I can still remember when I bought my first guitar,
Remember just how good the feeling was, put it proudly in my car,
And my family listened fifty times to my two song repertoire,
And I told my mum her only son was gonna be a star.
Bought all the Beatle records, sounded just like Paul,
Bought all the old Chuck Berry's, 78's and all,
And I sat by my record player, playin' every note they played,
And I watched them all on TV, makin every move they made.
Rock and roll, I gave you all the best years of my life,
All the dreamy sunny Sundays, all the moon-lit summer nights,
I was so busy in the back room writin' love songs to you,
While you were changin' your direction, never even knew,
That I was always, just one step behind you.
'66 seemed like the year I was really goin' somewhere,
We were living in San Francisco, with flowers in our hair,
Singing songs of kindness so the world would understand,
But the guys and me were something more than just another band,
And then '69 in LA, came around so soon,
We were really making headway and writing lots of tunes,
We must have played the wildest stuff we had ever played,
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-lit nights,
I was so busy on the road singin' love songs to you,
While you were changin' your direction, never even knew,
That I was always, just one step behind you.
'71 in Soho, when I saw Suzanne,
I was trying to go it solo, with someone else's band,
She came up to me ladylike 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,
A hundred record companies who didn't like my tunes,
And 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 moon-lit summer nights,
I was so busy in the back room writin' love songs to you,
While you were changin' your direction, never even knew,
That I was always, just one step behind you.
Remember just how good the feeling was, put it proudly in my car,
And my family listened fifty times to my two song repertoire,
And I told my mum her only son was gonna be a star.
Bought all the Beatle records, sounded just like Paul,
Bought all the old Chuck Berry's, 78's and all,
And I sat by my record player, playin' every note they played,
And I watched them all on TV, makin every move they made.
Rock and roll, I gave you all the best years of my life,
All the dreamy sunny Sundays, all the moon-lit summer nights,
I was so busy in the back room writin' love songs to you,
While you were changin' your direction, never even knew,
That I was always, just one step behind you.
'66 seemed like the year I was really goin' somewhere,
We were living in San Francisco, with flowers in our hair,
Singing songs of kindness so the world would understand,
But the guys and me were something more than just another band,
And then '69 in LA, came around so soon,
We were really making headway and writing lots of tunes,
We must have played the wildest stuff we had ever played,
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-lit nights,
I was so busy on the road singin' love songs to you,
While you were changin' your direction, never even knew,
That I was always, just one step behind you.
'71 in Soho, when I saw Suzanne,
I was trying to go it solo, with someone else's band,
She came up to me ladylike 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,
A hundred record companies who didn't like my tunes,
And 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 moon-lit summer nights,
I was so busy in the back room writin' love songs to you,
While you were changin' your direction, never even knew,
That I was always, just one step behind you.