Rock And Roll Best Years

[D] I can still remember when I [G]bought my first gui[A]tar,
Remember [D]just how good the feeling to put it [G]proudly in my [A]car,
And my [D7]fam'ly listened fifty times to my [B7]two song reper[Em]toire.
I told my mom her only son was [G]gonna be a [A]star.
[D] Bought all the Beatles records, I [G]sounded just like [A]Paul,
I [D]bought all the old Chuck Berry's [G]78's and [A]all
I [D7]sat by my record player playing [B7]ev'ry note they [Em]played.
I watched them all on TV making [G]ev'ry [A]move they [D]made.

[D]Rock and roll, I gave you all the [G]best years of my life
All the [A]dreamy sunny Sundays, all the [G]moonlit summer [D]nights.
I was so busy in the backroom writing [G]love songs to you
While you were [A]changing your direction and [G]never even [D]knew
That I was [A]always just [G]one step be[D]hind you.

[D] '66 seemed like the year I was [G]really going [A]somewhere;
We were [D]living in San Francisco with [G]flowers in our [A]hair,
[D7]  Singing songs of kindness so the [B7]world would under[Em]stand,
To the guys and me you were something more than [G]  just another [A]band.
And then [D]sixty-nine in L. A. [G]came around so [A]soon,
We were [D]really making headway and [G]writing lots of [A]tunes,
And we [D7]must have played the wildest stuff that [B7]we had ever [Em]played,
And the way the crowds cried out for us, we [G]thought we [A]had it [D]made.

[D]Rock and roll, I gave you all the [G]best years of my life
All the [A]crazy, lazy, young days, all the [G]magic moon at [D]night.
I was so busy on the road singing [G]love songs to you,
While you were [A]changing your direction and [G]never even [D]knew
That I was [A]always just [G]one step be[D]hind you.

[D] Seventy-one and so alone [G]when I met Su[A]sanne,
I was [D]trying to go it solo with [G]someone else's [A]band.
She [D7]came up to me later and I [B7]took her by the [Em]hand,
And I told her all my troubles and she [G]seemed to under[A]stand.
And she [D]followed me through London, through a [G]hundred hotel [A]rooms,
Through a [D]hundred record companies who [G]didn't like my [A]tunes;
She [D7]followed me when finally I [B7]sold my old gui[Em]tar,
She tried to help me understand I'd [G]  never [A]be a [D]star.

[D]Rock and roll, I gave you all the [G]best years of my life
All the [A]dreamy sunny Sundays, all the [G]moonlit summer [D]nights.
And though I never knew the magic, of [G]making it with you
That I [A]thank the lord for giving me the [G]little bit I [D]knew
And I was [A]always just [G]one step be[D]hind you.