The screendoor slams, Mary's dress waves
Like a vision she dances across the porch
As the radio plays
Roy Orbison singin' 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,
darlin' you know just what I'm here for
So you're scared and you're thinkin'
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 all right
Oh, and that's all right 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 prayin' in vain
for a savior to ride 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 could we do now
Except roll down the window
and let the wind blow back your hair
Well the night's bustin' 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 waitin' down on the tracks

Oh, oh come take my hand
We're ridin' out tonight
to case the promised land
Oh, oh thunder road
Oh, thunder road
Oh, thunder road
Lyin' out there like a killer in the sun
Hey I know it's late, we can make it if we run
Oh, oh thunder road
Sit tight, take hold
Thunder road

Well I got this guitar and I've learned how to make it talk
And my car's out back
if you're ready to take that long walk
From the front porch to my front seat
The door's open but the ride ain't free
And I know you're hungry for words that I ain't spoke
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 streets
Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet
And in the lonely cool before dawn
You hear their engines roarin' on
But when you get to the front porch, they're gone
On the wind
So Mary climb in
It's a town full of losers
And I'm pullin' outta here to win