The Ballad of the Top Ten: The Ballad of Thunder Road (#10)
By Four Walls
@FourWalls (86993)
United States
December 4, 2022 10:33am CST
New day, new week, and new countdown!! Here we go, looking at my favorite songs that have the words “the ballad of” in the title. Some of these you may know or remember. Like yesterday’s teaser, today’s song is from a movie…and here it is!
#10: The Ballad of Thunder Road - Robert Mitchum
Hey, why should Sinatra or Crosby have all the fun singing the themes to their own movies?? 
Tough guy actor Robert Mitchum (1917-1997) had a singing voice that matched his screen persona, so why not put it to use?
But hey, he also co-wrote the song!
Thunder Road is a late-50s film about moonshine running. If you don’t know, moonshine running is the deeply-buried origins of NASCAR racing. And this song conveniently tells the entire story of the film in under three minutes, in case you have ADHD or no interest in seeing the movie.
The Ballad of Thunder Road
Written by Robert Mitchum and Jack Marshall
Recorded by Robert Mitchum
Released as a single, 1958
The law they swore they’d get him:
Tough guy actor Robert Mitchum (1917-1997) had a singing voice that matched his screen persona, so why not put it to use?
But hey, he also co-wrote the song!
Thunder Road is a late-50s film about moonshine running. If you don’t know, moonshine running is the deeply-buried origins of NASCAR racing. And this song conveniently tells the entire story of the film in under three minutes, in case you have ADHD or no interest in seeing the movie.
The Ballad of Thunder Road
Written by Robert Mitchum and Jack Marshall
Recorded by Robert Mitchum
Released as a single, 1958
The law they swore they’d get him:
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10 people like this
9 responses
@LindaOHio (223055)
• United States
5 Dec 22
I remember the movie and this song.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86993)
• United States
5 Dec 22
One of those “classic” action films from the 50s. (PS: don’t listen to today’s song, it’s country.)
1 person likes this
@dgobucks226 (37621)
•
4 Dec 22
I like Mitch's screen work but prefer Springsteen's Thunder Road on my playlist
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86993)
• United States
4 Dec 22
Yeah, but that song sends me straight to “Only the Lonely” thanks to the reference!
1 person likes this
@dgobucks226 (37621)
•
5 Dec 22
@FourWalls Any Roy reference is ok with me, lol.
1 person likes this
@RebeccasFarm (91297)
• United States
4 Dec 22
Robert Mitchum could tell me any kind of story at anytime whoohoo
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86993)
• United States
4 Dec 22
Yeah, he was quite nice looking back then!!! 
1 person likes this
@RebeccasFarm (91297)
• United States
4 Dec 22
@FourWalls He really was and a wonderful actor.
Love this song and never heard it Four Walls thanks. Also that Garth did a Thunder Road but nothing like this one.
Love this song and never heard it Four Walls thanks. Also that Garth did a Thunder Road but nothing like this one.1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (98215)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
5 Dec 22
Thank you for the musical education, another ballad song I never heard.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86993)
• United States
5 Dec 22
I actually heard Jim & Jesse’s bluegrass version before the Robert Mitchum original. Whodathunkit!
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86993)
• United States
5 Dec 22
I don’t know how well moonshine running translates outside of the United States; for that matter, outside of the southern US. There’s a reason that stock car racing is considered a “southern thing,” and its connection to moonshine running is that reason.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382826)
• Rockingham, Australia
6 Dec 22
@FourWalls I do know about moonshine and trying to outwit the authorities.
1 person likes this
@Virtually2021 (828)
• Southend-On-Sea, England
4 Dec 22
Ok good, I've not heard this song.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86993)
• United States
5 Dec 22
I do live in a vacuum, so I don’t know how well most of US actors fared in other countries, including the older ones like Mitchum. This is considered a “classic movie” here. Hope you enjoyed it.
@FourWalls (86993)
• United States
4 Dec 22
That’s where a lot of us first heard these songs….our parents singing them!
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86993)
• United States
4 Dec 22
But Springsteen stole the song title! 
1 person likes this
