THUNDER ROAD

Live 17 Oct 1975 (early show) version

[MC spoken intro:] It's with great pleasure that K-WEST Radio brings to all of Southern California, live from The Roxy Theatre in Hollywood, Columbia recording artist Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band.

The screen door slams, Mary's dress waves
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
Don't you run back inside, darling you know just what I'm here for
So you're scared and then you're thinking that maybe we ain't that young anymore
Well show a little faith, there's magic in the night
You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright
Whoa and that's alright with me

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 savior 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
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

And it's oh-oh come take my hand
We're riding out tonight to case the promised land
Oh oh oh oh Thunder Road, oh Thunder Road, Thunder Road
It's lying out there like a killer in the sun
Hey I know it's late but we can make it if we run
Ooh-ooh Thunder Road, sit tight, take hold, Thunder Road

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, those words that I ain't spoken
And tonight we'll be free, all the promises will be broken
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
And 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
From your room you hear their engines roare 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, I'm pulling out of here to win

Hoo-whoa
Ho-ho-whoa
Hmm-hmm-hmm

Info

The above lyrics are for the live 17 Oct 1975 (early show) performance of THUNDER ROAD at The Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, CA, during the Born To Run Tour. The song was the show opener and was played in a slow arrangement featuring Roy Bittan on piano and Bruce Springsteen on harmonica and vocals.

The 17 Oct 1975 Early Show

During the Born To Run Tour, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band performed a series of six shows over the period of four days at The Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, CA: one show on 16 Oct 1975, two shows on 17 Oct 1975, two shows on 18 Oct 1975, and one show on 19 Oct 1975. This residency at the 500-seat club, which marks the first time that Springsteen headlined a show in California, was booked to break Springsteen in the Los Angeles market. The 17 Oct 1975 early show was broadcast live on Los Angeles' KWST-FM.

Promotional poster for the October 1975 four-night residency at The Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood, CA

The 17 Oct 1975 early show at The Roxy Theatre was commercially released in Europe. Since 2005 some enterprising record labels in Europe (mostly in the UK) have been releasing Bruce Springsteen radio and TV broadcasts (and some soundboard recordings) from the seventies, eighties, and nineties. Though these releases are not authorized by Bruce Springsteen or his record company, they are lawful due to a legal loophole in Europe.

Bruce Springsteen -- Live At The Roxy

2xCD - FM In Concert (FMIC015) - UK, 2015

This release contains the 17 Oct 1975 early show broadcast from The Roxy Theatre.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- The Complete Bottom Line And Roxy Theater Broadcasts 1975

4xCD - Air Cuts (AC4CD7010) - UK, 2015

This release contains the 15 Aug 1975 early show broadcast from Bottom Line and the 17 Oct 1975 early show broadcast from The Roxy Theatre.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- The Complete Roxy Theater Broadcast 1975

3xLP - Air Cuts (AC3LP7010B) - UK, 2015

This release contains the 17 Oct 1975 early show broadcast from Bottom Line.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- Freeze Out

LP - Bad Joker (BOSS 5-2009) - EU, 2016

This release contains part of the 17 Oct 1975 early show broadcast from Bottom Line.

Bruce Springsteen -- Thunder Road - Live

20xCD - KP Music (SPRING01) - Europe, 2020

This release contains the 31 Jul 1973 broadcast from My Father's Place, the 03 Mar 1974 late show broadcast from Georgetown University, the 09 Mar 1974 KLOL-FM radio broadcast, the 05 Feb 1975 broadcast from The Main Point, the 15 Aug 1975 early show broadcast from Bottom Line, the 17 Oct 1975 early show broadcast from The Roxy Theatre, the 09 Aug 1978 broadcast from The Agora, the 30 Sep 1978 broadcast from Fox Theatre, the 05 Jun 1992 broadcast from Hollywood, the 20 Aug 1994 show with Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers at Marz American Style, plus some various TV performances from 1992-1995.

Available Versions

List of available versions of THUNDER ROAD on this website:

Page last updated: 05 May 2015