In the beginning
Back in nineteen fifty five
Man didn't know 'bout a rock 'n' roll show
'N all that jive
The white man had the schmaltz
The black man had the blues
No one knew what they was gonna do
But Tschaikovsky had the news, he said

Let there be light, and there was light
Let there be sound, and there was sound
Let there be [bad word]  there was [bad word] 
Let there be guitar, there was guitar, ah
Let there be rock

And it came to pass
That rock 'n' roll was born
All across the land every rockin' band
Was blowin' up a storm
And the guitar man got famous
The business man got rich
And in every bar there was a superstar
With a seven year itch
There was fifteen million fingers
Learnin' how to play
And you could hear the fingers pickin'
And this is what they had to say

Let there be light, sound, [bad word]  'n guitar, ah
Let there be rock

One night in a club called the Shakin' Hand
There was a 42 decibel rockin' band
And the music was good
And the music was loud
And the singer turned and he said to the crowd

Let there be rock