Lyr ADD: Ballad of Thunder Road (Robert Mitchum)

Subject: Lyrics to Thunder Road
From:
Date: 27 Oct 96 - 07:27 PM

Robert Mitchum starred in this 1958 movie of same name, but can't find Lyrics anywhere. Chorus goes: And there was thunder, thunder over thunder road, thunder was his engine and white lightening was his load...etc. This is story of Kentucky moonshiners. Recently saw a copy of the movie, but 2nd and last verses left off. Song was popular early 1960's. Any help would be appreciated. E-mail me at [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Lyrics to Thunder Road
From:
Date: 31 Oct 96 - 09:35 PM

Never mind. Found them. I would be glad to send anyone a copy that would like it. Entire song was released as a 45rpm disc, not sure when, but Robert Mitchum is the singer. Currently working up the chords for this song. Song is six verses. Thanx. Gary. [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Lyrics to Thunder Road
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 03 Nov 96 - 10:30 PM

Hi- Why not send us a copy? If you post it here, then EVERYBODY can have it.

Subject: Lyr Add: BALLAD OF THUNDER ROAD (Robert Mitchum)
From:
Date: 09 Dec 06 - 09:19 PM

It was answered the following year in this thread and it's now in the DT. However, I found a version with the chords at Thunder Road

Here's the chorded version of THUNDER ROAD
  Transposed by Rick Benson
  
  
  THE BALLAD OF THUNDER ROAD
  By Robert Mitchum
  
  C                                             G
  Now let me tell the story. I can tell it all,
                C
  About the mountain boy who ran illegal alcohol.
  
  His daddy made the whiskey; son, he drove the load.
  G                                                             C
  When his engine roared, they called the highway Thunder Road.
  C
  Sometimes into Asheville, sometimes Memphis town,
              G                                       C
  The revenuers chased him but they couldn't run him down.
  C
  Each time they thought they had him, his engine would explode.
  G                                                    C
  He'd go by like they were standin' still on Thunder Road.
  
  
          C                                  F               C
  CHORUS: And there was thunder, thunder over Thunder Road.
  G                                                    C     F
  Thunder was his engine, and white lightning was his load.
  C
  There was moonshine, moonshine to quench the devil's thirst.
                G                                                   C
  The law, they swore they'd get him, but the devil got him first.
  
  
  C
  On the first of April, nineteen fifty-four,
            G                                          C
  A federal man sent word he'd better make his run no more.
  
  He said two hundred agents were coverin' the state.
                G                                          C
  Whichever road he tried to take, they'd get him sure as fate.
  
  "Son," his daddy told him, "make this run your last.
                 G                                                 C
  Your tank is filled with hundred-proof. You're all tuned up and gassed.
  
  Now, don't take any chances. If you can't get through,
              G                                          C
  I'd rather have you back again than all that mountain dew." CHORUS
  
  
  Roarin' out of Harlan, revving up his mill,
            G                                             C
  He shot the gap at Cumberland, and screamed by Maynardville.
  
  With G-men on his taillights, roadblocks up ahead,
                  G                                        C
  The mountain boy took roads that even angels feared to tread.
  
  Blazing' right through Knoxville, out on Kingston Pike,
               G                                        C
  Then right outside of Bearden, they made the fatal strike.
  
  He left the road at ninety. That's all there is to say.
            G                                            C
  The devil got the moonshine and the mountain boy that day. CHORUS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Thunder Road
From: GUEST,Scoville at Dad's
Date: 09 Dec 06 - 09:43 PM

Whoa--my dad used to sing this all the time. I'd never heard a recording of it until about a year ago when it was played as part of the filler music between rockabilly acts at some club. Ha ha. Hardly ever see a reference to it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Thunder Road
From: Cluin
Date: 09 Dec 06 - 10:00 PM

Robert Mitchum had a hit with this song in `58, after the movie came out. His singing of it wasn't in the picture itself, nor was the exact version George posted above on the film soundtrack.

More info on the song & movie & legend at http://www.metropulse.com/dir_zine/dir_2004/1414/t_gamut.html

Bruce Springsteen's song "Thunder Road" (from his legendary Born To Run album of 1975) was inspired in part from seeing an old movie poster of "Thunder Road", supposedly... he hadn't seen the actual movie, in spite of it being standard drive-in fare for years.

Though I do have an MP3 file of this song by Robert Mitchum (as well as "Little Ole Wine Drinker Me" and "Mama, Look a Boo Boo!") I haven't seen the movie either but it sounds like it might also have been an inspiration for "the Dukes of Hazzard". Got see this one some time. I'm a big fan of Robert Mitchum.

Gonna start a band called "The Bastard Sons of Robert Mitchum", I think...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Thunder Road
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 10 Dec 06 - 10:21 AM

I used to have a bootleg recording of Bruce Springteen made before the "Born to Run" album in which he sang an "early" version of "Thunder Road; indeed, it was so much a "work in progress" that the words "Thunder Road" did't appear in the song!

Subject: Lyr Add: BALLAD OF THUNDER ROAD (Robert Mitchum)
From: GUEST,Gene
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 11:44 PM

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.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ballad of Thunder Road (Robert Mitchu
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 12 Dec 06 - 10:50 PM

Y'all know that NASCAR racing is the child of moonshine running.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ballad of Thunder Road (Robert Mitchu
From: GUEST,DonMeixner
Date: 12 Dec 06 - 10:57 PM

Slightly off subject but:

Robert Mitchum recorded more than two albums of Caltypso and pop songs in the 50's and early sixties. I've been chasing them on EBay but they always go outa site.

Don

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ballad of Thunder Road (Robert Mitchum)
From: Cluin
Date: 12 Dec 06 - 11:00 PM

Yeah there's this one.

Great title, eh?

Bob Mitchum was the epitome of cool.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ballad of Thunder Road (Robert Mitchum)
From: catspaw49
Date: 12 Dec 06 - 11:20 PM

If you missed his appearance on Dick Cavett, you missed something great. Mitchum was an intelligent, sensitive, well read, well spoken kind of Renaissance man........the hippest of the beat generation. "Thunder Road" was far from his best movie and frankly good for laughs in spots......Like when you hear the car in the distance, some lame ass playing a young shiner says, "That must be Luke....You can tell by his pipes."

And although some of the earliest drivers in NASCAR were shine runners, the majority had given it up long before. A few went on though for many years including Junior Johnson who went to jail in the early part of his NASCAR career.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ballad of Thunder Road (Robert Mitchu
From: Metchosin
Date: 13 Dec 06 - 12:16 AM

and he was stoned....where do you think all that sensitivity came from. LOL

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ballad of Thunder Road (Robert Mitchum)
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 13 Dec 06 - 03:41 AM

I never heard about "runners" competing in NASCAR, but the few still around in the mid '50s went to the races to look for new little "tuneups" that they could use.

Hasn't nybody else ever look under the hood on a 400 HP '49 Chev dressed out for "inconspicuously" runnin' back roads?

John

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ballad of Thunder Road (Robert Mitchum)
From: Zany Mouse
Date: 13 Dec 06 - 05:14 AM

On BBC7 (radio) this week Nick Hornby is reading '31 Songs' and one of the 31 is Thunder Road. Might be worth a listen if you are interested. BBC7 31 Songs

Rhiannon

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ballad of Thunder Road (Robert Mitchum)
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 13 Dec 06 - 05:35 AM

The link only goes to a BBC Index page, you'll need to select BBC7 and then 31 Songs

Mick

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ballad of Thunder Road (Robert Mitchum)
From: GUEST,David
Date: 09 Aug 07 - 11:39 PM

Try this site and sing along with the Man...too cool!!

David

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ballad of Thunder Road (Robert Mitchum)
From: GUEST,David
Date: 09 Aug 07 - 11:42 PM

Oops...this might help...

http://www.univie.ac.at/Anglistik/easyrider/data/ballad_of_thunder_road.htm

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ballad of Thunder Road (Robert Mitchum)
From: Cluin
Date: 10 Aug 07 - 01:28 AM

link for those who don't wanna cut&paste.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ballad of Thunder Road (Robert Mitchum)
From: Cluin
Date: 29 Apr 08 - 04:15 PM

Bob Mitchum even made playing the tin whistle look cool..... almost.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ballad of Thunder Road (Robert Mitchum)
From: GUEST, TJ in San Diego
Date: 29 Apr 08 - 07:07 PM

I don't know about Mitchum being "stoned." He WAS busted for possessing weed back in the early 50's, I believe. He never copped a plea, never made excuses or relied on the studio to bail him out. He did a little time, ingratiated himself to his fellow inmates, got a few tawdry headlines and moved on to bigger and better things. He was, according to his late brother, Jim, "The most profound man I have ever met." Neither of them was any intellectual slouch. Check out the original "Cape Fear" sometime, if you want to see the raw and visceral power Mitchum had on screen.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ballad of Thunder Road (Robert Mitchu
From: theballadeer
Date: 30 Apr 08 - 04:09 PM

Perhaps this is of little interest...but since it was brought. Thunder Road could be considered the "inspiration" of Dukes of Hazzard in a very round about way. Robert Mitchum's son, Jim, appears in Thunder Road (as his brother). In the 70's Jim Mitchum starred in a (little known) movie called Moonrunner's with Waylon Jennings as "the Balladeer"...it was this movie that was the basis for the Dukes...

Nick

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ballad of Thunder Road (Robert Mitchum)
From: Cluin
Date: 19 Oct 08 - 06:49 PM

Oh well, I can forgive Ol' Bum Chin for that, even.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ballad of Thunder Road (Robert Mitchum)
From: mg
Date: 19 Oct 08 - 06:58 PM

I don't know who copied what, but the tune is a Scandinavian schottiche I believe called the Old Home. They play it all the time on Scandinavian hour here. mg

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ballad of Thunder Road (Robert Mitchum)
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Dec 20 - 06:11 PM

Excellent to show the minor chords which really give the tune an odd but essential character. Wikipedia and another site (I forget which) both refer to Mitchum saying he based the tune on an old Scandinavian tune his Mother used to sing to him. One says it wad a Norwegian dance tune called Gammel Reinlender and the other a Danish children’s tune called Moar Jeg Ska Tisse. My wife says Scandinavian folk tunes often switch back snd forth between major and minor.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ballad of Thunder Road (Robert Mitchum)
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Dec 20 - 10:55 PM

Thunder Road

Subject: RE: Lyr ADD: Ballad of Thunder Road (Robert Mitchum)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 02 May 22 - 03:24 PM

Joe - do cleanup