From: gjnelson@ee.umn.edu (Grad student Greg Nelson)
Subject:  American Pie Lyrics
Organization: Electrical Engineering, U of MN, Mpls.
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 19:29:26 GMT

In article <1992Oct5.141825@sovb39pki-nbg.philips.de> dok_hfa@pki-nbg.philips.de writes:
>Der Text wuerde mich auch sehr interessieren. Es waere nett, ihn zu posten.
>Hans-Juergen
By popular request

American Pie

Words and Music by Don McLean

Prologue: (Ad lib)
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 ev'ry 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,
But something touched me deep inside the day the music died.

Chorus:
So bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry.
Them good ole boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die,
This'll be the day that I die.

Verses:
Did you write the book of love, and do you have faith in God above?
If the Bible tells you so. Now 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'...(Chorus)

Now for ten years we've been on our own, and moss grows fat on a rollin' 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 Lenin 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'...

Helter-skelter in the summer swelter, the birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and fallin' 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 the sergeants played a marching 
tune.
We all got up to dance, 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'...

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.
And 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'...

Postlude (Ad lib - as Prologue)
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 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 singin'...(End with Chorus)
Newsgroups: de.rec.music.misc