THUNDER ROAD^©

Live 22 Sep 1979 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 again
Don't you run back inside, you know just what I'm here for
So you're scared and you're thinking that maybe we ain't that young anymore
Go!
Show a little faith, 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 summers playing in vain for a saviour to rise from these streets
Now I ain't 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
What else can we do now
Except roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair
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

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
Hey I know it's late, we can make it if we run
Oh oh oh Thunder Road, sit tight, take hold, Thunder Road

Now I got this guitar and I learned how to make her 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, the ride it ain't free
And I know you're lonely, these words that I ain't spoken
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 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
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 out of here to win

Page last updated: 11 Sep 2007

The above lyrics are for the live 22 Sep 1979 performance of THUNDER ROAD at Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY, during one of the "MUSE Concerts For A Non-Nuclear Future".

Shortly after the Three Mile Island nuclear plant meltdown in Pennsylvania in March 1979, a coalition of performers and activists opposed the use of nuclear power and founded Musicians United For Safe Energy (or MUSE). The anti-nuclear group was the brainchild of four performers (Jackson Browne, John Hall of the 70's band Orleans, Bonnie Raitt, and Graham Nash) and four antinuclear activists (Sam Lovejoy, Howard Kohn, Tom Campbell, and David Fenton).

The group organized a series of five benefit concerts billed as the "MUSE Concerts For A Non-Nuclear Future", held at Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY, from 19 to 23 Sep 1979. The goal of the concerts (and an accompanying 200,000-person rally staged in Battery Park City, New York City, NY) was to spread awareness about the dangers of radioactive-fueled energy and raise funds for an anti-nuclear / pro-solar campaign.

MUSE's Tom Campbell mentioned the subject to Bruce Springsteen on 03 Jun 1979 when the two met in Los Angeles at the wedding party for Springsteen's lighting director Marc Brinkman. However, it was Jackson Browne who later convinced him to join the bill for the MUSE concerts. Springsteen agreed on the condition that no politicians be given microphone time or money from the event's proceeds. He was the only musician who did not outline his reasons for joining the antinuclear movement in a short statement for publication in the MUSE program book. "Bruce felt that a statement wasn't appropriate - the music was enough," his manager, Jon Landau, explained.

The list of acts invited to play at the event also included Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Graham Nash (who re-united Crosby, Stills & Nash for this one occasion), John Hall, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, James Taylor and Carly Simon, The Doobie Brothers, Jesse Colin Young, Gil Scott-Heron, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, among others.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band were the highlight of the event, and performed on two nights, 21 and 22 Sep 1979. "The concerts Friday and Saturday night [21 and 22 Sep] are different, and the reason is Bruce Springsteen", Daisann McLane writes in Rolling Stone magazine. "He has the kind of drawing power in the New York area that will pack a house for two nights in a row". The 21 Sep show was the only sellout of the five nights. Daisann McLane also writes:

"The crows is younger, and crazier; for the first time, I spot a few bloodied casualties being dragged down the aisles by security people. This is a Springsteen crowd, too, with little patience for preliminaries. On Friday [21 Sep], Jesse Colin Young and Jackson Browne do short sets but fail to capture the allegiance of this revved-up bunch. Saturday [22 Sep], Peter Tosh, who exuberantly performs twenty minutes of reggae, lopes back and forth across the stage in a burnoose and fares better, as does Tom Petty, who rocks hard but seems a little taken aback by the size of the stadium. This is a tough audience to crack. On Friday [21 Sep], Chaka Khan leaves the stage in a huff. Seems she thought the audience was booing her; what she really heard was the sound of thousands of voices chanting Bruuuce! Bruuuce! [...] The crowd is his; fans are on their feet, standing on chairs from the first note, mouthing the words to every song. For the first time all week, it feels like something special is happening at Madison Square Garden. [...] The MUSE principals have been searching all week for the vibe, the feeling. Springsteen doesn't have to search for it; he walks onstage and it's there."

The event produced a 1980 theatrical movie release titled No Nukes that was later on released on home video [film info below]. A 3-record live album was also created from the event. Springsteen's duet with Jackson Browne on STAY was chosen to be included on the album, but since the release was a 3-record set, Springsteen was asked for a an additional track. According to Dave Marsh, the rendition of THUNDER ROAD was the one Springsteen, Browne, and Jon Landau wanted, but "playing 'Stay' over and over again, they heard and liked the transition, a particularly seamless one, from 'Stay' into the band's medley of Mitch Ryder hits 'Jenny Take a Ride' and 'Devil With a Blue Dress/Good Golly Miss Molly.' Finally, Landau suggested that the Detroit Medley was probably what should go on the record with 'Say.' The others agreed." From the concert, record, and film, MUSE raised and donated over $1 Million to anti-nuclear and safe energy groups throughout the United States.

THUNDER ROAD was played on both Springsteen nights, 21 and 22 Sep 1979. Video footage for the song from the second night was included on the 1980 theatrical movie No Nukes and its home video release. It was later included on Springsteen's 1989 home video release, Video Anthology / 1978-88, and its 2001 DVD expanded edition, The Complete Video Anthology / 1978-2000.

* Lines in italic correspond to the audience singing.
** This line is followed by a quick but heavy guitar riff.

List of available versions of YOUNGSTOWN on this website:

• Album's version (more details)
• Alternative version #1
• Alternative version #2
• Alternative version #3
• Alternative version #4
• Live 05 Feb 1975 version
• Live 18 Oct 1975 version
• Live 18 Nov 1975 version
• Live 19 Sep 1978 version
• Live 22 Sep 1979 version
• Live 16 Nov 1990 version
• Live 22 Sep 1992 version
• Live 24 Jun 1993 version
• Live 15 Feb 1995 version
• Live 05 Apr 1995 version
• Live 05 May 1997 version
• Live 31 Jan 1998 version
• Live 27 Jun 2000 / 01 Jul 2000 version
• Live 19 Oct 2001 version
• Live 04 Oct 2002 version
• Live 16 Oct 2002 version
• Live 19 Feb 2003 version
• Live 04 Apr 2005 version
• Live 12 Oct 2005 version
• Greg Kihn's version
• Badly Drawn Boy
• Cowboy Junkies' version
• Kevin Rowland's version

Info about the home video No Nukes:

The film includes live performances by James Taylor & Carly Simon, Bonnie Raitt, John Hall, Graham Nash, Jackson Browne, The Doobie Brothers, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, and others. It also includes backstage footage and covers the behind the scenes work of the musicians to put together this concert. Documentary Footage directed by: Barbara Kopple, Haskell Wexler Produced by: Julian Schlossberg, Danny Goldberg Directed by: Julian Schlossberg, Danny Goldberg, Anthony Potenza Executive: Producer Sam Lovejoy Studio: Warner Brothers Format: VHS Run Time: 103 minutes Release date: 01 Sep 1980 (USA) No Nukes was also released in Japan on laserdisc (VideoArts, catalogue # VALZ-2075). The film is now out-of-print, and unfortunately never saw a DVD reissue.