Tom: G5                                                  
 
  G5    D5    E5      A5            C5
A long long time ago I can still remember
         E5                    D5         G5      D5        E5
How that music used to make me smile and I knew if I had my chance
    A5                  C5                E5              C5          D5   E5
That I could make those people dance and maybe they'd be happy for a while
             A5             E5               A5 
But February made me shiver with every paper I'd deliver
C5        G5 - B5    A5            C5              D5
Bad news on the doorstep I couldn't take one more step
  G5       D5           E5           A5            D5
I can't remember if I cried When I read about his widowed bride
    G5         D5                          C5       D5    G5    C5 - G5   G5
But something touched me deep inside the day the music died          So

Chorus:
G5   C5          G5      D5
Bye Bye Miss American Pie
         G5            C5             G5         D5
Drove my chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
         G5        C5                  G5           D5
And them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
        E5                        A5   E5                        D5
Singin' this'll be the day that I die, this'll be the day that I die.


 G5                 A5                  C5                A5
Did you write the book of love and do you have faith in God above?
E5           D5                 G5     D5        E5
If the Bible tells you so.  Do you believe in Rock 'n Roll?
    A5             C5            
Can music save your mortal soul? 
    E5                A5           D5
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
        E5                  D5           
Well, I know that you're in love with him 
           E5              D5
'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym
    C5           G5 - B5      A5           C5                    D5
You both kicked off your shoes man, I dig those rhythm and blues
        G5       D5       E5      
I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck 
        A5                  C5
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck.
    G5      D5     E5              C5       D5    G5    C5
But I knew I was out of luck the day the music died    I started singin'

(Chorus)
G5                            A5        
Now for ten years we've been on our own 
    C5                   A5              E5                    D5
And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone,  but that's not how it used to be 
         G5      D5            E5
When the jester sang for the King and Queen
     A5              C5              
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean 
      E5         A5        D5
And a voice that came from you and me
        E5                 D5                 E5               D5
Oh, and while the King was looking down, the jester stole his thorny crown
    C5         G5 - B5     A5        C5             D5
The courtroom was adjourned, no verdict was returned
          G5      D5      E5                A5                C5
And while Lennon read a book on Marx, the quartet practiced in the park
    G5        D5     E5               C5       D5    G5    C5
And we sang dirges in the dark, the day the music died.   We were singing

(Chorus)
G5                   A5              
Helter-Skelter in a summer swelter, 
        C5                     A5
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
E5                   D5               G5      D5        E5
Eight miles high and falling fast It landed foul out on the grass
    A5           C5                  
The players tried for a forward pass 
             E5       A5          D5
But the jester's on the sidelines in a cast
        E5                D5
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume 
          E5                 D5
While the sergeants played a marching tune
C5      G5 - B5       A5             C5        D5
We all got up to dance, but we never got the chance
           G5       D5        E5             
'Cause the players tried to take the field 
    A5         C5
The marching band refused to yield
G5      D5      E5                    C5       D5    G5  C5  G5
Do you recall what was revealed the day the music died?   We stared singing

(Chorus)
G5                         A5             C5          A5
Oh, and there we were all in one place A generation lost in space
E5                   D5                         G5
With no time left to start again.  So come on, Jack be nimble
E5                 A5            C5
Jack be quick Jack Flash sat on a candlestick 
`       E5         A5            D5
'Cause fire is the Devil's only friend
        E5               D5            
Oh, and as I watched him on the stage, 
    E5                    D5              
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
C5        G5       A5         C5                  D5
No angel born in hell could break that Satan's spell
           G5              D5     E5
And as the flames climbed high into the night 
   A5             C5
To light the sacrificial rite
      G5     D5        E5                C5      D5     G5  C5  G5
I saw Satan laughing with delight the day the music died    He was singing

(Chorus)
  G5                       A5          C5                  A5
I met a girl who sang the blues and I asked her for some happy news
    E5                         D5      G5                       D5
But she just smiled and turned away I went down to the sacred store
          E5              A5           
Where I'd heard the music years before 
        E5                 A5             D5
But the man there said the music wouldn't play
           E5                   D5       
And in the streets the children screamed 
     E5                         D5
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
C5         G5        A5          C5                     D5
But not a word was spoken, the church bells all were broken
    G5           D5                E5      A5          C5
And three men I admire most, the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost
     G5          D5          E5             
They caught the last train for the coast,
    C5       D5    G5    C5  G5
The day the music died.      And they were singing
(Chorus)

They were singing
(Chorus)
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