I can still remember when I bought my first guitar
I remember just how good the feeling was
Put it proudly in my car
And I played my friends a thousand times
My two song repertoire
And I told my mom her oldest son was gonna be star

I bought all the Beatles records
And I tried to sound like Paul
I bought all the old Buddy Holly’s, the 78s and all
And I sat by my record player playing every song they played
And I watched them all on TV every move they made

Rock and Roll I gave you all the best years of my life
The dreamy sunny Sundays
All the magic moonlit nights
I was so busy in the backroom
Writing love songs to you
While you were changing your direction
I never even knew
That I was always 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
That the guys and me were something more
Than just another band
And ‘69 in LA well it came around so slow
But we were really making headway and writin’ lots of toons
We must have played the wildest stuff we had ever played
Because the way the crowds yelled out for more we thought we had it made

Rock and Roll I gave you all the best years of my life
Playing my guitar under bright and flashing lights
I was so busy on the road singing love songs to you
While you were changing your direction I never even knew
That I was always one step behind you

‘71 in Soho when I met Suzanne
I was trying to go it solo with some else’s band
And she came up to me later on and I took her by the hand
And I told her all my troubles and she seemed to understand
And she followed me to London through a hundred hotel rooms
Through a hundred record companies that didn’t like my tunes
And she followed me til finally I sold my old guitar
And she tried to help me understand that I would never be a star

Rock and Roll I gave you all the best years of my life
The dreamy sunny Sundays
All the magic moonlit nights
And though I’ve never had the chance
Of making it with you
I thank the lord for giving me the little bit I knew
And I will always be one step behind you
Rock and Roll I gave you all the best years of my life
Singing out my love songs...