Live 28 Sep 1992 version
[Spoken intro:] Thank you. Ah. I want to thank everybody for coming down to the shows we did here in Los Angeles, thank you very much. Yeah, this is, uh, it's always been a really great town for me, and, uh, I'd like to thank you also for, uh, been doing this a long time now, and I appreciate your long time support and dedication. Here's a song I wrote, uh, when I was twenty... I was twenty-four. Gonna do this tonight for all my longtime friends. Thank you.[/SPOKEN]
Well, 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
Well, don't you 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 all right
Well, and that's all right with me
Yeah, 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'm no hero, that's understood
All the redemption I can offer 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
The night's busted 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 oh, oh, come take my hand
We're riding out tonight to case the promised land
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, Thunder Road, whoa, Thunder Road, Thunder Road
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
Whoa, oh, oh, 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
Well, the door's open but the ride, it ain't free
Yeah, I know you're lonely, and there's words that I ain't spoken
But tonight we'll be free, all the promises will be broken
There were ghosts in the eyes of all the men you turned away
They haunt this dusty beach road in the skeleton frames of burned out Chevrolets
They scream your name at night in the streets
Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet
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, but we're pulling out of here to win
The above lyrics are for the live 28 Sep 1992 performance of THUNDER ROAD at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, CA, during World Tour 1992-1993. The song featured a guest appearance by Danny Federici who played organ.
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
List of available versions of THUNDER ROAD on this website:
THUNDER ROAD [Album version]