Alternative version #1
The screen door slam, Chrissie'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 babe and I want you only
Don't turn me home again
I just can't face myself alone again tonight
Don't run back inside, baby you know just what I'm here for
So you're scared and you're thinking that maybe we ain't that young anymore
Woman there's magic in the night
You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright
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 I ain't no hero, that's understood
All the redemption I can offer, babe, 's beneath this old hood
With one last chance to make it good somehow
Hey what else can you do now
Except roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair
Well the night's bustin' open and these two lanes will take us anywhere
We got one last chance to make it real
To trade in these wings for some wheels
Climb in back, it's waiting down on the tracks
When I try hard Chrissie to understand
I'm riding out tonight to case the promised land
Baby if you're born with nothing in your hands
Hey it's your only chance
Well it's lying out there like a killer in the sun
Yeah I know it's late but we can make it if we run
Oh I wish you could come
So leave what you've lost, leave what's grown old on Thunder Road
Well I got this guitar and I learned how to make it talk
My car's out back if you're ready to take that long walk
From your front porch to my front seat
Hey the door's open but the ride it ain't free
Well there were ghosts in the eyes of the boys that you sent away
They haunt this dirty beach road in the skeleton remains of burnt out Chevrolets
They scream to you at night from the street
Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet
And in the lonely cool before dawn
From you room you hear their engines roar on
But when you get to the porch they're gone, lost in the wind, so Chrissie climb in
It's a town for losers and I'm pulling outta here to win
The above lyrics are for an unreleased alternate studio version of THUNDER ROAD. It was recorded in Mar-Jun 1975 at The Record Plant in New York City, NY, just like all other circulating studio versions of the song. See the album version for more information.
This a solo acoustic guitar take. It has several lyrics variations to the album version, especially in the third verse ("When I try hard Chrissie to understand..."). The girl's name, "Chrissie", is mentioned three times in the song, but in the first line, it sounds more like "Christine".
Part of this alternate version of THUNDER ROAD (up to the mid-second verse) can be heard around the 21st minute of the 2005 documentary Wings For Wheels: The Making Of Born To Run, which was issued on DVD as part of the Born To Run - 30th Anniversary Edition box set.
This alternate version of THUNDER ROAD can be found on several bootlegs, including Born In The Studio (Archive Productions) [track 10] and War And Roses (E. St. Records) [track 05].
List of available versions of THUNDER ROAD on this website:
THUNDER ROAD [Album version]
