Sit tight, take hold, Thunder Road

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KngiJUNdsu0

"I stole the title from a Robert Mitchum film, and the sound from Roy Orbison (I tried). The innocence at the time was mine..."

"I never saw the movie, I only saw the poster in the lobby of the theater, and at the time I wrote this song, I didn't know if there was a place like where I wrote the song about. We were in the desert in the summertime, driving to Nevada, and we came upon this house on the side of the road, and it had a picture of Geronimo on it. Out front, it said 'landlord' over the top. There was a sign that said 'this is a land of peace, love, justice, and no mercy.' It down this little dirt road that said 'Thunder Road.'"

I've been listening to this song for probably 13 years. I came to the stark realization that I have never and will never find a song that I like better during my sophomore year of high school, and me and Thunder Road have been married ever since. Sure, I occasionally cheat on it, mostly with other Bruce songs. I've had affairs with Jungleland, Backstreets, No Surrender, Incident on 57th St., and Independence Day. And sometimes, I even cheat on Bruce (not often though), with Jesse Malin, The Gaslight Anthem, Birdmonster, Fleetwood Mac. Thankfully, I know Bruce would approve of all of those people. But I always come back to Bruce and Thunder Road, and they always forgive me and welcome me back with open arms.

A lot of my friends have music ADD. They have a few songs that they love, and change favorite songs every few months. Their relationships with their songs are nowhere near as committed as my marriage to Thunder Road. I don't really know what it is about this song that keeps me coming back to it. For once, I actually pay attention to the musical composition. It actually matters to me in this case. I've always been a lyrics person, but the piano/sax solo at the end gives me this amazing sense of hopefulness that I rarely feel (we all know I'm not a hopeful, optimistic person), and it automatically puts a smile on my face (we also know I'm not overly smiley). And the lyrics...I mean, every single line in that song is pure brilliance. I never knew that something as simple as "come and take my hand" or "ohh Thunder Road" could mean so much to me. I guess it just makes me feel like despite nervousness and hesitation, there is something better out there for me. Seriously-advice for future boyfriends out there-if you want to be poetic, give me this song. I would take it over an entire book of poetry or prose. And that's saying a lot, because I love poetry, and I love books.

So, why is this relevant to anything right now? Honestly, I'm not sure.

I mean, the song is so beautiful that it has made me cry before. There have been times when I've listened to the song while crying, but it has also by itself made me cry. The first time I cried when I heard Thunder Road, I was a senior in high school, driving to school during the last few months or so, and I heard "so you're scared and you're thinking that maybe we ain't that young anymore," a line I have often come back to, and also "we've got one last chance to make it real," and it made me think of a certain crush I had at the time. And it made me realize I was sad to be leaving, but glad to be getting out at the same time. The second time I cried during Thunder Road, I was a freshman in college, in my dorm room, at 3am one Monday night/Tuesday morning in late January. Melanie was out as usual, and I had Vh1 on as background noise. Bruce's Storytellers was on, and not only was his explanation of the song beautiful ("this was my invitation to the world"..."well, I'm no hero, that's understood, but if there's an opening..." I mean, who can't relate to that sentiment), the actual solo performance of it was probably the most beautiful and inspiring version of that song that I had heard (that no longer holds true as my exploration into bootlegs and youtube videos has grown since then...at 18, I wasn't quite the internet pro and Bruce afficianado that I am these days). But here it is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqiPy99yTCo Anyway, it brought tears to my half-asleep eyes. The third time I cried, I was in Buffalo, and he played it. I wasn't expecting that at all, because I have bad luck and I had been following setlists and seen that he hadn't been playing it much. I heard the opening chords, and this wasn't just a tear or two in my eye, it was full-up crying. Keith still makes fun of. The fourth time I cried, Bruce played it in Hershey. Again, I wasn't expecting it. He had played it the night before in Albany, so I pretty much knew it was out. Apparently, he knew I was coming. With my impending graduation and some boy problems, it seemed more relevant than ever.

The fifth time I cried listening to Thunder Road was today. I'm not entirely sure why, but I was driving to Enfield from Nottingham, and it came on my iPod (obviously. Keena jokes that I put it on every single playlist, which is true, and sometimes I even have multiple versions on the same playlist...I mean, the Melissa Etheridge duet is fantastic, but it also doesn't have Clarence's solo or Roy's part, so I need both, obviously). So yeah, I don't know what was wrong today. It kind of hit me at "there were ghosts in the eyes of all the boys you sent away," and I was thinking of some things that have happened in the last few days that I won't go into, but that was probably why. And then I watched "Live in New York City" tonight and I had never heard that version before, and it was beautiful, and again, I cried, but probably just because of earlier.

So anyway, I've had this thing for over a year, and I've never payed homage to my song before. Tonight felt right.

The screen door slams
Mary's dress waves
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 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
For 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