Standard (EADGBE)

 A long, long time ago,

I can still remember how that music used to make me smile

 And I know 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

Something touched me deep inside

 The day the music died

Chorus

 So bye, bye Miss American Pie

 Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry

 And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye

 Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die

Verse

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 and 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 'cuz I saw you dancin' in the gym

 You both kicked off your shoes, man I dig those rhythm and blues

 I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck with a pink carnation and a pickup truck

 But I knew I was out of luck the day the music died, I started singin'

Chorus

 So bye, bye Miss American Pie

 Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry

 And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye

 Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die

Verse

 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 in a voice that came from you and me

 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 singin'

Chorus

 So bye, bye Miss American Pie

 Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry

 And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye

 Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die

Verse

Helter skelter in a summer swelter

the birds flew off with a fallout 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

cast

 Now at halftime there was sweet perfume, while sergeants played a marching

Tune

We all got up to dance, but we never got the chance

 'Cuz the players tried to take the field, the marching band refused to yield

 Do you recall what was the feel the day the music died, we started singin'

Chorus

 So bye, bye Miss American Pie

 Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry

 And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye

 Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die

Verse

 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 candle

 stick, 'cuz 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 bread 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'

Chorus

 So bye, bye Miss American Pie

 Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry

 And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye

 Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die

LAST VERSE

 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

 But 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 singin'

FINAL CHORUS

 So bye, bye Miss American Pie

 Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry

 And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye

 Singin' this will be the day that I die.

...Long Island...