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 / 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 ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye / Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die / This’ll be the day that I die
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 / ’Cause 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’
Bye, bye Miss American Pie / Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry / And them good ole boys were drinking 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 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 / 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 Lennon 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’
Bye, bye Miss American Pie / Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry / Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye / And singin’ this’ll be the day that I die / This’ll be the day that I die
Helter skelter in a summer swelter / The birds flew off with a fallout shelter / Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul on the grass / The players tried for a forward pass / With the jester on the sidelines in a cast
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume / While sergeants played a marching tune / We all got up to dance / Oh, but we never got the chance
’Cause the players tried to take the field / The marching band refused to yield / Do you recall what was revealed / The day the music died? / We started singin’
Bye, bye Miss American Pie / Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry / Them good ole boys were drinking 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 singin’
Bye, bye Miss American Pie / Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry / Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye / 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 ole boys were drinking 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 ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye / Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
[By Don McLean © United Artists Records Ltd, 1971]