Thunder Road

 Week Twelve: Thunder Road

Don’t 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

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 the 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…

...From your front porch to my front seat

The door’s open but the ride ain’t free...

--Bruce Springsteen, Thunder Road, from Born to Run

Springsteen told Rolling Stone Magazine: "The songs (on Born to Run) were written immediately after the Vietnam War, and you forget—everybody felt like that then. There's quite a sense of dread and uncertainty about the future and who you were, where you were going, where the whole country was going, so that found its way into the record."

A while ago I stopped using Facebook for two main reasons: 1) I was using it too much in my opinion, and 2) I had unpleasant reactions to much of what I found there. I decided that instead of adjusting the amount of time I used it or limiting the access of the unpleasant offenders, I would stop altogether. That speaks volumes about who I am; I know. In any case that’s what I did.

Days later I got a text message from my eldest granddaughter that read: I see someone has stopped using Facebook again. Because she had recently begun her post-secondary career at Appalachian State and our grandson began high school, I decided to log into Facebook and see what has been going on.

Long story short is that our good friends from Maryland saw Bruce Springsteen on Broadway and wrote a post about it. Anna saw that, and she referenced me in her comment. (That’s when she noticed I was not an active user.) That prompted her text message, and what ensued encouraged me to write.

For many years, as the oldest two grandkids were growing up, I provided “music lessons” mostly whenever we went on date nights. Once per week we would go to dinner and along with an endless series of games (which I was required to invent extemporaneously) we had “music lessons.” The “lessons” were nothing more than a continuous series of sermons all focused on the importance of classic rock and roll. I wanted them to know that the noise that passes for music these days is the mutant children of genuinely talented singers and songwriters starting in the era of Little Richard and Chuck Berry and extending for several decades including such visionaries as Leon Russell, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie and most notably, the Beatles. To this day they at least recognize names such as Jimmy Page, Mick Jagger, and Freddie Mercury. 

In a symbolic gesture of personal significance to both Anna and me, on her sixteenth birthday Gwaz and I gave her an old-school iPod filled with 10,000 songs. I have first-hand evidence that the gift was put to good use. Anna can sing along to almost any Beatles’ song she hears!

At some point she and her brother were introduced to the Boss. We listened to (and they memorized the words to every song on) We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. Springsteen paid homage to the folk music pioneer, Pete Seeger, by recording thirteen classic folk songs made popular by Seeger. I don’t know how many 19 year-olds can sing O Mary Don’t You Weep, but I know one who can.

Anna’s comment on Facebook gave me credit for introducing her to Springsteen. To be fair, I introduced her to Springsteen singing Seeger’s songs. So today I decided to provide one more mini lesson: Thunder Road. This time via text messages. 

At one point Anna wrote: It’s always great when songs are deeper than they seem. (My prize student at her best!) Thunder Road is exactly that--deeper than it seems.

From the first time I heard Thunder Road, the lyrics resonated with me. 

Don’t run back inside

You know just what I’m here for…

Deeper than it seems? The protagonist appears to be delivering an ultimatum. It might seem that he has decided that he has waited long enough, and “she’ll do.” But, I choose to believe it’s not that at all.

When Debbie and I were 18 years old we promised to love each other forever, much like 18 year-olds tend to do. Circumstances and better judgment prevailed. Then, the presence of the life that would be our daughter changed the timeline. Before we turned 19 we were married.

Don’t 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

There came a moment for us when we were faced with “running back inside” or facing the rest of our lives. We were thinking that maybe we weren’t that young anymore. Honest to Pete, whenever I hear Thunder Road I think of that time. We were scared. We were young. And we weren’t that young, anymore.

But the line that hits me the hardest is the most clever one of all…

You ain’t a beauty but hey you’re alright

Sounds like he is settling, huh? Not to me. Here’s what I told Anna: People can define beauty anyway they want. After all, everyone has a different definition. When you do show a little faith, when you do realize there’s magic in the night, when you refuse to hide ‘neath the covers, when you accept that there is no savior no matter how hard you wish for one, and when you just can’t face yourself alone again, “beauty” just does not matter. It is understood. It just is.

Oh and that’s alright with me

As I told Anna, not many folk singers are philosophers. Springsteen sure is.

(In 2024 we’re 51 years down the road, and just to be clear, she IS a beauty and she really is alright; alright with me.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdhkaPZtQF4