THUNDER ROAD

Live 18 Oct 1975 version

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
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
Well 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 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
Except roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair
Well the night's bustin' 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 Thunder Road, oh 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
Oh 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
The door's open but the ride it ain't free
I know you're lonely in those 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 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
From your room you hear their engines roar 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 outta here to win

Hoo-hoo
Ho-whoa
Whoa-whoa
Hmm-hmm

Page last updated: 20 Sep 2007

Info

The above lyrics are for the live 18 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 18 Oct 1975 early show at The Roxy Theatre was filmed by Arnold Levine Productions on behalf of Mike Appel and Laurel Canyon. Bruce Springsteen now controls the footage, but none of it has ever been published or seen.

Shortly after the mammoth Born In The USA Tour ended, Springsteen decided to start working on a live album in November 1985. He and his manager and co-producer Jon Landau began combing through concert tapes and came upon a stark voice-and-piano version of THUNDER ROAD from the 18 Oct 1975 early show at The Roxy Theatre. They felt they could make what biographer Dave Marsh later described as something that "wouldn't be a live album or a greatest hits album so much as the next Bruce Springsteen album."

This live 18 Oct 1975 performance of THUNDER ROAD was included on the Live/1975-85 box set in 1986. It's the opener of the box set and the only song from that show (and the only from 1975) that was included on the box set.

The Live/1975-85 Box Set

With the Born In The USA album and tour, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band reached the highest level of rock stardom. Columbia Records was expecting a follow up studio album and tour that would, like it's predecessor, achieve a huge commercial success. Instead, Springsteen released Live/1975-85, an over-three-hours-and-a-half-long live compilation album consisting of 40 tracks recorded at various concerts between 1975 and 1985.

[Click thumbnail to enlarge/reduce artwork]

The set was produced by Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, and Bruce Springsteen, and hit the stores on 10 Nov 1986. It was released as a box set with either five vinyl records, three cassettes, or three CDs. Live/1975-85 is the first album to be credited to "Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band" instead of "Bruce Springsteen" only.

The highly-anticipated live album generated advance orders of more than 1.5 million copies, making it the largest dollar-volume pre-order in the history of the record business at the time. Record stores around the country found fans waiting in line on Monday morning before opening and one New York store reportedly sold the album right off the back of the delivery truck. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard album chart and also became the first five-record set to reach the top 10 and the first to sell over a million copies. Live/1975-85 is the second-best-selling live album in U.S. history based on RIAA certification. It has been certified by the RIAA for 13 times platinum, trailing only Garth Brooks' Double Live.

Live/1975-85 disc 1 track listing (CD format):

  1. THUNDER ROAD [18 Oct 1975 at The Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood, CA]
  2. ADAM RAISE A CAIN [07 Jul 1978 at The Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood, CA]
  3. SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [07 Jul 1978 at The Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood, CA]
  4. 4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [31 Dec 1980 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY]
  5. PARADISE BY THE C [07 Jul 1978 at The Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood, CA]
  6. FIRE [16 Dec 1978 at Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA]
  7. GROWIN' UP [07 Jul 1978 at The Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood, CA]
  8. IT'S HARD TO BE A SAINT IN THE CITY [07 Jul 1978 at The Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood, CA]
  9. BACKSTREETS [07 Jul 1978 at The Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood, CA]
  10. ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [07 Jul 1978 at The Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood, CA]
  11. RAISE YOUR HAND [07 Jul 1978 at The Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood, CA]
  12. HUNGRY HEART [28 Dec 1980 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY]
  13. TWO HEARTS [08 Jul 1981 at Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ]

Live/1975-85 disc 2 track listing (CD format):

  1. CADILLAC RANCH [06 Jul 1981 at Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ]
  2. YOU CAN LOOK (BUT YOU BETTER NOT TOUCH) [29 Dec 1980 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY]
  3. INDEPENDENCE DAY [06 Jul 1981 at Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ]
  4. BADLANDS [05 Nov 1980 at Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ]
  5. BECAUSE THE NIGHT [28 Dec 1980 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY]
  6. CANDY'S ROOM [08 Jul 1981 at Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ]
  7. DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN [29 Dec 1980 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY]
  8. RACING IN THE STREET [06 Jul 1981 at Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ]
  9. THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND [28 Dec 1980 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY]
  10. NEBRASKA [06 Aug 1984 at Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ]
  11. JOHNNY 99 [18 Aug 1985 at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ]
  12. REASON TO BELIEVE [19 Aug 1984 at Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ]
  13. BORN IN THE USA [30 Sep 1985 at Los Angeles Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA]
  14. SEEDS [30 Sep 1985 at Los Angeles Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA]

Live/1975-85 disc 3 track listing (CD format):

  1. THE RIVER [30 Sep 1985 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA]
  2. WAR [30 Sep 1985 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA]
  3. DARLINGTON COUNTY [30 Sep 1985 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA]
  4. WORKING ON THE HIGHWAY [19 Aug 1985 at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ]
  5. THE PROMISED LAND [30 Sep 1985 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA]
  6. COVER ME [30 Sep 1985 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA]
  7. I'M ON FIRE [19 Aug 1985 at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ]
  8. BOBBY JEAN [21 Aug 1985 at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ]
  9. MY HOMETOWN [30 Sep 1985 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA]
  10. BORN TO RUN [19 Aug 1985 at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ]
  11. NO SURRENDER [06 Aug 1984 at Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ]
  12. TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT [20 Aug 1984 at Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ]
  13. JERSEY GIRL [09 Jul 1981 at Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ]

Other Official Releases

Besides its release on the Live/1975-85 box set, this live 18 Oct 1975 version of THUNDER ROAD also appears on several official samplers.

