Bruce Springsteen names “the hokiest line he ever wrote” | CPT PPP Coverage

Both were worthy people to draw from, but Springsteen hit on something all his own the minute ‘Thunder Road’ started. Outside of the bombastic production, hearing him talk to Mary about how life could be so much better if they got out of town and moved somewhere better is the kind of life-affirming lyrics that resonates with anyone whose dreams were bigger than the towns that grew up in.

Even without the lyrics, the E Street Band practically paint the picture for you when they come screaming in. The minute Springsteen sings about rolling down the windows and letting the wind blow back your hair, hearing the entire band come screaming in behind him is like him nudging the listener to chase after those dreams themselves, whatever they may be.

For Springsteen, that dream was to be the rock and roll outlaw with a guitar instead of a pistol, but he admitted that he could be a little bit too on-the-nose when making that point, telling Storytellers, “‘I got this guitar, and I learned how to make it talk’, one of the hokiest lines I’ve ever wrote, and I’ve written a few of them. I guess that’s why it was good. [It was] my instrument of deliverance.”

Then again, the only way a line like that works is if it has a great lick behind it, and while Springsteen doesn’t do anything flashy, it does evoke the kind of swagger he’s going for. Partway between bar-band dirtiness and punk grit, Springsteen’s guitar playing is the kind of emotional style that comes from someone who hasn’t put in a tone of miles playing lead but makes up for it with the miles on their heart.

And given where he takes the song just a few bars later, it’s not like he doesn’t believe what he’s singing, either. Sure, the idea of making a guitar speak should be reserved for the dad-joke variety of music teachers, but when Springsteen sings about pulling out of this town full of losers ready to win, it’s inspiring for anyone who wants to get off their ass and starting making something of themselves beyond any dead-end job they have.

Despite one cheesy line, ‘Thunder Road’ is the ideal example of one bad line not being all that important. It’s all about the delivery, and the minute that the band crashes into that final musical motif at the end of the tune, every listener is off on that metaphor highway, ready to make their dreams come true alongside The Boss.

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