The Late, Great Johnny Ace
Words & music by Paul Simon 1981
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I was reading a magazine
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And thinking of a rock and roll song
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The year was nineteen fifty four
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And I hadn't been playing that long
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When a man came on the radio
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And this is what he said
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He said I hate to break it to his fans
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But Johnny Ace is dead, yeah, yeah, yeah
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Well, I really wasn't
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Such a Johnny Ace fan
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But I felt bad alI the same
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So I sent away for his photograph
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And I waited till it came
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It came all the way from Texas
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With a sad and sim-ple face
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And they signed it on the bottom
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From the Late Great Johnny Ace, yeah, yeah, yeah
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It was the year of The Beatles
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It was the year of The Stones
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It was nineteen sixtyfour
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I was living in London
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With the girl from the summer be-fore
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It was the year of The Beatles
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It was the year of The Stones
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A year after J.F.K.
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We were staying up all night
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And giving the days a-way
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And the music was flowing amazing
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And blowing my way
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On a cold December evening
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I was walking through the Christmas tide
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When a stranger came up and asked me
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If I'd heard John Lennon had died
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And the two of us went to this bar
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And we stayed to close the place
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And every song we played
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Was for The Late Great Johnny Ace, yeah, yeah, yeah
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