Melissa Etheridge: Thunder Road

The screen door slams and 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 send me home again, I just can't face myself alone again
Well don't you 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
Well 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 it's understood
All the redemption I've got to offer girl
Is beneath this dirty hood
With a chance to make it real somehow
Tell me 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 down on the tracks
Oh come take my hand, we're ridin out tonight to case the promised land
Oh Thunder Road, oh Thunder Road, oh Thunder Road
Lyin' out there like a killer in the sun
I know it's late but we can make it if we run
Oh Thunder Road, sit tight, take hold, Thunder Road

Oh well I got this guitar and I learned, 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 is open but the ride ain't free
I know you're lonely for words that I ain't spoken
Well tonight we'll be free all the promises will 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
When you get to the porch they're gone on the wind
So Mary climb in
It's a town full of losers and we're pulling out of here to win