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