McLEAN, Don


Vincent

Starry, starry night
Paint your palette blue and gray
Look out on a summer's day
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul

Shadows on the hills
Sketch the trees and the daffodils
Catch the breeze and the winter chills
In colors on the snowy linen land

Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen
They did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now

For they could not love you
But still your love was true
And when no hope was left inside
On that starry, starry night
You took your life as lovers often do
But I could've told you, Vincent
This world was never meant
For one as beautiful as you

Starry, Starry night
Portraits hung in empty halls
Frameless heads on nameless walls
With eyes that watch the world and can't forget
Like the strangers that you've met
The ragged men in ragged clothes ...
The silver thorn, the bloody rose
Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow

Now I think I know
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen
They're not listening still
Perhaps they never will . . .


American Pie

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, bye bye Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry

Them good ol' boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing...

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 dancing 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 singing, bye bye Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy ….

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 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 singing, bye bye Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy …

Healter Skealter in the summer swelter - the Birds flew off with a fallout shelter

Eight Miles High and falling 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 halftime air was sweet perfume while the 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 singing, bye bye Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy ….

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 singing, bye bye Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy ….

I met a girl who sang the Blues, and I asked her for some happy news

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 lover's 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, bye bye Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy….