I can still remember
When I bought my first guitar,
Remember just how good the feeling
To put it proudly in my car,
And my fam'ly listened fifty times
To my two song repertoire.
I told my mom
Her only son was gonna be a star.
Bought all the Beatles records,
I sounded just like Paul,
I bought all the old Chuck Berry's 78's and all
I sat by my record player
Playing ev'ry note they played.
I watched them all on TV
Making ev'ry move they made.

Rock and roll, I gave you all
The best years of my life
All the dreamy sunny Sundays,
All the moonlit summer nights.
I was so busy in the backroom
Writing love songs to you
While you were changing your direction
And you never even knew
That I was always just one step behind you.

'66 seemed like the year
I was really going somewhere;
We were living in San Francisco
With flowers in our hair,
Singing songs of kindness
So the world would understand,
To the guys and me you were something more
Than just another band.

And then sixty-nine in L. A.
Came around so soon,
We were really making headway
And writing lots of tunes,
And we must have played
The wildest stuff that we had ever played,
And the way the crowds cried out for us,
We thought we had it made.

Rock and roll, I gave you all
The best years of my life,
All the crazy, lazy, young days,
All the magic moon at night.
I was so busy on the road
Singing love songs to you,
while you were changing your direction
And you never even knew
That I was always just one step behind you.

Seventy-one and so alone
When I met Susanne,
I was trying to go it solo
With someone else's band.
She came up to me later
And I took her by the hand,
And I told her all my troubles
And she seemed to understand.

And she followed me through London
Through a hundred hotel rooms,
Through a hundred record companies
Who didn't like my tunes;
She followed me when finally
I sold my old guitar,
She tried to help me
Understand I'd never be a star.

Rock and roll, I gave you
All the best years of my life,
All the dreamy, sunny Sundays,
All the moonlit summer nights,
And though I never knew
The magic of making it with you,
That I thank the Lord for giving me
The little bit I knew,
And I was always just one step behind you