* = strum once
[Verse]
  G     D/F#    Em7 
A long, long time ago 
Am            C                  Em                  D 
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile 
    G      D/F#   Em7 
And I knew if I had my chance 
     Am                 C                Em              C            D 
That I could make those people dance and maybe they'd be happy for a while 
    Em       Am              Em                 Am 
But February made me shiver, with every paper I'd deliver 
C        G/B    Am             C                     D 
Bad news on the doorstep, I couldn't take one more step 
  G          D/F#     Em           Am7            D 
I can't remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride 
G         D/F#       Em 
Something touched me deep inside 
    C      D7      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 drinkin' whiskey and rye 
        Em*                         A7*   Em*                         D7 
Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die
[Verse]
G                 Am 
Did you write the book of love 
       C                 Am         Em           D 
And do you have faith in God above, if the bible tells you so? 
G      D/F#        Em 
Do you believe in rock and roll 
    Am7            C              Em                 A7           D 
Can 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 'cuz I saw you dancin' in the gym 
    C           G/B      Am           C                    D7 
You both kicked off your shoes, man I dig those rhythm and blues 
        G      D/F#     Em                   Am                   C 
I was a lonely teenage bronckin' buck with a pink carnation and a pickup truck 
    G     D/F#    Em              C       D7    G  C  G         D 
But I knew I was out of luck the day the music died,  I started singin'
[Chorus]
G    C        G        D 
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 drinkin' whiskey and rye 
        Em*                         A7*   Em*                         D7 
Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die
[Verse]
         G                   Am 
Now for ten years we've been on our own 
      C                   Am          Em                     D 
and moss grows fat on a rolling stone but that's not how it used to be 
          G     D/F#            Em 
When the jester sang for the king and queen 
     Am7                C                   Em             A7          D 
in a coat he borrowed from James Dean in a voice that came from you and me 
         Em*                 D*               Em*                 D* 
Oh, and while the king was looking down, the jester stole his thorny crown 
     C        G/B   A7       C                D7 
The courtroom was adjourned, no verdict was returned 
          G         D/F#  Em             Am           C 
And while Lennin read a book on Marx, the quartet practiced in the park 
    G       D/F#   Em               C       D7    G  C  G        D 
And we sang dirg
[Chorus]
G    C        G        D 
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 drinkin' whiskey and rye 
        Em*                         A7*   Em*                         D7 
Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die
[Verse]
G                   Am 
Helter skelter in a summer swelter 
C                      Am                 Em                     D 
the birds flew off with a fallout shelter, eight miles high and fallin' fast 
      G   D/F#  Em 
It landed foul on the grass 
      Am7                C            Em                             A7     D 
the players tried for a forward pass, with the jester on the sidelines in a cast 
         Em*               D*                  Em*                 D* 
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume, while sergeants played a marching tune 
C          G/B      A7      C                  D7 
We all got up to dance, but we never got the chance 
          G      D/F#      Em                 Am              Cm 
'Cuz the players tried to take the field, the marching band refused to yield 
    G    D/F#       Em               C       D7    G  C  G           D 
Do you recall what was revealed the day the music died,   we started singin'
[Chorus]
G    C        G        D 
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 drinkin' whiskey and rye 
        Em*                         A7*   Em*                         D7 
Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die
[Verse]
     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/F#   Em               Am7                 C 
So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack Flash sat on a candle 
       Em                   A7             D 
stick, 'cuz fire is the devil's only friend 
     Em*              D*               Em*                    D* 
And as I watched him on the stage, my hands were clenched in fists of rage 
   C      G/B    A7         C                  D7 
No angel born in Hell could break that Satan's spell 
           G            D/F#      Em             Am              C 
And as the flames climbed high into the night to light the sacrificial rite 
      G     D/F#     Em                C       D7    G  C  G       D 
I saw Satan laughing with delight the day the music died,   he was singin'
[Chorus]
G    C        G        D 
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 drinkin' whiskey and rye 
        Em*                         A7*   Em*                         D7 
Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die
[Verse]
  G    D/F#       Em 
I met a girl who sang the blues 
      Am                 C               Em                      D 
And I asked her for some happy news, but she just smiled and turned away 
  G       D/F#      Em 
I went down to the sacred store 
       Am              C                     Em                 C 
Where I'd heard the music years before, but the man there said the music 
         D 
wouldn't play 
    Em*                Am*                    Em*                  Am* 
But in the streets the children screamed, the lovers cried and the poets dreamed 
    C     G/B      Am          C                     D 
But not a word was spoken, the church bells all were broken 
        G       D/F#   Em            Am7     C             D7 
And the three men I admire most, the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost 
G             D/F#          Em               C       D7    G 
They caught the last train for the coast the day the music died, 
N.C. 
And they were singin'
[Chorus]
G    C        G        D 
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 drinkin' whiskey and rye 
        Em*                         A7*   Em*                         D7 
Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die 
                  G    C        G        D 
They were singin' 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 drinkin' whiskey and rye 
        C                D7         G   C   G 
Singin' this will be the day that I die