From: sennet@ocf.berkeley.edu (Sennet Williams)
Newsgroups: alt.guitar.tab
Subject: American Pie SIMP (lyrics and chords)
Date: 21 Aug 92 10:01:30 GMT
Organization: U.C. Berkeley Open Computing Facility
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
 
Newsgroups: alt.guitar.tab