The Ballad of Thunder Road (From Thunder Road 1958)

Ballad Of Thunder Road - Robert Mitchum

Now let me tell a story and I can tell it all

It's about a mountain boy who ran illegal alcohol

His daddy made the moonshine while he drove the load

And when his engine roared they called the highway Thunder Road

Sometimes into Asheville sometimes Memphis town

The revenuers chased him but they could not run him down

Just when they thought they had him his engine would explode

And he'd blow by while they were standing still on Thunder Road

And there was thunder thunder on that Thunder Road

Thunder was his engine white lightning was his load

There was moonshine moonshine quench the old devil's thirst

The G men swore they'd get him but the devil got him first

And there was thunder thunder on that Thunder Road

Thunder was his engine white lightning was his load

There was moonshine moonshine quench the old devil's thirst

Roaring out of Harlan went the whippoorwill

He shot the gap at Cumberland and screamed through Maynardsville

With G men oh his taillights and roadblocks up ahead

That mountain boy took roads that even angels fear to thread

Blazin' right through Knoxville on down Kingston Pike

It was just outside of Bearden where they made that fatal strike

He left the road at ninety that's all there is to tell

The devil sent the moonshine and the driver straight to hell

And there was thunder thunder on that Thunder Road

Thunder was his engine white lightning was his load

There was moonshine moonshine quench the old devil's thirst

Yeah the G men swore they'd get him but the devil got him first