Another take on Thunder Road

BALLAD OF THUNDER ROAD
Recorded by Robert Mitchum
Written by don Raye and Robert Mitchum

[1mi] Let me tell the story. I can tell it all,
A-[5-7]-bout the mountain boy who ran il-[1mi]-legal alcohol.
His daddy made the whiskey; son, he drove the load.
[5-7] When his engine roared, they called the [1mi] highway Thunder Road.

[1] Sometimes into Ashville, sometimes Memphis town,
The [5-7] revenuers chased him but they [1] couldn't run him down.
Each time they thought they had him, his engine would explode.
[5-7] He'd go by like they were standin' [1] still on Thunder Road.

CHORUS: And there was [4] thunder, thunder, [1] over Thunder Road.
[5-7] Thunder was his engine, and white [1mi] lightning was his load;
And there was [4mi] moonshine, moonshine to [1mi] quench the devil's thirst.
The [5-7] law they swore they'd get him, but the [1mi] devil got him first.

[1mi] On the first of April, nineteen fifty-four,
A [5-7] federal man sent word he'd better [1mi] make his run no more.
He said two hundred agents was coverin' the state.
Which-[5-7]-ever road he tried to take, they'd [1mi] get him sure as fate.

[1] “Son,” his daddy told him, “make this run your last.
Your [5-7] tank is filled with hundred-proof. You're [1] all tuned up and gassed.
Now, don't take any chances. If you can't get through,
I'd [5-7] rather have you back again than [1] all that mountain dew.”

CHORUS: And there was [4] thunder, thunder [1] over Thunder Road.
[5-7] Thunder was his engine, and white [1mi] lightning was his load;
And there was [4mi] moonshine, moonshine, to [1mi] quench the devil's thirst.
The [5-7] law they swore they'd get him, but the [1mi] devil got him first.

[1mi] Roarin' out of Harlan, revvin' up his mill,
He [5-7] shot the gap at Cumberland, and [1mi] screamed by Maynardville.
With T-men on his taillights, roadblocks up ahead,
The [5-7] mountain boy took roads that even [1mi] angels feared to tread.

[1] Blazin' right through Knoxville, out on Kingston Pike,
Then [5-7] right outside of Bearden, there they [1] made the fatal strike.
He left the road at ninety. That's all there is to say.
The [5-7] devil got the moonshine and the [1] mountain boy that day.

FINAL CHORUS: And there was [4] thunder, thunder [1] over Thunder Road.
[5-7] Thunder was his engine, and white [1mi] lightning was his load;
And there was [4mi] moonshine, moonshine, to [1mi] quench the devil's thirst.
The [5-7] law they never got him 'cause the [1mi] devil got him first.

Tag: [5-7] law they never got him 'cause the [1mi] devil got him first.

Note. Each verse before the chorus has a different chord pattern than the preceding verse (all major chords, no minors).

Chords by Zoomer, lyrics transcribed by Gene from Robert Mitchum CD.