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 [ guitar ] 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... Yeah the G men swore they'd get him but the devil got him first