The screen door slams, Mary’s dress waves

Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays.

To borrow a line from Prince, dig if you will a picture… a young girl, new-love’s smile on her face as she sashays onto her rickety front porch. As the door slams behind her, we hear Roy Orbison’s tranquilizing voice telling us how only the lonely know how he feels. The sun is ablaze and there is a slight, sweet breeze that induces a gentle wave on the girl’s dress. From the dreamy smile on her face we see that she is happy, though perhaps a bit nervous, for what lies ahead. This is the opening scene to our movie.

“Thunder Road” is as cinematic a piece of songwriting as there is in the Springsteen canon- perhaps the rock and roll canon. This is a movie about love, cars, youth, faith, and beauty. This is a movie about courage, fear, escape, pain, and redemption. This is a movie about release, about finding a way out and taking it no matter the risks or the costs. When you drive down “Thunder Road,” you’re not entirely sure where it leads, but you know it’s better than where you came from.

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.

Any kind of escape starts with the notion of faith. Faith in yourself, faith in your dreams, faith in your decisions. It’s very easy for Mary to run back inside, to give into to her fear of the unknown. As they say, the devil you know… But her young friend’s faith never wavers. There is magic in the night and we are going to ride that magic all the way to the Promised Land, just you and me.

Hey what else can we do now except roll down the windows and let the wind blow back your hair

Well the night’s busting open these two lanes can take us anywhere.

American cinema has been filled with movies about the open road. From “Easy Rider” to “Thelma and Louise,” there is something liberating about the wind in your hair as you speed to a new and unknown destination. Our daring young actor is doing everything in his power to get Mary to leave behind this tired town and take a chance on their new found love. Surely there’s more to this world than this old, decrepit front porch that’s a rusty nail away from collapsing in a heap of broken dreams. The night is not just open to us, it is busting open and with these two lanes of concrete we can go anywhere in the world. All she has to do is just take his hand.

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.

The ride is never free. There is going to be a cost. Our young lovers may struggle, they may run out of money, hell, they might even doubt their love at times. But is that enough to not give it a try? You’re only young once and there is an entire world of possibilities ahead of you. We see him pleading, “How long are you going to let this world kick you around like a dog before you take a chance- a chance on me, a chance on love, a chance on us? My car’s right out back, the door is open, all you gotta do is hop in.”

So Mary climb in

It’s a town full of losers, and I’m pulling out of here to win.

The opening scene to our movie ends here. You decide where you want to take it. Bruce Springsteen once described “Thunder Road” as “an invitation.” I invite you to write the rest of the script. Does Mary run back inside to what is familiar? Do the far-reaching tentacles of this town full of losers snatch another victim? Or does she take that long walk to his front seat and embark on a cross-country exploration of the soul? The camera zooms in on our leading man. In the background is a car, passenger door ajar. His hand is outstretched. “Show a little faith Mary, there’s magic in the night.” Fade to black. The rest is up to you.

 

“Thunder Road” is the opening track (an invitation, if you will) on Bruce Springsteen’s 1975 album Born To Run.