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

And 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?

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’

Bye, bye Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

And 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

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 and while the king was looking down

The jester stole his thorny crown

The courtroom was adjourned

No verdict was returned

And while Lennon 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’

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

And singin’ this’ll be the day that I die

This’ll be the day that I die

Helter-skelter in a 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 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’

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

And singin’ this’ll be the day that I die

This’ll be the day that I die

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

Oh 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’

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

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

Bye, bye Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

And 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

They were singing

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

There are lots of expressions in the lyrics. Can you translate these into Hungarian?

1. a long long time ago

2. that music used to make me smile

3. if I had my chance

4. something touched me deep inside

5. that’s not how it used to be

6. my hands were clenched in fists of rage

7. she just smiled and turned away

8. not a word was spoken

Key

1. réges régen

2. az a zene régebben megmosolyogtatott/mosolyt csalt az arcomra

3. ha esélyt kaptam volna

4. valami belül mélyen megérintett       

5. nem úgy van, ahogy régen volt

6. ökölbe szorult a kezem a dühtől

7. csak mosolygott és elfordult

8. egyetlen szó sem hangzott el

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

Starry, starry night
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze
Swirling clouds in violet haze
Reflect in Vincent’s eyes of china blue

Colors changing hue
Morning fields of amber grain
Weathered faces lined in pain
Are soothed beneath the artist’s loving hand

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 in sight

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 of 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
 

Vincent Van Gogh was born in the Netherlands in 1853. He started to work when he was 15. He tried a lot of jobs; he worked as an art dealer, a teacher and a bookseller before he became an artist. He had one brother, whose name was Theo. Theo was an art dealer in Paris. Vincent and Theo were very close and they wrote many letters to each other. Vincent wrote over 700 letters to his brother. Theo tried to help him to sell his paintings. But Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings were darker than what was popular among artists in Paris at the time. People didn’t understand his art and didn’t buy his pictures. Van Gogh had no money, no food, no friends. In 1886 he moved to Paris. In Paris he met many famous painters. Paul Gauguin was one of them. They became friends and started to live together. They lived in the Yellow House in southern France for two months. One day Gauguin left and in his anger, Van Gogh cut off his ear. He was mentally ill and was in the hospital for a long time.  When he became ill, Theo found the best doctors for him. Van Gogh painted over 200 pictures in the hospital, including Starry Night. Today Starry Night is one of his most famous paintings. His life ended sadly in 1890. He shot himself in the chest and died at the young age of 37.  His brother, Theo died three months later. Their gravestones are next to each other and people usually put sunflowers on his grave.

Van Gogh sold only one painting in his life. He died a poor, lonely artist. Now his paintings cost millions of dollars and people around the world can see his paintings in the most famous museums. The biggest Van Gogh Museum is in Holland.