American Pie

By: Don Mclean

A long, long time ago,
I can still remember,
how that music used to make me smile.
and I knew if I had my chance,
that I could make those people dance,
and maybe they'd be happy for a while.
but February made me shiver,
with every paper I'd deliver,
bad news on the door-step,
I couldn't take one more step.
I can't remember if I cried,
when I read about his widowed bride,
but something touched me deep inside,
the day... the music died...so

Bye, bye Miss American Pie,
drove my Chevy to the levee,
but the levee was dry,
them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye,
singin' this'll be the day that I die
this'll be the day that I die...

Did you write the book of love,
and do you have faith in God above,
if the Bible tells you so?
Do you believe in Rock'n'Roll,
can music save your mortal soul,
and can you teach me how to dance, real slow?
Well, I know that you're in love with him,
'cause I saw you dancin' in the gym,
you both kicked off your shoes,
and I dig those rythm 'n blues,
I was a lonely teen-aged bronckin' buck,
with a pink carnation and a pick-up truck,
but I knew I was out of luck, the day
the music died.
I started singin'

Now for ten years, we've been on our own,
and moss grows fat on a rolling stone,
but that's not how it used to be.
When the jester sang for the king and queen,
in a coat he borrowed from James Dean,
and a voice that came from you and me.
O, and while the king was lookin' down,
the jester stole his thorny crown,
the courtroom was adjourned,
no verdict was returned.
and while Lennon read a book on Marx,
the quartet practiced in the park,
and we sang dirges in the dark,
the day the music died,
We were singin'

Helter Skelter in summer swelter,
the birds flew off with a fall out shelter,
eight miles high, and fallin' fast.
It landed foul on the grass,
the players tried for a forward pass,
with the jester, on the sidelines, in a cast.while sergeants played a marching tune,
we all got up to dance, o, but we never got the chance,
'cause the players tried to take the field,
the marching band refused to yield,
do you recall what was revealed,
the day the music died...
We started singin'

There we were all in one place,
a generation lost in space,
with no time left to start again,
So, come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick,
Jack Flash sat on a candle stick,
'cause fire is the devil's only friend.
and as I watched him on the stage,
my hands were clenched in fists of rage,
no angel born in hell,
could break that Satan's spell,
and as the flames climbed high into the night,
to light the sacrificial rite,
I saw Satan laughing with delight,
the day the music died,
He was singin'

I met a girl who sang the blues,
and I asked her for some happy news,
but she just smiled, and turned away.
I went down to the sacred store,
where I'd heard the music years before,
but the man there said the music wouldn't play.
In the streets the children screamed
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.
Not a word was spoken,
The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire most,
the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost,
they caught the last train for the coast,
the day the music died.
And they were singin'

They were singin'
Bye, bye, Miss American Pie,
Drove my Chevy to the levee
but the levee was dry,
Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye,
Singin', this'll be the day that I die.