[Verse 1]
Johnny works in a factory
Billy works downtown
Terry works in a rock and roll band
Lookin' for that million-dollar sound
I got a job down in Darlington
But some nights I don't go
Some nights I go to the drive-in
And some nights I stay home

[Bridge]
I followed that dream
Just like those guys do way up on the screen
I drove my Challenger down Route 9
Through the dead ends and all the bad scenes
When the promise was broken
I cashed in a few of my own dreams

[Verse 2]
Well, I built that Challenger by myself
But I needed money and so I sold it
Lived a secret I shoulda kept to myself
But I got drunk one night and I told it
All my life I fought that fight
The fight that you can't ever win
Every day it just gets harder to live
That dream you're believing in
[Chorus]
Thunder Road
Oh baby, you were so right
Thunder Road
There's something dying down on the highway tonight

[Verse 3]
Well, I won big once and I hit the coast
Yeah, but I paid the cost
Inside I felt like I was carrying the broken spirits
Of all the other ones who'd lost
When the promise is broken you go on livin'
But it steals somethin' from down in your soul
Like when the truth is spoken and it don't make no difference
Somethin' in your heart turns cold

[Bridge]
I followed that dream through the southwestern tracks
That dead ends in the two-bit bars
When the promise was broken I was far away from home
Sleepin' in the backseat of a borrowed car

[Chorus]
Thunder Road
Is for the lost lovers and all the fixed games
Thunder Road
Is for the tires rushing by in the rain
Thunder Road
Remember Billy what we'd always say
Thunder Road
We were gonna take it all and throw it all away