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 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 This 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 on down the tracks Oh-oh come take my hand 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 and there's 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.