American Pie

While sergeants played a marching tune
If the Bible tells you so?
This'll be the day that I die
Where I'd heard the music years before
But she just smiled and turned away
Now, for ten years we've been on our own
And I knew if I had my chance
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
And I asked her for some happy news

Singing this'll be the day that I die
Can music save your mortal soul?
And singing this'll be the day that I die
Well, I know that you're in love with him
And moss grows fat on a rolling stone
A generation lost in space
When the jester sang for the king and queen
But February made me shiver, with every paper I'd deliver
No verdict was returned
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in hell
Landed foul on the grass
The day the music died?
Do you recall what was revealed
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And a voice that came from you and me
They caught the last train for the coast

The day the music died

And them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
I started singing bye, bye Miss American Pie

He was singing bye, bye Miss American Pie
Could break that Satan's spell
Oh, but we never got the chance
Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye

Now do you believe in rock and roll?
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
We were singing bye, bye Miss American Pie
This'll be the day that I die

With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
The courtroom was adjourned
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
The jester stole his thorny crown

And the three men I admire most
The day the music died
And we sang 'Dirges In The Dark'
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
And as the flames climbed high into the night
We all got up to dance
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And in the streets the children screamed
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed
Oh, and while the king was looking down
Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast

I can't remember if I cried, when I read about his widowed bride
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
You both kicked off your shoes
The day the music died
But something touched me deep inside the day the music died
Oh, and there we were all in one place
And while Lenin read a book on Marx
Singing this'll be the day that I die
With no time left to start again
Bad news on the doorstep, I couldn't take one more step

This'll be the day that I die
But that's not how it used to be
The marching band refused to yield
The players tried for a forward pass

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
And maybe they'd be happy for a while
The church bells all were broken
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
The quartet practiced in the park
And singing this'll be the day that I die
Eight miles high and falling fast
This'll be the day that I die
But I knew I was out of luck
'Cause the players tried to take the field
We started singing bye, bye Miss American Pie

Did you write the book of love
The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost
And they were singing bye, bye Miss American Pie
This'll be the day that I die
So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
'Cause fire is the devil's only friend

But not a word was spoken
This'll be the day that I die

The day the music died
And singing this'll be the day that I die

I went down to the sacred store

I met a girl who sang the blues

But the man there said the music wouldn't play
Now the half time air was sweet perfume
'Cause I saw you dancing in the gym
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues
That I could make those people dance
They were singing, bye, bye Miss American Pie
And singing this'll be the day that I die
And do you have faith in God above

I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck
Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye