THUNDER ROAD

Live 16 Oct 2002 version



Screen door slam, Mary's dress sways
Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey it's me and I want you only
Don't turn me home again
I just can't face myself alone anymore
Don't you run back inside, darling you know just what I'm here for
So you're scared and you're thinking 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

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 bustin' open, these two lanes 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

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, oh Thunder Road
Lying out there like a killer in the sun
I know it's late, we can make it if we run
Oh oh oh oh Thunder Road, sit tight, take hold, Thunder Road

Well I have 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
The door's open but the ride it ain't free
I know you're lonely, these words that I ain't spoken
Well tonight girl, 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
They scream your name at night in the street
Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet
In the lonely cool before dawn
You hear their engines roaring on
When you get to the porch they're gone on the wind, so Mary climb in
It's a town full of losers, we're pulling outta here to win


Info

The above lyrics are for the live 16 Oct 2002 performance of THUNDER ROAD at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain, during The Rising Tour. The song was a bonus show closer, and as it always was the case during this tour, it was played in a full-band arrangement. The parts in bold are sung by the crowd.

Bruce Springsteen performing THUNDER ROAD on 16 Oct 2002 at Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain (from the "Live In Barcelona" DVD)
Bruce Springsteen performing THUNDER ROAD on 16 Oct 2002 at Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain (from the "Live In Barcelona" DVD)

Video for the complete 16 Oct 2002 concert was released in 2003 on the Live In Barcelona DVD (see the below section).

Live In Barcelona

Two month into The Rising Tour, the first half of the 16 Oct 2002 concert at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain, was broadcast live at the time across Europe on MTV Europe and VH1 UK. A tape of the broadcast was later aired by CBS in the United States on 28 Feb 2003. The entire concert was released on 18 Nov 2003 on the Live In Barcelona DVD. This was the first time that an entire Springsteen concert was documented with an official release in either audio or video. The video is directed by Chris Hilson and produced by Jon Landau, Barbara Carr, and George Travis. Audio is recorded and mixed by Brendan O'Brien and the video is edited by Thom Zimny.

Promotional poster for the 16 Oct 2002 show at Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain
Promotional poster for the 16 Oct 2002 show at Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain
(Taken from Brucebase)
Ticket stub for the 16 Oct 2002 show at Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain
Ticket stub for the 16 Oct 2002 show at Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain
Handwritten setlist for the 16 Oct 2002 show at Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain
Handwritten setlist for the 16 Oct 2002 show at Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain

No equivalent audio-only album release was made, but SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT from this show was officially released as a bonus track on the Lonesome Day European maxi single in 2002, and SHE'S THE ONE and BORN TO RUN were officially released on the US-only promotional CD sampler Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band PBS Exclusive in late 2005. Videos of WAITIN' ON A SUNNY DAY, MARY'S PLACE, and DANCING IN THE DARK were also included on the "Tour Edition" of The Rising album in 2003.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- Live In Barcelona
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- Live In Barcelona

Disc 1:

  1. Program Start
  2. THE RISING
  3. LONESOME DAY
  4. PROVE IT ALL NIGHT
  5. DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN
  6. EMPTY SKY
  7. YOU'RE MISSING
  8. WAITIN' ON A SUNNY DAY
  9. THE PROMISED LAND
  10. WORLDS APART
  11. BADLANDS
  12. SHE'S THE ONE
  13. MARY'S PLACE
  14. DANCING IN THE DARK
  15. COUNTIN' ON A MIRACLE
  16. SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT
  17. INCIDENT ON 57TH STREET
  18. INTO THE FIRE

Disc 2:

  1. NIGHT
  2. RAMROD
  3. BORN TO RUN
  4. MY CITY OF RUINS
  5. BORN IN THE U.S.A.
  6. LAND OF HOPE AND DREAMS
  7. THUNDER ROAD
  8. Credits
  9. "Drop The Needle And Pray: The Rising On Tour"

Notes:

  • The TV broadcast concluded with DANCING IN THE DARK
  • "Drop The Needle And Pray: The Rising On Tour" is a documentary featuring footage from shows on the Summer 2003 leg of The Rising Tour at Fenway Park and Giants Stadium, interviews with Springsteen and band members, and unpublished photographs.

Available Versions

List of available versions of THUNDER ROAD on this website:

THUNDER ROAD [Album version]
THUNDER ROAD [Early draft]
THUNDER ROAD [Alternative version #1]
THUNDER ROAD [Alternative version #2]
THUNDER ROAD [Alternative version #3]
THUNDER ROAD [Alternative version #4]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 05 Feb 1975 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 20 Jul 1975 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 17 Oct 1975 (early show) version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 18 Oct 1975 (early show) version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 18 Nov 1975 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 31 Dec 1975 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 07 Apr 1976 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 25 Mar 1977 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 13 May 1977 (early show) version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 13 Sep 1977 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 19 Sep 1978 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 08 Dec 1978 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 21 Sep 1979 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 22 Sep 1979 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 03 Oct 1980 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 03 Jul 1981 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 08 Jun 1984 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 19 Nov 1984 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 27 Jul 1988 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 02 Sep 1988 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 16 Nov 1990 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 22 Sep 1992 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 28 Sep 1992 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 24 Jun 1993 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 15 Feb 1995 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 21 Feb 1995 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 05 Apr 1995 (Sony Music Studios) version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 09 Jul 1995 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 05 May 1997 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 22 May 1997 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 31 Jan 1998 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 23 Oct 1999 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 27 Jun 2000 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 27 Jun 2000 / 01 Jul 2000 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 01 Jul 2000 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 19 Oct 2001 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 29 Aug 2002 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 04 Oct 2002 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 16 Oct 2002 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 19 Feb 2003 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 29 Apr 2003 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 22 Jun 2003 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 01 Nov 2004 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 04 Apr 2005 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 12 Oct 2005 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 07 Nov 2007 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 09 Nov 2007 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 14 Mar 2008 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 07 May 2008 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 18 Jun 2008 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 23 Aug 2008 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 04 Oct 2008 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 16 Oct 2008 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 30 May 2009 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 17 Nov 2009 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 22 Nov 2009 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 04 Nov 2010 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 15 Jan 2011 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 03 Nov 2011 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 04 Nov 2011 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 14 Jan 2012 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 09 Mar 2012 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 06 Apr 2012 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live 07 Nov 2016 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Live July 2018 version]
THUNDER ROAD [Greg Kihn's cover version]
THUNDER ROAD [Badly Drawn Boy's cover version]
THUNDER ROAD [Cowboy Junkies' cover version]
THUNDER ROAD [Kevin Rowland's cover version]

Page last updated: 22 May 2011