F                             Bb              F
1.Johnny works in a factory, Billy works downtown
Dm                                        Gm              F/A     Bb
Terry works in a rock'n'roll band lookin' for that million-dollar sound
F                             Bb                   F
I got a job down in Darlington but some nights I don't go
Dm                                   Gm         F/A     Bb
Some nights I go to the drive-in and some nights I stay home

(Bb)                                         F
I followed that dream just like those guys do way up on the
Bb                 F
screen      I drove my Challenger down route 9
                Bb                    F
through the dead ends and all the bad scenes
             C                                              F
And when the promise was broken I cashed in a few of my own dreams

        F
2.Well, I built that Challenger by myself
             Bb              F
but I needed money and so I sold it
          Dm
I lived a secret I should-a kept to myself
          Gm               F/A  Bb
But I got drunk one night and I told it
Dm               Am
All my life I've fought that fight
    Gm          F/A         Bb
a fight that you can never win
F                      C                                          F
Every day it just gets harder to live the dream you're believing in

        Gm Am Bb              C            F
Thunder Road____   oh baby you were so right
        Gm Am Bb                                     C         F
Thunder Road____   there's something dying down on the highway tonight


       F
3.Well I won big once and I hit the coast
       Bb                 F
Oh but I paid the big cost
         Dm
Inside I felt like I was carryin' broken spirits
   Gm            F/A      Bb
of all the other ones who lost
        Dm                     Am
When the promise is broken you go on livin'
       Gm                   F/A          Bb
but it steals something from down in your soul
              F                            C
Like when the truth is spoken and it don't make no difference
                              F
something in your heart runs cold

Bb
I followed that dream, through the southwestern tracks
       F                        Bb
the dead ends and the two-bit bars
         C
When the promise was broken I was far away from home
                                         F
sleeping in the backseat of a borrowed car

        Gm Am Bb                                 C             F
Thunder Road____  here's for the lost lovers and all the fixed games
        Gm Am Bb                               C         F
Thunder Road____  here's for the tires rushing by in the rain
        Gm Am Bb                           C      F
Thunder Road____  remember Billy what we'd always say
        Gm Am Bb                                        C     F
Thunder Road____  we were gonna take it all and throw it all away