American Pie - Don McLean

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 every 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

Something touched me deep inside the day the music died, so…

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

If the bible tells you so?

And had you believe in rock’n’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 cos 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 bronckin’ buck with a pink carnation n’ a pickup truck

But I knew I was out of luck the day the music died, I started singin’

Now for ten years we’ve been on our own ’n moss grows fat on a rollin’ stone

But that’s not how it used to be

When t’ jester sang for t’ king and queen in a coat he borrowed from James Dean

In a voice that came from you and me

Oh, and while the king was lookin’ down, the jester stole his thorny crown

The courtroom was adjourned, no verdict was returned

And while Lennin 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 a summer swelter, the birds flew off the 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 t’ halftime air was sweet perfume, while sergeants played a marchin’ tune

We all got up to dance, but we never got the chance

Cos the players tried to take the field, the marchin’ 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 c’mon Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack Flash sat on a candlestick

Cos fire is the devil’s only friend

And as I watched him on t’ 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’

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’d heard the music years before

But the man there said the music wouldn’t play

And in t’ streets t’ children screamed, t’ lovers cried and t’ 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 t’ last train for t’ coast the day the music died ’n they were singin’