Mclean Don

Mclean Don - American Pie. Easy guitar chord

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From uunet!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!bionet!agate!sennet Sat Aug 22 15:00:34 PDT 1992

Article: 1763 of alt.guitar.tab

Path: nevada.edu!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!bionet!agate!sennet

From: sennet@ocf.berkeley.edu (Sennet Williams)

Newsgroups: alt.guitar.tab

Subject: American Pie SIMP (lyrics and chords)

Message-ID:

Date: 21 Aug 92 10:01:30 GMT

Organization: U.C. Berkeley Open Computing Facility

Lines: 167

NNTP-Posting-Host: tornado.berkeley.edu

I think this song has been posted before, but not with chords with every

verse, which I for one needed to be able to play it.  It's a really long song,

but can fit on two pages if you cut some extras.

.

.                   AMERICAN PIE   (Don Mclean)      (SIMPed  by Sennet)

.  G     D        Em      

A long, long time ago__  

Am             C              Em                     D

I can still remember how that music used to make me smile.__

.   G         D     Em             Am                 C  

And I knew if I had my chance that I could make those people dance

.   Em               C           D

and maybe they'd by 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 remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride,

G           D         Em              C       D7       G   C  G

Something touched me deep inside the day_ the music  died._____

.

Chorus:

.       G    C         G       D           G             C            

.   So bye-bye, Miss American Pie.Drove my Chevy to the levee but the

.    G         D         G        C                  G          D    

.   levee was dry, them good ole boys were drinkin' whiskey and Rye, singing

.   Em                        A7      Em                         D7

.   this'll be the day that I die,    This'll be the day that I die.__

verse:

G                 Am,                 C                 Am      

Did you write the book of love and do you have faith in God above?__

.      Em               D           G      D       Em                

If the Bible tells you so__  Now do you believe in rock and roll?  

.   Am              C               Em                       A7           D7

Can music save your mortal soul? and can you teach me how to dance_ real slow?

.       Em                 Am                     Em              Am        

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

_    C        G          A7            C                    D7    

You both kicked off your shoes,  Man I dig those rhythm and blues!

.        G      D        Em                   Am                   C

I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck, with a pink carnation and a pick-up truck.

.   G      D     Em               C        D7     G  C  G

But I knew I was out of luck the day, the music died.___

G           D7

I started singing....     (chorus)

.

.        G                    Am,            C                   Am      

Now for ten years, we've been on our own and moss grows fat on a rolling stone,

Em                            D                   G     D            Em  

But that's not how it used to be.Cause when the jester sang for the King &

Queen

.    Am                C                    Em                   A7      D7

in a coat he borrowed from James Dean and a voice that came from you and me__

.       Em                 Am                  Em               Am  

Oh and while the king was looking down    the jester stole his thorny crown

_    C          G     A7         C            D7    

the court room was adjourned no verdict was returned.

.          G      D     Em                      Am              C

And while Lennon read a book on Marx      the quartet practiced in the park

G            D     Em              C            D7      G  C  G

and we sang dirges in the dark the day__    the music  died__

G           D7

I started singin'      (chorus)

.

Chord fingering chart:

.       E A D G B E           E A D G B E           E A D G B E

A       0 0 2 2 2 0    Am7    0 0 2 0 1 0   D7      x x 0 2 1 2

Am      0 0 2 2 1 0    C      x 3 2 0 1 0   Em      0 2 2 0 0 0

A7      0 0 2 0 2 0    D      x x 0 2 3 2   G       3 2 0 0 0 3

.

.

.

Chorus:

.       G    C         G       D           G             C            

.   So bye-bye, Miss American Pie.Drove my Chevy to the levee but the

.    G         D         G        C                  G          D    

.   levee was dry, them good ole boys were drinkin' whiskey and Rye, singing

.   Em                        A7      Em                         D7

.   this'll be the day that I die,    This'll be the day that I die.__

.

G              Am,                         C                    Am      

Helter skelter in the summer swelter_ the birds flew off with a fallout shelter

Em                           D           G          D       Em

Eight miles high and falling fast__  it landed foul on the grass

.    Am                   C                   Em                      A7      D7

The players tried for a forward pass with the jester on the sidelines in a cast_

.   Em                 Am                      Em                 Am

The half time air was sweet perfume while the seargeants played a marching tune

_  C      G       A7              C              D7    

we all got up to dance___  but we never got the chance.   'Cause

.    G        D      Em                       Am              C

the players tried to take the field, but the marching band refused to yield

.G       D        Em                       C        D7    G  C  G

Do you recall what was revealed  _____ the day the music died.

G         D7

I started singin'      (chorus)

.

.   G                 Am,              C           Am      

And there we were all in one place,  A generation lost in space.

.   Em                       D                   G      D       Em

With no time left, to start again. So come on, Jack be nimble, jack be quick,

Am                  C                     Em          A7            D7

Jack flash sat on a candlestick.   'Cause fire is the devil's only friend.

.   Em               Am               Em                     Am  

And as I watched him on the stage  my hands were clenched in fists of rage.

.  C     G       A7              C                 D7    

no angel born in hell__   could break that satan's spell

.  G        D             Em                      Am            C

And as the flames climbed high into the night to light the sacrificial rite

G      D              Em                 C        D7     G   C  G

I_ saw Satan laughing with delight,  the day the music died.    

G          D7

we were singin'     (chorus)

.

.  G     D       Em                

I met a girl who sang the blues so

.  Am                  C            Em                                D

I asked her for some happy news but she just smiled__    and turned away.

. G     D          Em                      Am              C

I went down to the sacred store.  Where I heard the music years before.__

.       Em                 C              D

But the man there said the music wouldn't play.__     And

Em                  Am                    Em                   Am    

in the streets the children screamed, the lovers cried and the poets dreamed.

.    C     G        Am              C                          D

But not a word was spoken.__  The church__ bells_ all_ were_ broken.

.         G       D   Em               Am7                 D  

And the three men I admire most:  the father, Son and the Holy Ghost__

.     G          D         Em                 C       D7     G   C  G

They caught the last train for the coast the day, the music died.

G             D7                              C             D7         G C G

And they were singing:(chorus twice, ending: this'll be the day that I die)

.

Chord fingering chart:

.       E A D G B E           E A D G B E           E A D G B E

A       0 0 2 2 2 0    Am7    0 0 2 0 1 0    D7     x x 0 2 1 2

Am      0 0 2 2 1 0    C      x 3 2 0 1 0   Em      0 2 2 0 0 0

A7      0 0 2 0 2 0    D      x x 0 2 3 2   G       3 2 0 0 0 3

.

Are there a lot of chord changes or what?  

(some people play this song with the intro and the end having the same

chords.  If you figure it out, could you send me a copy?

.

SIMP format:.  If you also need chords with every verse and like the printout

for this song, check out the following "But I Might Die Tonight" post.

I have a fair number of other songs in this format and am interested in

exchanging them.

Most wanted:  

Old Cheap Trick hits, and Cat Stevens from "Harold and Maude"

.

.                 .           Hope you enjoy the song!

.

.

Humor break:

A-  "The Education President"

B-  "No New Taxes"

C-  "The Environmental" (that's a good one) "President"

.              Hmmm, batting three for three.  

Read my lips:  Somebody will SAY ANYTHING to get elected.

.

.

.

.              "Happiness is a learned condition"    --Tom Robbins

.

.                                      Sennet@OCF.berkeley.EDU

Get this song at:  amazon.com sheetmusicplus.com

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