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| "Thunder Road" | |
|---|---|
| Song byBruce Springsteen | |
| from the albumBorn to Run | |
| Released | August 25, 1975 (1975-08-25) |
| Recorded | July 16, 1975 (completed) |
| Studio | The Record Plant, New York City |
| Genre | |
| Length | 4:49 |
| Label | |
| Songwriter | Bruce Springsteen |
| Producers |
|
| Music video | |
| "Thunder Road (Live at the Hammersmith Odeon, London '75)" onYouTube | |
"Thunder Road" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriterBruce Springsteen. It is the opening track on his breakthrough albumBorn to Run. While never charting substantially as a single, "Thunder Road" is nevertheless considered one of Springsteen's greatest songs and one of the top rock songs in history. It is ranked number 111 onRolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.[1]
"Thunder Road" was written by Springsteen while at his living room piano in Long Branch, New Jersey.[2] In October 1974, it existed as a solo recording, "Chrissie's Song", that included the line, "leave what you've lost, leave what's grown cold, Thunder Road".[3] By early 1975, Springsteen had combined lyrics from another composition, "Walking in the Street", forming a new song, "Wings for Wheels", which he debuted on February 5, 1975, at a benefit for a local club, The Main Point, radio broadcast in the Philadelphia area, and featuring four yet-to-be-releasedBorn to Run songs. Still unsatisfied, he finished dismantling "Walking in the Street", imported its main coda into "Wings for Wheels" as an instrumental ending, and renamed the song "Thunder Road". Springsteen stated at a 1978 concert that the name of his song had been inspired by seeing a poster of the 1958Robert Mitchum filmThunder Road, though he did not see the film itself.[4]
On April 13, 1975, music critic and record producerJon Landau officially joined the album's production team, marking the start of a life-long professional relationship.[5] At Landau's suggestion, production was moved from914 Sound Studios toRecord Plant studios in Manhattan. When sessions began on April 18,Jimmy Iovine, fresh from recordingJohn Lennon's "Walls and Bridges", replaced Louis Lahav (who returned to Israel in March) as engineer.[6] Springsteen later describes Iovine as a "brilliant imposter" and a "young studio dog with fastest learning curve I've ever seen".[7] After three intensive days (April 18, 19 and 23) working on "Thunder Road", nothing further was noted in studio logs until July 15–16, when final overdubs and mixing were done.[3]
In his autobiography, Springsteen says he loosely envisionedBorn to Run as a series of vignettes, following its character throughout the day, with "Thunder Road" serving as an "invitation" to the album and opening with a harmonica that suggests the beginning of a new day.[7][8][9] Springsteen also describes Landau as an "astute arranger and editor" who "guarded against overplaying and guided our record toward a more streamlined sound".[10] Speaking to author Brian Hiatt about "Thunder Road" in 2005, Landau states it "was fantastic, but it was a little unwieldy, a little unfocused, a little more like a jam piece. … I remember talking with Bruce about a few ideas about how to just reshuffle the deck a little bit, and keep the song building from the very beginning right through the end."[5]
The lyrics to "Thunder Road" describe a young woman named Mary, her boyfriend, and their "one last chance to make it real". Musically, the song opens with a quiet piano (Roy Bittan) and harmonica (Springsteen) introduction, meant, as Springsteen said years later in theWings for Wheels documentary, as a signifier that something was about to happen.[citation needed] The title phrase is not used until the middle section of the song. After the closing line, a tenor saxophone and Fender Rhodes duet is played byClarence Clemons and Bittan in the instrumental coda.[citation needed]
In this song, Springsteen mentionsRoy Orbison "singing for the lonely" on the radio. Orbison, one of whose best-known songs is "Only the Lonely" (1960), was a huge influence on Springsteen.[11]
On July 17, 2021, after 46 years, Jon Landau, Springsteen's longtime manager and co-producer ofBorn to Run, said the line "Mary's dress waves" was corrected to read "Mary's dress sways" on brucespringsteen.net. It was referred to as a "typo".[12][13]
During Springsteen's writing of the lyrics to "Thunder Road", instead of "skeleton frames of burned out Chevrolets", he had written, "skeletons found by exhumed shallow graves". E Street drummerMax Weinberg convinced Springsteen to move away from the darker lyrics and stay consistent with the blue-collar spirit of the album.[14]
In 2004, "Thunder Road" was ranked number one on the list of the "885 All-Time Greatest Songs" compiled byWXPN, theUniversity of Pennsylvania'spublic radio station.[15] The song came in at number 226 inQ magazine's list of the "1001 Greatest Songs Ever" in 2003, in which they described the song as "best for pleading on the porch".Julia Roberts, when asked which song lyric described her most accurately, chose "Thunder Road"'s "You ain't a beauty, but hey, you're alright." The song is featured in the book31 Songs by British authorNick Hornby.
