Don Mclean - American Pie Chords & Tabs

 

American Pie Chords & Tabs

Don Mclean Chords & Tabs

Version: 3 Type: Chords

American Pie Chords

   
Tabbed By J Brown
Full Song 100% Correct


Chords:
	E A D G B E
G	3 2 0 0 0 3
D/F#	2 0 0 2 3 2
Em	0 2 2 0 0 0
Am	0 0 2 2 1 0
C	0 3 2 0 1 0
D	0 0 0 2 3 2
Dsus	0 0 0 2 3 3
D(9)	0 0 0 2 3 0
A7	0 0 2 0 2 0
C/B	0 2 0 0 1 0
Am7	0 0 2 0 1 0

Verse 1/Intro

  G     D/F# Em 
A long, long time ago... 
Am            C
I can still remember 
         Em			D		Dsus D D(9) D
How that music used to make me smile. 
G		D/F#  Em
   And I knew if I had my chance 
Am			 C
That I could make those people dance
     Em		   A7		   D	 Dsus D D(9) D
And, maybe, they’d be happy for a while. 
    Em        Am 
But february made me shiver 
Em		    Am
With every paper I’d deliver. 
C	   C/B	    Am
Bad news on the doorstep; 
  C			 D
I couldn’t take one more step. 
  G	  D/F#	    Em
I can’t remember if I cried 
	 C 		   D
When I read about his widowed bride, 
    G	        D/F#	      Em
But something touched me deep inside 
    C	      D     G
The day the music died. 


Chorus

   G   C		G      D
So bye-bye, miss american pie. 
	   G            C
Drove my chevy to the levee, 
        G         D
But the levee was dry. 
         G        C                  G           D
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye 
	   Em				    A7
Singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die. 
Em				  D	  D(9) D Dsus D D(9) D
"this’ll be the day that I die." 


Verse 2

G			     Am7
	Did you write the book of love, 
	C	   C/B		Am7
And do you have faith in God above, 
Em		 D	  		 D Dsus D D(9) D
	If the Bible tells you so? 
   G	 D/F#	     Em
Do you believe in rock ’n roll, 
    Am7		 C
Can music save your mortal soul, 
    Em			  A7		   D
And can you teach me how to dance real slow? 
	  Em			   D
Well, I know that you’re in love with him 
	   Em			D
`cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym. 
    C	   C/B		      Am7
You both kicked off your shoes. 
	 C                    D
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues. 
	  G	  D/F#	     Em
I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck 
       C                    D
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck, 
    G	     D/F#  Em
But I knew I was out of luck 
    C       D     G	    C 
The day the music died. 


Chorus
G	    D
I started singin’, 
G   C		   G      D
bye-bye, miss american pie. 
	   G            C
Drove my chevy to the levee, 
        G         D
But the levee was dry. 
         G        C                  G           D
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye 
	       Em				  A7
And Singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die. 
Em				  D	  D(9) D Dsus D D(9) D
"this’ll be the day that I die." 


Verse 3
    G                        Am7
Now for ten years we’ve been on our own 
    C	         C/B	     Am
And moss grows fat on a rollin’ stone,
    Em                D
But that’s not how it used to be. 
	   G	   D/F#	    Em
When the jester sang for the king and queen, 
     Am7                     C
In a coat he borrowed from james dean 
      Em         A7                 D	  D(9) D Dsus D D(9) D
And a voice that came from you and me, 


Verse 4
        Em		        D
Oh, and while the king was looking down, 
    Em               D
The jester stole his thorny crown. 
C   C/B	     Am
The courtroom was adjourned; 
C              D
No verdict was returned. 
	    G	    D/F#   Em
And while Lennon read a book on Marx, 
     C      D
The quartet kept practice in the park, 
    G	      D/F#	Em
And we sang dirges in the dark 
    C       D        G	C
The day the music died. 


Chorus

G		  D
	We were singing, 
G   C		   G      D
bye-bye, miss american pie. 
	   G            C
Drove my chevy to the levee, 
        G         D
But the levee was dry. 
         G        C                  G           D
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye 
	       Em				  A7
And Singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die. 
Em				  D	  D(9) D Dsus D D(9) D
"this’ll be the day that I die." 



