Thunder Road

如果要選出我最愛的The Boss的歌曲，毫無疑問我會選Thunder Road。一首非常簡單、平淡，卻充滿了難以言述的豐沛感情與能量的歌。Thunder Road講的不是複雜的心靈、曲折堅貞的愛情，而是一個男孩，開著一部破車到女孩家門口，要她跳上車，跟他一起離開這殘破的小鎮。單純的執著、天真的自信、巨大的熱情與對未來的憧憬，再漫長的篇章與精密的論述，都沒有這一首五分鐘的曲子能夠如此確實地刻畫出美國夢。

以下是The Boss 1975年在Hammersmith Odeon的現場版本，再也沒有比單純的鋼琴伴奏來的動人了。


The screen door slams, 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 turn me home again, I just can't face myself alone again

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 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 ain't no hero, that's understood
All the redemption I can offer, girl, is beneath this dirty hood
With a chance to make it good somehow
Hey, 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 oh, come take my hand
We're riding out tonight to case the promised land
Oh oh oh oh, Thunder Road
Oh, Thunder Road, oh, Thunder Road
Lying out there like a killer in the sun
Hey, I know it's late, we can make it if we run
Oh oh oh oh, Thunder Road
Sit tight, take hold, Thunder Road

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

在Youtube上看到了另一個有趣的版本，1997年當The Boss到了義大利拿波里時，面對旅館外面歡呼的群眾，他拿出了口琴、吉他，和群眾一起大合唱了Thunder Road：


很多人問我究竟什麼是搖滾樂、搖滾精神，喏，這就是了。