It is ranked number 111 onRolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.[16] It is also ranked number 3 on the magazine's list of his best songs.[17]
In 1992, Springsteen recorded "Thunder Road" with an electric band for the specialIn Concert/MTV Plugged. In 1997, five years after the concert was recorded, the album was rereleased in the US and appeared for the first time on the US charts, peaking at number 189 on the Billboard 200.[18] The recording of "Thunder Road" from the concert was nominated for aGrammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.[19]
On June 14, 2008, on stage atMillennium Stadium inCardiff, Springsteendedicated a performance of the song to political broadcast analystTim Russert, a longtime Springsteen fan who had died the previous day. On June 18, 2008, Springsteen performed the song, with acoustic guitar, for a Russert memorial event in Washington DC via tape-delayed satellite.[20]
On November 7, 2016, Springsteen performed the song at a Hillary Clinton presidential election rally in Philadelphia.[21]
In 2016, a fan made a video compilation of Springsteen performing "Thunder Road" over 41 years. The video illustrates how Springsteen's performance of the song has changed over the years.[22]
According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon:[23]
"Thunder Road" is aclassic rock staple and has been covered by artists such asEric Church,Melissa Etheridge,Cowboy Junkies,Badly Drawn Boy, Brazilian singerRenato Russo,Frank Turner,Tori Amos,Brian Vander Ark (Live at Eddie's Attic),Kevin Rowland,Nate Ruess during his Grand Romantic world tour,Matt Nathanson,Mary Lou Lord, andBonnie 'Prince' Billy withTortoise. (Tortoise's version is interpreted in minor key.)Adam Duritz ofCounting Crows often sings large portions of the lyrics to "Thunder Road" in the middle of their song "Rain King".[citation needed]Phish covered the song in 2011 as a tribute to Clemon's passing.
Michael Chabon referenced "Thunder Road" in his 1988 novel,The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. "We were discussingBorn to Run, by Bruce Springsteen. I said that it was the most Roman Catholic record album ever made. 'Look what you've got,' I said. 'You've got Mary dancing like a vision across the porch while the radio plays...."[24]
In a 2010 interview,Stephen Merchant stated that the script for the filmCemetery Junction was loosely based upon the lyrics of "Thunder Road".[25]
In 2011, a limited, signed,letterpressed, handbound chapbook with the lyrics of "Thunder Road" along with Nick Hornby's essay on the song was released. (26 copies were signed by both, Bruce Springsteen and Nick Hornby, 200 copies were signed by Hornby only.)[26]
In 2016, actor, writer and director Jim Cummings released a comedy/drama film calledThunder Road, which includes an extensive scene depicting Cummings dressed as a policeman at his mother's funeral singing along to "Thunder Road", playing on his daughter's pinkboombox. It won the Short Film Grand Jury Prize at the2016 Sundance Film Festival.[27]
Sometime after the release ofBorn to Run, Springsteen wrote a follow-up to "Thunder Road" called "The Promise", which explicitly mentions the first song by name, but reveals a far more pessimistic outlook on the narrator's life and future.[28] Unreleased for years, "The Promise" gained considerable legend for its1978 Tour performances; it finally materialized in a re-recorded version on 1999's18 Tracks, before appearing on its namesake albumThe Promise, released in 2010.[citation needed]
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[29] | Gold | 35,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[30] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[31] | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
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