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  G   D/F#  Em7
A long, long time ago
Am      C         Em         D
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
    G   D/F#  Em7
And I knew if I had my chance
     Am         C        Em       C      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/B  Am       C           D
Bad news on the doorstep, I couldn't take one more step
  G     D/F#   Em      Am7      D
I can't remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride
G Â Â Â Â D/F# Â Â Â Em
Something touched me deep inside
    C   D7   G
The day the music died
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   G  C    G    D
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
         G      C       G     D
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee 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
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G Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Am
Did you write the book of love
       C         Am     Em      D
And do you have faith in God above, if the bible tells you so?
GÂ Â Â D/F#Â Â Â Â Em
Do you believe in rock and roll
    Am7      C       Em         A7      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/B   Am      C          D7
You both kicked off your shoes, man I dig those rhythm and blues
        G   D/F#   Em          Am          C
I was a lonely teenage bronckin' buck with a pink carnation and a pickup truck
    G   D/F#  Em       C    D7  G C G     D
But I knew I was out of luck the day the music died, I started singin'
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         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/F#      Em
When the jester sang for the king and queen
     Am7        C          Em       A7     D
in a coat he borrowed from James Dean in a voice that came from you and me
         Em*         D*        Em*         D*
Oh, and while the king was looking down, the jester stole his thorny crown
     C    G/B  A7    C        D7
The courtroom was adjourned, no verdict was returned
          G     D/F# Em       Am      C
And while Lennin read a book on Marx, the quartet practiced in the park
    G    D/F#  Em        C    D7  G C G    D
And we sang dirges in the dark the day the music died, Â we were singin'
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G Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Am
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
C           Am         Em           D
the birds flew off with a fallout shelter, eight miles high and fallin' fast
      G  D/F# Em
It landed foul on the grass
      Am7        C      Em               A7   D
the players tried for a forward pass, with the jester on the sidelines in a cast
         Em*        D*         Em*         D*
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume, while sergeants played a marching tune
CÂ Â Â Â Â G/BÂ Â Â A7Â Â Â CÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â D7
We all got up to dance, but we never got the chance
         G    D/F#   Em       Am         Cm    C
'Cuz the players tried to take the field, the marching band refused to yield
G     D/F#   Em        C    D7  G C G      D
Do you recall what was revealed the day the music died, Â we started singin'
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     G        Am
And there we were all in one place
    C    Am      Em          D
a generation lost in space, with no time left to start again
            G   D/F#  Em        Am7         C
So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack Flash sat on a candle
       Em          A7       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/B  A7     C         D7
No angel born in Hell could break that Satan's spell
           G      D/F#   Em       Am       C
And as the flames climbed high into the night to light the sacrificial rite
      G   D/F#   Em        C    D7  G C G    D
I saw Satan laughing with delight the day the music died, Â he was singin'
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  G  D/F#    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/F#   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/B   Am     C           D
But not a word was spoken, the church bells all were broken
        G    D/F#  Em      Am7   C       D7
And the three men I admire most, the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
G       D/F#     Em        C    D7  G
They caught the last train for the coast the day the music died,
N.C.
And they were singin'
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GÂ Â CÂ Â Â Â GÂ Â Â Â D
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
         G      C       G     D
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee 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  C    G    D
They were singin' bye, bye Miss American Pie
         G      C       G     D
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee 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
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