American Pie | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| G D/F# Em | Am C | Em D Dsus4 | 2/4 Dsus2 D |
A long long time ago, I can still remember how that music used to make me smile.
| G D/F# Em | Am C | Em C | D Dsus4 D Dsus2 |
And I knew if I had my chance, that I could make those people dance, and maybe they’d be happy for a while.
| Em Am | Em Am | C Gsus4/B Am | C D |
But February made me shiver, with every paper I’d deliver, bad news on the doorstep, I couldn’t take one more step.
| G D/F# Em | C D | G D/F# Em | C D | G |
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.
Chorus 1
Verse 1
Chorus 2
| G C | G D | G C | G D |
So bye-bye Miss American Pie, drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry.
| G C | G D |
And them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing,
| Em | A7 | Em | D Dsus2 D | Dsus4 D Dsus2 D |
this’ll be the day that I die. This’ll be the day that I die.
Verse 2
| G | Am | C | Am | Em | D Dsus2 D | Dsus4 D Dsus2 D Dsus4 |
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.
| G D/F# | Em | Am | C | Em | Am | D Dsus2 D | Dsus4 D Dsus2 D Dsus4 |
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.
| Em | D | Em | D |
Oh, and while the King was looking down, the Jester stole his thorny crown.
| C Gsus4/B | Am | C | D Dsus4 |
The courtroom was adjourned, no verdict was returned.
| G D/F# | Em | Am | C |
And while Lenin read a book on Marx, the quartet practiced in the park,
| G D/F# | Em | C | D | G C | G D Dsus4 |
and we sang dirges in the dark, the day the music died. We were singing.
Chorus 3
| G C | G D | G C | G D |
Bye-bye Miss American Pie. Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry.
| G C | G D |
And them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing,
| Em | A7 | Em | D Dsus2 D | Dsus4 D Dsus2 D |
this’ll be the day that I die. This’ll be the day that I die.
Verse 3
| G | Am | C | Am |Em | D Dsus2 D | Dsus4 D Dsus2 D Dsus4 |
Helter Skelter in a summer swelter, the birds flew off with a fallout shelter, eight miles high and falling fast.
| G D/F# | Em | Am | C | Em | Am | D Dsus2 D | Dsus4 D Dsus2 D Dsus4 |
It landed foul on the grass, the players tried for a forward pass, with the Jester on the sidelines in a cast.
| Em | D | Em | D |
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume, while the Sergeants played a marching tune.
| C Gsus4/B | Am | C | D Dsus4 |
We all got up to dance, but we never got the chance.
| G D/F# | Em | Am | C |
‘Cause the players tried to take the field, the marching band refused to yield.
| G D/F# | Em | C | D | G C | G D Dsus4 |
Do you recall what was revealed, the day the music died. We started singing.
Chorus 4
| G C | G D | G C | G D |
Bye-bye Miss American Pie. Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry.
| G C | G D |
And them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing,
| Em | A7 | Em | D Dsus2 D | Dsus4 D Dsus2 D |
this’ll be the day that I die. This’ll be the day that I die.
Verse 4
| G | Am | C | Am | Em | D Dsus2 D | Dsus4 D Dsus2 D Dsus4 |
Oh, and there we were all in one place, a generation lost in space, with no time left to start again.
| G D/F# | Em | Am | C | Em | Am | D Dsus2 D | Dsus4 D Dsus2 D Dsus4 |
So come on, Jack, be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack Flash sat on a candlestick, ’cause fire is the devil’s only friend.
| Em | D | Em | D |
Oh, and as I watched him on the stage, my hands were clenched in fists of rage.
| C Gsus4/B | Am | C | D Dsus4 |
No angel born in Hell, could break that Satan’s spell.
| G D/F# | Em | Am | C |
And as flames climbed high into the night, to light the sacrificial rite,
| G D/F# | Em | C | D | G C | G D Dsus4 |
I saw Satan laughing with delight, the day the music died.
Chorus 5
| G C | G D | G C | G D |
He was singing, bye-bye Miss American Pie. Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry.
| G C | G D |
And them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing,
| Em | A7 | Em | D Dsus2 D | Dsus4 D Dsus2 D |
this’ll be the day that I die. This’ll be the day that I die.
Verse 5
| G D/F# Em | Am C | Em D | 2/4 Dsus2 D |
I met a girl who sang the blues and I asked her for some happy news but she just smiled and turned away.
| G D/F# Em | Am Em | Em C | Dsus4 D Dsus2 D |
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.
| Em Am | Em Am | C Gsus4/B Am | C D | 2/4 Dsus2 D |
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.
| G D/F# Em | C D | G D/F# Em | C D | G |
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 singin’.
Chorus 6
| G C | G D | G C | G D |
Bye-bye Miss American Pie, drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry.
| G C | G D |
And them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing,
| Em | A7 | Em | D Dsus2 D | Dsus4 D Dsus2 D |
this’ll be the day that I die. This’ll be the day that I die. They were singing.
Chorus 7
| G C | G D | G C | G D |
Bye-bye, Miss American Pie, drove my chevy to the levy, but the levy was dry.
| G C | G D |
And them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye,
| C D | G C G | G |
singing this’ll be the day that I die.
