American Pie

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 doorstep;

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.

And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye

Singin', "this'll be the day that I die.

"this'll be the day that I die."

Now for ten years we've been on our own

And moss grows fat on a rollin' 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,

Oh, and while the King was looking down,

The jester stole his thorny crown.

The courtroom was adjourned;

No verdict was returned.

And while Lenin 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 singing,

"bye-bye, miss american pie."

Drove my chevy to the levee,

But the levee was dry.

Them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye

And singin', "this'll be the day that I die.

"this'll be the day that I die."

Oh, and 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 candlestick

Cause fire is the devil's only friend.

Oh, 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 singing,

"bye-bye, miss american pie."

Drove my chevy to the levee,

But the levee was dry.

Them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye

And singin', "this'll be the day that I die.

"this'll be the day that I die."

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.

And in the streets: the children screamed,

The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.

But 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 singing,

"bye-bye, miss american pie."

Drove my chevy to the levee,

But the levee was dry.

And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye

Singin', "this'll be the day that I die.

"this'll be the day that I die."

They were singing,

"bye-bye, miss american pie."

Drove my chevy to the levee,

But the levee was dry.

Them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye

Singin', "this'll be the day that I die."

Singin', "this'll be the day that I die."