Thunder Road (4:47)
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“Thunder Road” is a song written and performed by Bruce Springsteen, and the opening track on his 1975 breakthrough album Born to Run. It is ranked as one of Springsteen’s greatest songs, and often appears on lists of the top rock songs of all time.
The lyrics to “Thunder Road” describe a young woman named Mary, her boyfriend, their hopeless lives and their “one last chance to make it real.” Thematically, it reads as a nostalgic companion piece to “Born to Run”.
Musically, the song opens with a quiet piano and harmonica introduction, meant, as Springsteen said years later in the Wings For Wheels documentary, as a welcoming to both the track and the album, a signifier that something was about to happen. Eschewing a traditional verse-and-chorus structure, the song’s arrangement gradually ramps up in instrumentation, tempo and intensity. The title phrase is not used until the middle section of the song, and then is not used again. Finally, after the closing line there is a saxophone-and-piano duet in the instrumental coda.
In this song, Springsteen mentions Roy Orbison “singing for the lonely” on the radio. Orbison, one of whose best-known songs is “Only the Lonely,” was a huge influence on Springsteen.
The song’s title comes from the Robert Mitchum film Thunder Road. Springsteen declared that he was somehow inspired from the movie even if, as he says, “I never saw the movie, I only saw the poster in the lobby of the theater.”
The lyrics to “Thunder Road” describe a young woman named Mary, her boyfriend, their hopeless lives and their “one last chance to make it real.” Thematically, it reads as a nostalgic companion piece to “Born to Run”.
Musically, the song opens with a quiet piano and harmonica introduction, meant, as Springsteen said years later in the Wings For Wheels documentary, as a welcoming to both the track and the album, a signifier that something was about to happen. Eschewing a traditional verse-and-chorus structure, the song’s arrangement gradually ramps up in instrumentation, tempo and intensity. The title phrase is not used until the middle section of the song, and then is not used again. Finally, after the closing line there is a saxophone-and-piano duet in the instrumental coda.
In this song, Springsteen mentions Roy Orbison “singing for the lonely” on the radio. Orbison, one of whose best-known songs is “Only the Lonely,” was a huge influence on Springsteen.
The song’s title comes from the Robert Mitchum film Thunder Road. Springsteen declared that he was somehow inspired from the movie even if, as he says, “I never saw the movie, I only saw the poster in the lobby of the theater.”
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Related Tracks
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Born to Run
Bruce Springsteen -
Badlands
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Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -
Tangled Up in Blue
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The Weight
The Band -
Go Your Own Way
Fleetwood Mac
Albums featuring this track
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Born to Run
Bruce Springsteen Buy- Download Album
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Greatest Hits
Bruce Springsteen Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $11.99
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- Amazon $21.99
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In concert MTV unplugged
Bruce Springsteen Buy- Download Album
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- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
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Live 1975 - 1985 (disc 1)
Bruce Springsteen Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
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Shouts
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nollafyzzil wrote:
Waste your summer prayin' in vain for a saviour to rise from these streets <3
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OskiRocks wrote:
One of the Boss' top five cuts of all time....
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dontmakemeatrgt wrote:
so your scared and thinkin' maybe we're not that youngggg ANYMOREEE
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blaineryan17 wrote:
Let the record show that this was the first song I ever listened to as a nineteen year old. One of my favorites of all time.
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thegr8t1 wrote:
I dont know if a better song was ever written!!!
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Headcoach1957 wrote:
From one of the best albums of all times! Baby, we we're born to run!!
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rockandroller1 wrote:
What a combination - Dylan, Jagger and the Boss. Has to be one of the best trios of all time !!!!!!!
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nidialucia wrote:
a melhor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Anderson_ma wrote:
pure poetry
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Flamingomaus wrote:
Saw him life in concert in Hamburg.... yeah.... he's the BOSS!!!!
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mgard7331 wrote:
If you think this song is amazing on Born to Run, wait until you hear the live version from the Live in New York City DVD. All I can say is, musical perfection.
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amusings_bnl wrote:
darlin' you know just what i'm here for...
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Chialina wrote:
Semplicemente eterna!
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johnny7gun wrote:
i liked him better when he played with The Band
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RPGHeroine wrote:
Of his many amazing songs this is my favourite especially the 1975 - 1985 version.
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NGANJI wrote:
the sweeteness i've been raised on!!!
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brunobraga88 wrote:
Boss!!
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stanhope13 wrote:
insipid version.
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heymurph wrote:
Great version, I think it's from the early nineties "MTV Plugged" release.
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amusings_bnl wrote:
i can hear this 10,000 a day and not get sick of it.
Bruce Springsteen
Thunder Road
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