Now let me tell the story, I can tell it all
About the mountain boy who ran illegal alcohol
His daddy made the whiskey, the son he drove the load
And when his engine roared, they called the highway Thunder Road

Sometimes into Ashville, sometimes Memphis town
The revenuers they chased him but they couldn't run him down
Each time they thought they had him, his engine would explode
And he'd go by like they were standin' still on Thunder Road

And there was thunder, thunder over Thunder Road
Thunder was his engine, and white lightning was his load
And there was moonshine, moonshine, quench the devil's thirst
The law they swore they'd get him, but the devil got him first

On the first of April, Nineteen fifty-four
A federal man sent word he'd better make his run no more
He said two hundred agents were coverin' the state
Whichever road he tried to take, they'd get him sure as fate

Son, his Daddy told him, make this run your last
Your tank is filled with hundred-proof, you're all tuned up and gassed
Now, don't take any chances, and if you can't get through
I'd rather have you back again than all that mountain dew

And there was thunder, thunder over Thunder Road
Thunder was his engine, and white lightning was his load
And there was moonshine, moonshine, quench the devil's thirst
The law they swore they'd get him, but the devil got him first

Roarin' out of Harlan, revvin' up his mill
He shot the gap at Cumberland and screamed by Maynordville
With G-men on his taillight, and roadblocks up ahead
The mountain boy took roads that even Angels fear to tread

Blazing right through Knoxville, out on Kingston Pike
Then right outside of Bearden, there they made the fatal strike
He left the road at 90; that's all there is to say
The devil got the moonshine and the mountain boy that day

And there was thunder, thunder over Thunder Road
Thunder was his engine, and white lightning was his load
And there was moonshine, moonshine, quench the devil's thirst
The law they never got him, cause the devil got him first
The law they never got him, cause the devil got him first