{"id":12149,"date":"2022-08-02T20:24:31","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T20:24:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/?p=12149"},"modified":"2026-03-13T22:03:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T22:03:41","slug":"american-pie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/american-pie\/","title":{"rendered":"American Pie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The day the music died was February 3rd<\/sup> 1959, when Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper died in a plane crash in Iowa.<\/span><\/p>\n

[Verse 1]<\/span>\r\nA [C] long, [G] long [Am] time ago, <\/span><\/span>[Dm] I can still [F] remember how that [Am] music used to make me [G] smile.   <\/span><\/span>And [C] I knew [G] if I [Am] had my chance, t<\/span><\/span>hat [Dm]  I could make those [F] people dance and [Am] maybe they'd be [F] happy for a [G] while.   <\/span><\/span>[Am] But February [Dm] made me shiver, [Am] with every paper [Dm]  I'd deliver.  <\/span><\/span>[F] Bad news [C] on the [Dm] doorstep, I [F] couldn't take one [G] more step.  <\/span><\/span>I [C] can't [G] remember [Am] if I cried when I [Dm] read about his [G] widowed bride.   But <\/span><\/span>[C] something [G] touched me [Am] deep inside, <\/span><\/span>the [F] day the [G7] music [C] died<\/span><\/span> \r\n \r\n{ CHORUS } - - - - - <\/span>So [C] bye, [F] bye Miss [C] American [G] Pie,   <\/span><\/span>Drove my [C] Chevy to the [F] levy but the [C] levy was [G] dry.   <\/span><\/span>Them [C] good old [F] boys were drinkin' [C] whiskey and [G] rye,   <\/span><\/span>Singin' [Am*] this will be the day that I [D7*] die,    [Am*] this will be the [G7] day that I die\r\n<\/span><\/span><\/span> \r\n[Verse 2] - - - - - <\/span>[C] Did you write the [Dm] book of love?  <\/span><\/span>And do [F] you have [Dm] faith in [Am] God above?  [G] if the bible tells you so . . . <\/span><\/span>Do [C] you [G] believe in [Am] rock and roll?  <\/span><\/span>Can [Dm] music [F] save your [Am] mortal soul, and [D7] can you teach me how to dance real [G] slow?\r\n<\/span><\/span>\r\nWell I [Am*] know that you're in [G*] love with him,   'cuz I [Am*] saw you dancin' [G*] in the gym.   <\/span><\/span>You [F] both kicked [C] off your [Dm] shoes, man I [F] dig those rhythm and [G7] blues.   <\/span><\/span>I was a [C] lonely [G] teenage [Am] bronckin' buck,   with a [Dm] pink carnation and a [F] pickup truck.   <\/span><\/span>But I [C] knew [G] I was [Am] out of luck  the [F] day the [G7] music [C] died,  [F] [C] I started [G] singin'<\/span><\/span> \r\n \r\n{ CHORUS } - - - - - So [C] bye, [F] bye Miss [C] American [G] Pie, Drove my [C] Chevy to the [F] levy but the [C] levy was [G] dry. Them [C] good old [F] boys were drinkin' [C] whiskey and [G] rye, Singin' [Am*] this will be the day that I [D7*] die, [Am*] this will be the [G7] day that I die\r\n<\/span><\/span>\r\n[Verse 3]<\/span>\r\nNow for [C] ten years we've been [Dm] on our own  <\/span><\/span>and [F] moss grows [Dm] fat on a rolling stone but [Am] that's not how it [G] used to be.  <\/span><\/span>When the [C] jester [G] sang for the [Am] king and queen  <\/span><\/span>in a [Dm7] coat he borrowed [F] from James Dean   in a [Am] voice that [Dm] came from you and [G] me.\r\n<\/span><\/span>\r\nOh, and [Am*] while the king was [G*] looking down,  the [Am*] jester stole his [G*] thorny crown.   <\/span><\/span>The [F] courtroom [C] was [D7] adjourned, no [F] verdict was [G7] returned.   <\/span><\/span>And [C] while Lennin [G] read a [Am] book on Marx,    the [Dm] quartet practiced [F] in the park.   <\/span><\/span>And [C] we sang [G] dirges [Am] in the dark   the [F] day the [G7] music [C] died,  [F] we were [G] singin'<\/span><\/span>\r\n \r\n{ CHORUS } - - - - - <\/span>So [C] bye, [F] bye Miss [C] American [G] Pie, <\/span><\/span>Drove my [C] Chevy to the [F] levy but the [C] levy was [G] dry. <\/span><\/span>Them [C] good old [F] boys were drinkin' [C] whiskey and [G] rye, <\/span><\/span>Singin' [Am*] this will be the day that I [D7*] die, [Am*] this will be the [G7] day that I die<\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n \r\n[Verse 4]  [Verse 5]    ( below) REFERENCE ONLY - DO NOT SING - Left out of Bistro version intentionally.<\/span>\r\n<\/span>\r\n[Verse 6] SLOWLY - - - <\/span> I [C] met a [G] girl who [Am] sang the blues, <\/span><\/span>and I [Dm] asked her [F] for some [Am] happy news.   [G] She just smiled and turned away.   <\/span><\/span>[C] I went [G] down to the [Am] sacred store   <\/span><\/span>Where I'd [Dm] heard the [F] music [Am] years before,    but the [F] man there said the music <\/span><\/span>wouldn't [G] play.   <\/span><\/span>But [Am*] in the streets the [Dm*] children screamed,    the [Am*] lovers cried and the [Dm*] poets dreamed.  <\/span><\/span>But [F] not a [C] word was [Dm] spoken, the [F] church bells all were [G] broken.   <\/span><\/span>And the [C] three men [G] I admire [Am] most, \r\nthe [F] Father, Son, and the [G7] Holy Ghost  had<\/span><\/span> [C] caught the [G] last train [Am] for the coast the [F] day the [G7] music [C] died,\r\n<\/span><\/span>[ N.C. ]    <\/span>And they were singin'\r\n<\/span> \r\n{ CHORUS } - - - - -<\/span> [C] Bye, [F] bye Miss [C] American [G] Pie, <\/span><\/span>Drove my [C] Chevy to the [F] levy but the [C] levy was [G] dry. <\/span><\/span>Them [C] good old [F] boys were drinkin' [C] whiskey and [G] rye, <\/span><\/span>Singin' [Am*] this will be the day that I [D7*] die, [Am*] this will be the [G7] day that I die<\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n[CHORUS - - - speeding up to regular tempo] - - - - -<\/span> \r\n<\/span><\/span>Singin' [F] this will be the [G] day that I [C] die [F]  [C]\r\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/pre>\n
END
\n<\/a><\/p>\n
[Verse 4] ( below)<\/span>
\n[C] Helter skelter [Dm] in a summer swelter,<\/span><\/span> the [F] birds flew off with a [Dm] fallout shelter, [Am] eight miles high and [G] fallin’ fast, <\/span><\/span>It [C] landed [G] foul on the [Am] grass,<\/span><\/span> the [Dm7] players [F] tried for a [Am] forward pass, with the [D7] jester on the [G] sidelines in a cast.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 Now the [Am*] half-time air was [G*] sweet perfume, while [Am*] sergeants played a [G*] marching tune.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>We [F] all got [C] up to [D7] dance, but we [F] never got the [G7] chance.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>‘Cuz the [C] players [G] tried to [Am] take the field,\u00a0 the [Dm] marching [Fm] band [F] refused to yield.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Do [C] you [G] recall [Am] what was revealed the [F] day [G7] the [C] music [F] [C] died, [G] we started singin’
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n{ CHORUS } – – – – – So [C] bye, [F] bye Miss [C] American [G] Pie, Drove my [C] Chevy to the [F] levy but the [C] levy was [G] dry. Them [C] good old [F] boys were drinkin’ [C] whiskey and [G] rye, Singin’ [Am*] this will be the day that I [D7*] die, [Am*] this will be the [G7] day that I die.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
[Verse 5] (below)<\/span>
\nAnd [C] there we were all [Dm] in one place;\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>a [F] generation [Dm] lost [Am] in space, with [G] no time left to start again.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>So come [C] on Jack be [G] nimble, [Am] Jack be quick, [Dm7] Jack Flash sat on a [F] candle, <\/span><\/span>stick, ‘cuz [Am] fire is the [D7] devil’s only [G] friend, <\/span><\/span>And [Am*] as I watched him [G*] on the stage, my [Am*] hands were clenched in [G*] fists of rage.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>No [F] angel [C] born in [D7] Hell could [F] break that Satan’s [G7] spell.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>And [C] as the flames [G] climbed high [Am] into the night to [Dm] light the [F] sacrificial rite.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>I saw [C] Satan [G] laughing [Am] with delight the [F] day the [G7] music [C] died, [F] he was [C] singin’ [G]
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n{ CHORUS } – – – – – <\/span>So [C] bye, [F] bye Miss [C] American [G] Pie, <\/span><\/span>Drove my [C] Chevy to the [F] levy but the [C] levy was [G] dry. <\/span><\/span>Them [C] good old [F] boys were drinkin’ [C] whiskey and [G] rye, <\/span><\/span>Singin’ [Am*] this will be the day that I [D7*] die, [Am*] this will be the [G7] day that I die<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The day the music died was February 3rd 1959, when Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper died in a plane crash in Iowa. [Verse 1] A [C] long, [G] long [Am] time ago, [Dm] I can still [F] remember how that [Am] music used to make me [G] … CLICK TO VIEW SONGAmerican Pie<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120,133,126,265,235,116,117,131],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-perflive","category-baritone-bill","category-bass-guitar-night","category-best-songs","category-don-mcclain","category-live-baritone","category-live-piano","category-power-outage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12149"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27525,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12149\/revisions\/27525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}