Perhaps the quintessential Bruce number, this anthemic 1975 song contains many of the lyrical and musical hallmarks that make the band from E Street so justly famous. It is the first song on the first side of Springsteen’s breakthrough album, Born to Run.
Born to Run was the final installment of Sp...
[Verse 1]
The screen door slams, Mary's dress sways
Like a vision, she dances across the porch as the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey, that's me, and I want you only
Don't turn me home again
I just can't face myself alone again
[Verse 2]
Don't run back inside
Darling, you know just what I'm here for
So you're scared, and you're thinking
That maybe we ain't that young anymore
Show a little faith, there's magic in the night
You ain't a beauty, but hey, you're alright
Oh, and that's alright with me
[Verse 3]
You can hide 'neath your covers and study your pain
Make crosses from your lovers, throw roses in the rain
Waste your summer praying in vain
For a saviour to rise from these streets
Well now, I'm no hero, that's understood
All the redemption I can offer, girl, is beneath this dirty hood
With a chance to make it good somehow
Hey what else can we do now?
[Verse 4]
Except roll down the window
And let the wind blow back your hair
Well the night's busting open
These two lanes will take us anywhere
We got one last chance to make it real
To trade in these wings on some wheels
Climb in back, heaven's waiting down on the tracks
[Bridge]
Oh-oh come take my hand
We're riding out tonight to case the promised land
Oh-oh Thunder Road oh Thunder Road oh Thunder Road
Lying out there like a killer in the sun
Hey, I know it's late, we can make it if we run
Oh, Thunder Road, sit tight, take hold
Thunder Road
[Verse 5]
Well I got this guitar, and I learned how to make it talk
And my car's out back if you're ready to take that long walk
From your front porch to my front seat
The door's open but the ride it ain't free
And I know you're lonely for words that I ain't spoken
But tonight we'll be free, all the promises'll be broken
[Verse 6]
There were ghosts in the eyes of all the boys you sent away
They haunt this dusty beach road
In the skeleton frames of burned out Chevrolets
They scream your name at night in the street
Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet
And in the lonely cool before dawn
You hear their engines roaring on
But when you get to the porch they're gone on the wind
So Mary, climb in
It's a town full of losers and I'm pulling out of here to win
Thunder Road was written by Bruce Springsteen.
Thunder Road was produced by Mike Appel & Jon Landau & Bruce Springsteen.
Bruce Springsteen released Thunder Road on Mon Aug 25 1975.
About the piano as the dominating instrument, Springsteen said –
We decided to make a guitar album, but then I wrote all the songs on piano.