AMERICA PIE
AMERICA PIE
A long, long time agoI can still remember how that music used to make me smileAnd I knew if I had my chance that I could make those people danceAnd maybe they'd be happy for a whileBut February made me shiverWith every paper I'd deliverBad news on the doorstepI couldn't take one more stepI can't remember if I criedWhen I read about his widowed brideBut something touched me deep insideThe day the music died
So bye-bye, Miss American PieDrove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dryAnd them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and ryeSingin' "This'll be the day that I dieThis'll be the day that I die"
Did you write the book of love, and do you have faith in God aboveIf the Bible tells you so?Now do you believe in rock and roll, can music save your mortal soulAnd 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 gymYou both kicked off your shoesMan, I dig those rhythm and bluesI was a lonely teenage broncin' buckWith a pink carnation and a pickup truckBut I knew I was out of luckThe day the music died
I started singin' bye-bye, Miss American PieDrove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dryThem good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and ryeAnd singin' "This'll be the day that I dieThis'll be the day that I die"
Now for ten years we've been on our own, and moss grows fat on a rollin' stoneBut that's not how it used to beWhen the jester sang for the king and queen in a coat he borrowed from James DeanAnd a voice that came from you and meOh, and while the king was looking downThe jester stole his thorny crownThe courtroom was adjournedNo verdict was returnedAnd while Lenin read a book on MarxA quartet practiced in the parkAnd we sang dirges in the darkThe day the music died
We were singin' bye-bye, Miss American PieDrove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dryThem good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and ryeSingin' "This'll be the day that I dieThis'll be the day that I die"
Helter skelter in a summer swelter, the birds flew off with a fallout shelterEight miles high and falling fastIt landed foul on the grass, the players tried for a forward passWith the jester on the sidelines in a castNow the halftime air was sweet perfumeWhile the sergeants played a marching tuneWe all got up to danceOh, but we never got the chance'Cause the players tried to take the fieldThe marching band refused to yieldDo you recall what was reve
We started singin' bye-bye, Miss American PieDrove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dryThem good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and ryeAnd singin' "This'll be the day that I dieThis'll be the day that I die"
Oh, and there we were all in one place, a generation lost in spaceWith no time left to start againSo come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack Flash sat on a candlestick'Cause fire is the devil's only friendOh, and as I watched him on the stageMy hands were clenched in fists of rageNo angel born in HellCould break that Satan's spellAnd as the flames climbed high into the nightTo light the sacrificial riteI saw Satan laughing with delightThe day the music died
I started singin' itSingin' bye-bye, Miss American PieDrove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dryThem good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and ryeAnd singin' "This'll be the day that I dieThis'll be the day that I die"
I met a girl who sang the blues, and I asked her for some happy newsBut she just smiled and turned awayI went down to the sacred store where I'd heard the music years beforeBut the man there said the music wouldn't playAnd in the streets, the children screamedThe lovers cried, and the poets dreamedBut not a word was spokenThe church bells all were brokenAnd the three men I admire mostThe Father, Son, and the Holy GhostThey caught the last train for the coastThe day the music died
And they were singin' bye-bye, Miss American PieDrove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dryAnd them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and ryeSingin' "This'll be the day that I dieThis'll be the day that I die"
They were singin' bye-bye, Miss American PieDrove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dryThem good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and ryeAnd singin' This'll be the day that I die"
Don Mclean