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, darling, you know just what I'm here for
And 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 beneath your covers and study your pain
Make crosses from your lovers, throw roses in the rain
You can waste your summer praying in vain for a saviour to rise from these streets
Oh, and 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?
This night's busting open and these two lanes will take us anywhere
We got one last shot to make it real
To trade in these wings on some wheels
Hey, climb in back now, heaven's waitin' 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
And I know it's late but 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 long walk
From your front porch to my front seat
The door's open but the ride 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 broken

There's 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
And 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