Track 1 of Born To Run, 1975. See also: "Wings For Wheels".
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- Born To Run (1975)
- Bruce Springsteen: vocals, guitar, harmonica
- Mike Appel: backing vocals
- Roy Bittan: Fender Rhodes, glockenspiel, backing vocals
- Clarence Clemons: saxophone
- Garry Tallent: bass
- Steven Van Zandt: backing vocals
- Max Weinberg: drums
Performed live 6 times as a snippet.
Performed multiple times during the following shows:
Released on Born To Run (1975), Greatest Hits (1995), The Essential (2003), Greatest Hits (2009), Collection:1973–2012 (2013), and Best Of (2024).
Live versions are released on Live-1975–85 (1986)/PBS Exclusive (EP, 2005)/Blinded By The Light (Soundtrack, 2019) (recorded October 18, 1975), In Concert: MTV XXPlugged (1992) (recorded September 22, 1992), Hungry Heart (Single, 1995)/Secret Garden (Single, 1995) (recorded April 5, 1995), Waitin' On A Sunny Day (Single, 2003) (recorded June 27/30, 2000), Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 (2006) (recorded November 18, 1975), Springsteen On Broadway (2018) (recorded July 17/18, 2018), and The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts (2021) (recorded September 21, 1979).
Live versions are available on the following 256 official live downloads:
One of these recordings is also available on the playlists The Live Series Collection: Songs Of The Road (2018), The Live Series: Songs Of Summer (2020), The Live Series: Songs Of Location (2022), and The Reunion Tour '99 (2024).
| CHRISSIE'S SONG - V1 | uncirculating | |
| ANGELINA - V2 | uncirculating | |
| THUNDER ROAD - V3a | 4:39 | BIS / WAR / ET / BWNH / BTRCS |
| THUNDER ROAD - V3b | 5:12 | BTRS / BTRO |
| THUNDER ROAD - V4 | 4:35 | BIS / WAR / ET / BWNH / BTRS / BTRCS |
| THUNDER ROAD - V5 | 5:03 | ESR / BTRS |
| THUNDER ROAD - V6 | 5:22 | WAR / BWNH / BTRS / BTRCS / UBTROC |
| THUNDER ROAD - V7 | 4:45 | BTR / GREATEST / ESSENTIAL / BTR: 30 / GREATEST: 2009 / BESTOF |
Note: According to Backstreets: Springsteen, The Man And His Music by Charles R. Cross, a 1972 song called "Angelina" contains the first two lines of "Thunder Road". This may have been the basis of a solo recording from October 1974 at 914 Sound Studios of "Chrissie's Song" (or this was a new composition), which includes the line "Leave what you’ve lost, leave what’s grown cold, Thunder Road." Some time between November 1974 and January 1975, Bruce took "Chrissie", lyrics from "Walking In The Street", and combined them into "Angelina" V2, possibly also known as "Wings For Wheels", the bootleg title of contemporary performances. Sometime after March 9 (the last time "Wings" appeared on a set list), Bruce took the music he had written for "Walking In The Street", and patched it on to the end of "Angelina"/"Wings For Wheels"; now his new lyric "this is a town for losers, I'm pulling out of here to win" was followed by the new instrumentral outro. The lines "the night's bustin' open, these two lanes will take us anywhere" and a poster for a 1958 Robert Mitchum movie in the lobby of a movie theater, provided the final ingredients for "Thunder Road".
April 13, 1975 was the day Jon Landau officially joined the album #3 production team. Louis Lahav, chief engineer, and his wife Suki, the violin player, quit and returned to their native Israel in late March. Jimmy Iovine reported to work at the Record Plant on April 18, after Landau was instructed to find better accommodations. "Thunder Road" and "Jungleland" were the first two songs recorded that day, and three versions of "Thunder Road", recorded over April 18–19 and 23, 1975, would later leak out on bootlegs. V3a is a full-band version, the girl is now Chrissie, and ends with the build up, instrumental outro, two refrains led by Clarence, to a full ending with no fadeout. V3b has two extra refrains for an extra long ending. The lyrics are getting there, but the guitar is not yet talking, and "Leave what you've lost, leave what's grown cold, Thunder Road" from "Chrissie's Song" is still there. V4 is a haunting acoustic solo version, the girl is now Christina, but otherwise no lyrical changes. V5, released on E Street Radio, is from April 23, starts with Roy Bittan's piano, base rhythm and Bruce's vocal and guitar (no organ or sax). "Leave what you've lost, leave what's grown cold" now replaced with "Sit tight, take hold." The final refrain is led by piano, with Bruce's overdubbed guitar. V6, recorded, or at least overdubbed, on July 15 or 16, and is almost ready to open Born To Run. This take opens with saxophone and Roy's piano, the latter which is featured in the first two minutes, Bruce's now awesome vocal, introduces us to Mary, and dominated by guitar. The long outro mixes guitar, sax and piano just like the album, and has seven refrains, though one variation only has five. V7 now has piano and harmonica opening without sax, glock, the talking guitar and Mary, and after twelve hours mixing and dubbing guitars, was completed on July 16, 1975, with Mike Appel on background vocals.
Studio Sessions: Born To Run
Thunder Road |
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 savior 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
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 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
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
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, I'm pulling out of here to win
| Visit SpringsteenLyrics.com for other versions of this song. |
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