[Verse 1]
I was reading a magazine and thinking of a rock and roll song
The year was 1954 and I hadn't been playing that long
When a man came on the radio, and this is what he said
He said, "I hate to break it to his fans, but Johnny Ace is dead"

[Refrain]
Yeah, yeah, yeah

[Verse 2]
Well, I really wasn't such a Johnny Ace fan, but I felt bad all the same
So I sent away for his photograph and I waited 'til it came
It came all the way from Texas with a sad and simple face
And they signed it on the bottom, "From the late, great Johnny Ace"

[Refrain]
Yeah, yeah, yeah

[Bridge]
It was the year of the Beatles, it was the year of the Stones
It was 1964
I was living in London with the girl from the summer before
It was the year of the Beatles, it was the year of the Stones
A year after JFK
We were staying up all night and giving the days away
And the music was flowing
Amazing and blowing my way
[Verse 3]
On a cold December evening, I was walking through the Christmastide
When a stranger came up and asked me if I'd heard John Lennon had died
And the two of us went to this bar and we stayed to close the place
And every song we played was for the late great Johnny Ace

[Refrain]
Yeah, yeah, yeah