The Promise

Johnny works in a factory
And Billy works downtown
Terry works in a rock 'n' roll band
Looking for that million dollar sound

Me, sometimes I don't do nothing
Spend a lot of time alone
Some nights I go to the drive-in
And some nights I stay home

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

Well now, I built that Challenger by myself
But I needed money and so I sold it
I lived a secret I should've kept to myself
But I got drunk one night and I told it

All my life, I fought this fight
The one that no man can ever win
And every day just gets harder to live
The dream I'm believing in

Thunder Road, oh baby, you were so right
Thunder Road, there's something dying down on the highway tonight

Well now, I won big once and I hit the coast
Oh, but somehow I paid the big cost
Inside, I felt like I was carrying the broken spirits
Of all the other ones who lost

And when the promise is broken, you go on living
But man, it steals something from down in your soul
Like when the truth is spoken, and it don't make no difference
Something in your heart goes cold

Well, I followed that dream through the southwestern tracks
That dead ends in two-bit bars
And when the promise was broken, I was far away from home
Sleeping in the back seat of a borrowed car

Thunder Road, for the lost lovers and all the fixed games
Thunder Road, for the tires rushing by in the rain
Thunder Road, oh, Billy and me, we'd always sing
Thunder Road, we were gonna take it all and throw it all away