G	D	Em7	Am	C	Em	D
A	long	long	time ago	I can still re	member how that	music used to make me	smile

	G	D	Em7	Am	C
And	I knew	if I had	my chance that	I could make those	people dance

	Em	C	D
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 re	member if I	cried when I	read about his	widowed bride

	G	D	Em	C	D7	G
But	something	touched me	deep inside The	day the	music	died

	G	C	G	D	G	C	G	D
	Bye	bye Miss	American	Pie drove my	Chevy to the	levy but the	levy was	dry

	G	C	G	D
And them	good old	boys were drinking	whiskey and	rye

	Em	Am	Em	D7
Singing	this'll be the day that I	die,	this'll be the day that I	die

	G	Am	C	Am
	Did you write the	book of love and do	you have faith in	God above?

	Em	D
	If the Bible	tells you so

	G	D	Em	Am7	C
Do	you be	lieve in	Rock 'n Roll? Can	music save your	mortal soul?

	Em	A7	D
And	can you teach me	how to dance	real slow?

	Em	D	Em	D
Well, I	know that you're in	love with him cause I	saw you dancing	in the gym

	C	G	D	C	G	D7
You	both kicked	off your	shoes, Man I	dig those	rhythm and	blues

	G	D	Em	Am	C
I was a	lonely	teenage	broncing 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

	D7
I started	singing

	G	Am	C	Am
	Now for ten years we've been	on our own And	moss grows fat on a	rolling stone

	Em	D
	But that's not how it	used to be

	D	G	D	Em	Am7	C
	When the	jester	sang for the	King and Queen in a	coat he borrowed	from James Dean

	Em	A7	D	D
And 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	D	C	D7
The	courtroom	was ad	journed, no	verdict was re	turned

	G	D	Em	Am	C
And while	Lennon	read a	book of Marx the	court kept practice	in the park

	G	D	Em	C	D7	G	C	G
And	we sang	dirges	in the dark the	day the	Music	Died.

	D7
We were	singing

	G	Am	C	Am
	Helter-Skelter in a	summer swelter The	Byrds flew off with a	fallout shelter

	Em	D
	Eight Miles High and	falling fast

	G	D	Em	Am7	C
It	landed	foul out	on the grass, the	players tried	for a forward pass

	Em	A7	D	D
But the	jester's	on the sidelines	in a cast

	Em	D	Em	D	C
Now the	half-time air was	sweet perfume while the	sergeants played a	marching tune

	G	D	C	D7	G	D	Em
We all got	up to	dance but we	never got	the chance cause the	players	tried to	take the field

	Am	C
The	marching band re	fused to yield

	G	D	Em	C	D7	G	C	G
Do you	re	call what	was revealed the	day the	music	died?

	D7
We started	singing

	G	Am	C	Am
Oh, and	there we were all	in one place A	generation	Lost in space

	Em	D
	With no time left to	start again

	G	Em	Am7	C
So come on,	Jack be nimble	Jack be quick Jack	Flash sat on a	candlestick

	Em	A7	D
Cause	fire is the	Devil's only	friend

	Em	D	Em	D	C
Oh, and	as I watched him	on the stage my	hands were clenched in	fists of rage

	G	D	C	D7
No angel	born in	hell Could	break that Satan's	spell

	G	D	Em	Am	C
And as the	flames climbed	high in	to the night to	light the sacri	fical rite

	G	D	Em	C	D7	G	C	G
I saw	Satan	laughing	with delight The	day the	music	died

	D7
He was	singing

	G	D	Em	Am	C
I	met a	girl who sang the	blues And I	asked her for some	happy news but

	Em	D
	she just smiled and turned	away

	G	D	Em7	Am	C
I	went down	to the sacred	store where I'd	heard the music	years before

	Em	A7	D
But the	man there said the	music wouldn't	play

	Em	Am	Em	Am
And in the	streets the children	screamed The	lovers cried, and the poets	dreamed

	C	G	Am	C	D7
but	not a	word was	spoken The	Church bells all were	broken

	G	D	Em	Am7	C
And	three men	I ad	mire most The	Father, Son and the	Holy Ghost

	G	D	Em	C	D7	G	C
They	caught the	last train	for the coast The	Day the	music	died

	D7
And they were	singing