In 1986, the live 18 Oct 1975 version of THUNDER ROAD was included on The "Live" / The Legend Comes Alive, a Japan-only promotional release compiling 10 tracks from the Live/1975-85 box set. It was issues on vinyl LP (catalogue # CBS/SONY XDAP 93156) and cassette tape (catalogue # CBS/SONY XDKP 93022). The cassette version is an ultra-scarce collectable while vinyl LP version is much more common.

[Click here to display/hide detailed track listing]

In 1986, the live 18 Oct 1975 version of THUNDER ROAD was included on Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Live, a promotional release compiling 10 tracks from the Live/1975-85 box set. It was released on vinyl LP (catalogue # CBS 70.015) and cassette tape (catalogue # CBS 170015) in Argentina and cassette tape (catalogue # CBS 8283-4) in Uruguay.

[Click here to display/hide detailed track listing]

In 1986, the live 18 Oct 1975 version of THUNDER ROAD was included on Ao Vivo, a Brazil release compiling 10 tracks from the Live/1975-85 box set. It was issued on vinyl LP (catalogue # CBS/SUPER LUXO 177127/1-464061) and cassette tape (catalogue # CBS 77.127). The cassette version omits one track from the original tracklisting. Ao Vivo was reissued on CD in 1991 (catalogue # CBS/COL 700.268/2-464061).

[Click here to display/hide detailed track listing]

In 1986, the live 18 Oct 1975 version of THUNDER ROAD was included on En Vivo, a Venezuela release compiling 10 tracks from the Live/1975-85 box set. It was released on vinyl LP with catalogue number CBS CS-10624. En Vivo has the same tracks and overall packaging as the Brasilian Ao Vivo.

[Click here to display/hide detailed track listing]

In 1988, the live 18 Oct 1975 version of THUNDER ROAD was included on The Future Of Rock'n'Roll / 70's To 80's, a Japan-only promotional 2-CD set sampler compiling 28 tracks from Springsteen's first nine albums plus two 1988 live B-sides. This release has catalogue number CBS/SONY XADP 90009-10 and is considered the rarest Springsteen CD sampler.

[Click here to display/hide detailed track listing]

In 2005, the live 18 Oct 1975 version of THUNDER ROAD was included on Live 1975-1985 Digest CD, a Japan-only promotional "Digest" CD-R advance sampler tying in with the release of the Japanese 2005 "mini-LP"-style CD album reissue of Live/1975-85. This disc comes in a plain slimline jewel case with no artwork and has no catalogue number.

[Click here to display/hide detailed track listing]

In 2005, the live 18 Oct 1975 version of THUNDER ROAD was included on Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band PBS Exclusive, a US-only promotional CD sampler exclusively available to donors supporting the "Public Broadcasting Service" (PBS) programming with a $60 "pledge", and contains 7 live tracks compiled off the Live/1975-85 box set, the Live In New York City album, and the Live In Barcelona DVD. This release has catalogue number COL 82876 75932 2.

[Click here to display/hide detailed track listing]

Available Versions

List of available versions of THUNDER ROAD on this website:

Credits / References

Info and scans for most of the above official releases are taken from the Lost In The Flood website.

Request

I need better scans for:
- Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Live - Cassette - Argentina, 1986 - catalogue # CBS 170015
- Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Live - Cassette - Uruguay, 1986 - catalogue # CBS 8283-4
- Ao Vivo - Cassette - Brazil, 1986 - catalogue # CBS 77.127
I'm also not sure if I mentioned all the existing official releases that include Springsteen's live 18 Oct 1975 version of THUNDER ROAD. You can help by sending additions, corrections, better scans, or comments at , or by using the below form. You will be credited. Thanks in advance.

Subject:
Name and location:
This is how you will be credited, unless you specify differently in the message body.
E-mail address:
Please provide your email if you expect a response. It will not be disclosed to a third party.
Comments or message:
(required)
(plain text only, no tags)
Verification:

Please prove that you are not a robot spammer by typing the word that
appears in the graphic on the left into the box beneath it.

[Back to top] [Back to www.SpringsteenLyrics.com]
[search tips]
Home | Lyrics | Collection | Trading | Artwork | Links | Contact
Lyrics list: # | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
Copyright © 2003-2013 - Lebanese Tribute to Bruce Springsteen