The Promise

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

And I got a little job down in Darlington
But some nights I don't go
Some nights I go to the drive-in
Or some nights I stay home

I followed that dream
Just like those guys do 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 fight that no man can never win
Every day it just gets harder to live
This dream I'm believing in

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

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

When the promise is broken, you go on living
But 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 turns cold

Thunder Road
For the lost lovers and all the fixed games
Thunder Road
For the tires rushing by in the rain
Thunder Road
Remember what me and Billy we'd always say
Thunder Road
We were gonna take it all then throw it all away