American Pie Guitar Lesson | Course Preview
Don McLean‘s American Pie has chords that can be tricky to remember since the same chords are repeated in lots of different ways.
Thinking of them as numbers really will help as every number has a sound. If you can tap into this, you can hear where the progression wants to move next.
On my top 10 chord progression list, American Pie can be found in three positions.
- #1 spot – The I – IV (G – C)
- #2 spot – The IV – V (C – D)
- #10 spot – The VI – II (Em – Am)
One of the chords in the song is an X chord (a chord that should have been minor but has been changed to major).
Here are American Pie’s intro chords, these are later repeated for the outro as well:
| G D/F# Em | Am C | Em D Dsus4 | 2/4 Dsus2 D |
In the key of G, we move I – V/3 – VI in the first bar. I – VI is called a minor fall, the V/3 just binds this movement.
In bar two, we go from Am – C, this is chord II – IV. This feels like an answer to I – VI.
The last bars move from VI – V. V takes us back to chord I as we repeat this entire idea again.
Next, we start going from VI – II, like this:
| Em Am | Em Am | C Gsus4/B Am | C D |
This is followed by IV – II, via the I/3. This is very similar to the opening idea (I – V/3 – VI). Lastly, we go from IV – V. Again, V takes us back to chord I.
The final line of the intro is this:
| G D/F# Em | C D | G D/F# Em | C D | G |
Everything that happens here, we’ve seen before.
American Pie verse chords
Let’s now look at the many chords of American Pie’s verse. Here’s the first line:
| G | Am | C | Am | Em | D Dsus2 D | Dsus4 D Dsus2 D Dsus4 |
This movement is ascending, giving us an uplifting feel. We go from I – II – IV. Then back off as we go: II – VI – V. Notice how this supports the lyrics. There’s an interplay of emotions.
The next line recycles an intro movement:
| G D/F# | Em | Am | C | Em | Am | D Dsus2 D | Dsus4 D Dsus2 D Dsus4 |
This was the same chord progression as the first line of the intro but spaced differently over the bars.
The third line of the verse has a new movement as we repeatedly go between VI – V (compare this with what happens at the end of the chorus):
| Em | D | Em | D |
Next, we recycle another concept from the intro, IV – I/3 – II – IV – V, like this:
| C Gsus4/B | Am | C | D Dsus4 |
This is followed by recycling another chord progression you already played in the verse:
| G D/F# | Em | Am | C |
The final line of American Pie’s verse is slightly different from what we’ve had before:
| G D/F# | Em | C | D | G C | G D Dsus4 |
As you can see, there are many chords in American Pie’s verse! To counter this, we get a super simple chorus.
American Pie chorus chords
The chorus is super simple with its I – IV – I – V movement, like this:
||: G C | G D :|| x3
This is followed by the standout chord of the song, a IIx. It should have been Am, just as Don sings “…the day that I die”, he plays an A7 instead, giving us an uplifting feeling, contrasting the lyrics, like this:
| Em | A7 | Em | D Dsus2 D | Dsus4 D Dsus2 D |
American Pie’s 8 guitar lessons in the course
Using only open-position chords may all seem easy at first, but as you’ll soon find out when playing American Pie, making it sound great is a different matter.
In the course, we analyze the chords and look at how to best remember them, however, mostly, we work on how to break up the strumming so that playing American Pie’s chords sounds great.
To achieve this, we break down each section, and practice them in loops, fine-tuning our strumming technique.
Finally, we put a capo on and invent a 2nd guitar part. Learning this will mean that you me and the singer can play American Pie together, like a folk trio.
In total, there are 8 step-by-step lessons for American Pie available. Here are links to each lesson in the course (members only):
- Step 1 – Chorus
- Step 2 – Verse
- Step 3 – Intro/Outro
- Step 4 – The complete song, with TAB
- Step 5 – 2nd guitar – Chorus
- Step 6 – 2nd guitar – Verse
- Step 7 – 2nd guitar – Intro/Outro
- Step 8 – 2nd guitar – The complete song, with TAB
Become a member today and get unlimited access to all my guitar courses, the SEPR practice route, and the eBook Spytunes Method – You can learn guitar!
American Pie chords | Related pages
Intermediate Acoustic
Most intermediate acoustic tunes can’t be played using just basic open-position chords. We have to move up the fretboard and play CAGED barre chords as well.
We incorporate bass lines, add licks, extend chords, and play vocal melodies. Most importantly, we invent second guitar parts and play these songs together.
Five similar tunes
- Brown Eyed Girl chords
- House Of The Rising Sun
- Like A Rolling Stone chords
- Losing My Religion chords
- Me and Bobby McGee chords
Don McLean
Don McLean is an American singer-songwriter most famous for his ’71 songs American Pie and Vincent.
When McLean’s indie label Media Arts was sold to United Artists, he got an unexpected chance to make his second album for a major label.
Don McLean on the web
Country & Folk
In the primarily acoustic genres of Country & Folk, you must acquire what matters the most: A repertoire. Nothing else will give you the gig.
Learn tunes by Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, America, Don McLean, and many more.
