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
 But something touched me deep inside
 **The day the music died**
 So...

 (Chorus)
 Bye, bye Miss American Pie
 Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
 Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
 Singin' this'll be the day that I die
 This'll be the day that I die

 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 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
 And a voice that came from you and me
 Oh nd 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'

 (Chorus)

 Helter skelter in a summer swelter
 The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
 Eight miles high and falling fast
 Landed flat 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
 Oh, 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'

 (Chorus)

 Oh, 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 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
 He was singin'

 (Chorus)

 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 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 singing

 (Chorus, 2x)

 **"the day the music died" was February 3, 1959 when a plane crash killed Buddy
 Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens