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

Did you write the book of love

And do you have faith in God above, if the bible tells you so?

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 'cuz 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 and 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

and moss grows fat on a rolling 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 in 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 Lennin read a book on Marx, the quartet practiced in the park

And we sang dirges in the dark the day the music died, Gwe were singin'

Helter skelter in a 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 sergeants played a marching tune

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

'Cuz the players tried to take the field, the marching band refused to yield

Do you recall what was revealed the day the music died, Gwe 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 candle

stick, 'cuz fire is the devil's only friend

And as 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, Ghe 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

But 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,

N.C.

And they were singin'