his thorny crown
CGA7CD7
The courtroom was adjourned, no verdict was returned
GDEm
And while Lenin read a book on Marx,
AmC
The quartet practiced in the park
GDEmC
And we sang dirges in the dark the day
D7GCG
The music died, we were singinʼ
Chorus:
GCGD
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
GCGD
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
GCGD
And them good old boys were drinkinʼ whiskey and rye
EmA7
Singinʼ this will be the day that I die,
EmD7
This will be the day that I die
GAm
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
CAm
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter,
EmD
Eight miles high and fallinʼ fast
GDEm
It landed foul on the grass
Am7C
The players tried for a forward pass,
EmA7D
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast
EmD
Now at halftime there was sweet perfume,
EmD
While sergeants played a marching Tune
CGA7CD7
We all got up to dance, but we never got the chance
GDEm
ʼCuz the players tried to take the field,
AmC
The marching band refused to yield
GDEmC
Do you recall what was the feel the day
D7GCG
The music died, we started singinʼ
Chorus:
GCGD
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
GCGD
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
GCGD
And them good old boys were drinkinʼ whiskey and rye
EmA7
Singinʼ this will be the day that I die,
EmD7
This will be the day that I die
GAm
And there we were all in one place,
CAmEmD
A generation lost in space, with no time left to start again
GDEm
So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick,
Am7C
Jack Flash sat on a candle
EmA7D
Stick, ʼcuz fire is the devilʼs only friend
EmD
And as I watched him on the stage,
EmD
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
CGA7CD7
No angel born in Hell could bread that Satanʼs spell
GDEm
And as the flames climbed high into the night
AmC
To light the sacrificial rite
GDEmC
I saw Satan laughing with delight the day
D7GCG
The music died, he was singinʼ
Chorus:
GDEm
I met a girl who sang the blues
AmC
And I asked her for some happy news,
EmD
But she just smiled and turned away
GDEm
I went down to the sacred store
AmC
Where Iʼd heard the music years before,
EmC
But the man there said the music
D
Wouldnʼt play
EmAm
But in the streets the children screamed,
EmAm
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed
CGAmCD
But not a word was spoken, the church bells all were broken
GDEm
And the three men I admire most,
Am7CD7
The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
GDEm
They caught the last train for the coast
Am7D7G
The day the music died,
D7
And they were singinʼ
Chorus:
GDEm
I met a girl who sang the blues
AmC
And I asked her for some happy news,
EmD
But she just smiled and turned away
GDEm
I went down to the sacred store
AmC
Where Iʼd heard the music years before,
EmC
But the man there said the music
D
Wouldnʼt play