Verse 5
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/d/don_mclean/american_pie_crd_ver_3.html ]
G                   Am7
Helter skelter in a summer swelter. 
    C	         C/B	       Am
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter, 
Em                   D
Eight miles high and falling fast. 
   G	   D/F#	   Em
It landed foul on the grass.
     Am7                         C
The players tried for a forward pass, 
	   Em              A7           D	  Dsus D D(9) D
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast. 


Verse 6

	  Em		        D
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume 
	    Em                 D
While the sergeants played a marching tune. 
   C       C/B   Am
We all got up to dance, 
           C             D
Oh, but we never got the chance! 
       G	  D/F#     Em
As the players tried to take the field; 
    C             D
The marching band refused to yield.
G	 D/F#   	Em
Do you recall what was revealed 
    C       D        G	C
The day the music died? 


Chorus
G	    D
We started singing, 
G   C		   G      D
bye-bye, miss american pie. 
	   G            C
Drove my chevy to the levee, 
        G         D
But the levee was dry. 
     G        C                  G           D
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye 
	       Em				  A7
And Singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die. 
Em				  D	  D(9) D Dsus D D(9) D
"this’ll be the day that I die." 


Verse 7
	  G             Am7
Oh, and there we were all in one place, 
C C/B	       Am
A generation lost in space 
Em                D
With no time left to start again. 
		G	 D/F#	   Em
So come on: jack be nimble, jack be quick! 
Am7                          C
Jack flash sat on a candlestick 
Em                A7                      D	  Dsus D D(9) D
Cause fire is the devil’s only friend. 


Verse 8
    Em                   D
Oh, and as I watched him on the stage 
   Em                     D
My hands were clenched in fists of rage. 
C        C/B	    Am
No angel born in hell 
      C                  D
Could break that satan’s spell. 
	     G	             D/F#	Em
And as the flames climbed high into the night 
   C              D
To Fight the sacrificial lite, 
G     D/F#	 Em
I saw satan laughing with delight 
    C       D	   G	C
The day the music died 


Chorus
G	    D
He was singing, 
G   C		   G      D
bye-bye, miss american pie. 
	   G            C
Drove my chevy to the levee, 
        G         D
But the levee was dry. 
     G        C                  G           D
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye 
	       Em				  A7
And Singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die. 
Em				  D	  D Dsus D D(9) D
"this’ll be the day that I die." 


Verse 9
G	  D/F#	    Em
I met a girl who sang the blues 
	Am7 		         C
And I asked her for some happy news,
Em						D Dsus D D(9) D
But she just smiled and turned away. 
G	 D/F#	      Em
I went down to the sacred store 
          Am7 		 C
Where I’d heard the music years before, 
        Am7 		            C                D   Dsus D D(9) D
But the man there said the music wouldn’t play. 


Verse 10
    Em                  Am
And in the streets: the children screamed, 
    Em                    Am
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed. 
    C     C/B	Am7
But not a word was spoken; 
    C                     D
The church bells all were broken. 
        G	    D/F#  Em
And the three men I admire most: 
    C                    D
The father, son, and the holy ghost, 
     G	          D/F#       Em
They caught the last train for the coast 
    C       D 
The day the music died. 


Chorus
    
And they were singing, 
G   C		   G      D
bye-bye, miss american pie. 
	   G            C
Drove my chevy to the levee, 
        G         D
But the levee was dry. 
         G        C                  G           D
And Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye 
	   Em				    A7
Singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die. 
Em				  D	  D Dsus D D(9) D
"this’ll be the day that I die." 


Chorus/Outro
G           D
they were singing, 
G   C		   G      D
bye-bye, miss american pie. 
	   G            C
Drove my chevy to the levee, 
        G         D
But the levee was dry. 
     G        C                  G           D
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye 
	   C               D          G
Singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die. 
C		    D	        G        
"this’ll be the day that I die." 

C   G