Bruce Springsteen toen hij nog gewoon een straatschoffie uit New Jersey was, kort nadat The Boss met Born to Run commercieel doorbrak. Het fragment is afkomstig uit de fantastische concertfilm Live at the Hammersmith Odeon, London. Bruce ontmoette nogal wat scepsis toen hij in ’75 naar Europa afreisde, maar na dit eerste optreden in Engeland was vrijwel iedereen om.
The screen door slams, Mary’s dress waves
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 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 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 busting 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 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, 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
And I know you’re lonely for words that I ain’t spoken
But tonight we’ll be free, all the promises’ll 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
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
And I’m pulling out of here to win
Uitgelichte afbeelding: By Columbia Records – Original text : eBayfrontbackarchived link), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58087854
