Old jazz guys being interviewed 
Thirty years beyond their prime 
With memories of road shows 
From the Golden Age of Swingtime 
The piano player strikes a chord 
Leans forward on his stool 
And through they've all seen better days 
They've got that air of faded cool 
It's an entree of another world 
One of tailcoats and victrolas 
And one day they'll make TV shows 
On aging rock-and-rollers 
On aging rock-and-rollers 

Then came the kid with the red Colorama 
And the Watkins copycat echo chamber and the toothy grin 
With one hand glued to the tremolo arm 
While the singer moves around like an Elvis clone 
They really packed them in 
And every song was short and sweet, and every beat was fast 
And every paper in the land said rock-and-roll won't last 
You know it just won't last, it's such a rapid burn 
And it's a hard, hard, hard lesson to learn 
It's a hard, hard, hard lesson to learn 

Well what are you going to do when it's all over? 
What are you going to do right now? 
What are you going to to when it's all over? 
Will you get along somehow? 
I just don't know 
Feeling like I do right now 
Ask me tomorrow 

Red guitar, red guitar 
You know I really miss that red guitar 
Red guitar, red guitar 
You know I really miss that red guitar 

And you can write this on my tombstone 
That'll be my fate 
I'm a graduate of rock-and-roll 
Class of '58 

'58, '58, I'm a graduate of the class of '58 
Red guitar, '58, I'm a graduate of the class of '58 

And there's no use analyzing these anthems that were sung 
Rock-and-roll's not good or bad 
It's just the sound of being young 
And it's a long long way from pompadours 
And doo-wop and payola 
And one day they'll make TV shows on aging rock-and-rollers 
One day they'll make TV shows on aging rock-and-rollers.