"Thunder Road" by Bruce Springsteen
The screen door slams
Mary' 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 saviour to rise from these streets
Well now I'm 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 on down the tracks
Oh-oh come take my hand
We're riding out tonight to case the promised land
Oh-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 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 it 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 roaring on
But when you get to the porch they're gone
On the wind so Mary climb in
It's town full of losers
And I'm pulling out of here to win
According to Bruce Springsteen, what’s the American Dream? Where does Springsteen’s dream come from? Which American ideal is represented in this song? How?
For further consideration:
1. One of the primary stories of America is the concept of the American Dream. Explain the difference between myth and philosophy in the context of the American Dream. Has the American Dream been a positive or a corrupting force in the nation’s culture and history? Cite specific examples from our sources.
"The Promise" by Bruce Springsteen
Johnny works in a factory
Billy works downtown
Terry works in a rock and roll band
Looking for that million dollar sound
I got a job down in Darlington
Some nights I don't go
Some nights I go to the drive-in
Some nights I stay home
I followed that dream
Just like those guys do way up on the screen
Drove my Challenger down Route 9
Through the dead ends and all the bad scenes
The promise was broken
Cashed in a few of my dreams
Well I built that Challenger by myself
But I needed money and so I sold it
Lived a secret I should've kept to myself
But I got drunk one night and I told it
All my life, I fought that fight
The fight that you can't win
Every day it just gets harder to live
The dream you're believing in
Thunder Road, baby, you were so right
Thunder Road, something dying down on the highway tonight
Well I won big once and I hit the coast
Yeah, but I paid the cost
Inside I felt like I was carrying the broken spirits
Of all the other ones who lost
The promise is broken, you go on living
It steals something from down in your soul
When the truth is spoken, it don't make no difference
Something in your heart goes cold
I followed that dream through the southwestern tracks
That dead ends in the two-bit bars
The promise was broken, I was far away from home
Sleeping in the back seat of a borrowed car
Thunder Road is for the lost lovers and all the fixed games
Thunder Road is for the tires rushing by in the rain
Thunder Road me and Billy we'd always sing
Thunder Road, take it all and throw it all away
What happened to Springsteen’s dream? How does this tell a different story of America than Thunder Road? What ideal is represented in this song?
For further consideration:
2. Throughout American history, there has been a clear tension between individualism and communalism. Is the tension between individualism and communalism inherently contradictory and thus destructive in American history? Consider Puritanism, issues relating to war, race, ethnicity, social justice, sports, American Exceptionalism, myth, the Culture Wars, or any other unit we discussed.
3. In his essay “The Religious Character of American Patriotism,” Frederick Edwards asks, “Could a nation last without a common bond in some time-worn ground for unity?” How did Americans build a ground for unity? Discuss the concept of American unity with references to the hero (rebel or individualist), Puritanism, war, race, ethnicity, social justice, sports, the Culture Wars, American Exceptionalism, American myth, or any other unit we discussed.