Don Mclean - American Pie Chords & Tabs

 

American Pie Chords & Tabs

Don Mclean Chords & Tabs

Version: 9 Type: Chords

American Pie Chords

   
Tabbed by Todd Christensen

American Pie – Don McClean          140 BPM                              

  G     D    Em7
A long, long time ago, 
Am            C               Em                    D (strum)
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
    G      D    Em7
And I know if I had my chance,
     Am                 C                Em              C                  D Dsus4 D Dsus2 D
That I could make those people dance and maybe they'd be happy for a while
Em              Am              Em               Am
   But February made me shiver, with every paper I'd deliver
C        G      Am          C                 D
Bad news on the doorstep, I couldn't take one more step
  G       D      Em                Am7            D
I can't remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride
G         D          Em
Something touched me deep inside
    C       D7    G  
The day the music died

   G    C        G        D
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
         G            C            G        D
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
         G        C                  G           D
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
        Em                          A7   Em                          D7  Dsus4 D Dsus2 D
Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die

G                   Am      
  Did you write the book of love
       C                 Am         Em              D             Dsus4 D Dsus2 D
And do you have faith in god above,    if the bible tells you so?
G                   Em
  Do you believe in rock and roll
    Am7            C                    Em                  A7         D     Dsus4 D Dsus2 D
Can music save your mortal soul and can you teach me how to dance real slow?
       Em                  D                     Em              D
Well I know that you're in love with him  'cuz I saw you dancin' in the gym
    C           G        A7           C                    D7
You both kicked off your shoes, man I dig those rhythm and blues
        G      D       Em                   Am                   C
I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck with a pink carnation and a pickup truck
    G      D     Em              C       D7    G    C  G
But I knew I was out of luck the day the music died,      I started singin'

   G    C        G        D
   Bye, bye Miss American Pie
         G            C            G        D
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
         G        C                  G           D
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
        Em                          A7   Em                          D7
Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die

        G                    Am              
Now for ten years we've been on our own,
    C                   Am                Em                        D  
and moss grows fat on a rolling stone but that's not how it used to be
          G      D           Em
When the jester sang for the king and queen 
     Am7              C                    Em                   A7      D Dsus4 D Dsus2 D
in a coat he borrowed from James Dean in a voice that came from you and me
    Em                D                  Em               D
And while the king was looking down, the jester stole his thorny crown
    C         G     A7          C             D7
The courtroom was adjourned, no verdict was returned
          G     D      Em                Am               C
And while Lenin read a book on Marx, the quartet practiced in the park
    G        D     Em              C         D7     G  C  G
And we sang dirges in the dark the day the music died,       we were singin'

   G    C        G        D
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
         G            C            G        D
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
         G        C                  G           D
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
        Em                          A7   Em                          D7  Dsus4 D Dsus2 D
Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/d/don_mclean/american_pie_crd_ver_9.html ]
G              Am
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
    C                     Am              Em                   D               Dsus4 D Dsus2 D
the birds flew off with a fallout shelter,   eight miles high and fallin' fast
   G      D    Em
It landed foul on the grass
    Am7                 C             Em                     A7             D  Dsus4 D Dsus2 D
the players tried for a forward pass, with the jester on the sidelines in a cast
       Em                 D                    Em                 D
Now at halftime there was sweet perfume, while sergeants played a marching Tune
C          G        A7      C                D7
We all got up to dance, but we never got the chance
         G       D        Em                  Am              C
'Cuz the players tried to take the field, the marching band refused to yield
    G    D         Em               C       D7    G    C  G
Do you recall what was the feel the day the music died,      we started singin'

   G    C        G        D
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
         G            C            G        D
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
         G        C                  G           D
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
        Em                          A7   Em                          D7  Dsus4 D Dsus2 D
Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die


    G                 Am
And there we were all in one place,
  C          Am             Em                   D           Dsus4 D Dsus2 D
a generation lost in space, with no time left to start again
           G       D       Em             Am7                 C
So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack Flash sat on a candle 
       Em               A7           D      Dsus4 D Dsus2 D
stick, 'cuz fire is the devil's only friend

     Em              D                Em                     D
And as I watched him on the stage, my hands were clenched in fists of rage
   C     G       A7         C                  D7
No angel born in Hell could bread that Satan's spell
           G              D      Em              Am             C
And as the flames climbed high into the night to light the sacrificial rite
      G     D        Em               C       D7    G    C  G
I saw Satan laughing with delight the day the music died,     he was singin'


   G    C        G        D
   bye, bye Miss American Pie
         G            C            G        D
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
         G        C                  G           D
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
        Em                          A7   Em                          D7
Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die

  G     D        Em
I met a girl who sang the blues
    Am                   C               Em                          D
And I asked her for some happy news, but she just smiled and turned away
  G         D      Em
I went down to the sacred store
          Am              C                     Em                 C
Where I'd heard the music years before, but the man there said the music
         D
wouldn't play
    Em                 Am                     Em                   Am
But in the streets the children screamed, the lovers cried and the poets dreamed
    C     G        Am          C                     D
But not a word was spoken, the church bells all were broken                                     
        G         D   Em             Am7     C            D7
And the three men I admire most, the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
     G          D          Em                Am7     D7    G
They caught the last train for the coast the day the music died,
  
And they were singin'

G    C        G        D
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
         G            C            G        D
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
         G        C                  G           D
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
        Em                          A7   Em                          D7  Dsus4 D Dsus2 D
Singin' this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die

they were singin'

G    C        G        D
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
         G            C            G        D
Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
         G        C                  G           D
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
        C                D7         G   C   G
Singin' this will be the day that I die