Bruce Springsteen fans have been in an online debate the past several weeks over the meaning of his 1975 hit “Thunder Road.” The second line of the song is what has The Boss’ fans scratching their heads.
According to the lyrics posted on Springsteen’s website, the song starts off with:
The screen door slams
Mary's dress waves
Like a vision she dances across the porch
As the radio plays
Many fans have certainly thought the second line of the song was "Mary's dress sways." The official lyrics indicate the line is “Mary’s dress waves.” Which way is correct?
The debate got going earlier this month when a New York Times reporter saw ‘Springsteen on Broadway’ and later tweeted: "A screen door slams, Mary’s dress sways."
E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt got in on the discussion after his Twitter feed was inundated with tweets. He then responded with, "Oy vey! Get this Bruce lyric [crap] outta my feed!"
Bruce’s manager, Jon Landau, finally settled the debate, telling The New Yorker, “The word is ‘sways.' That’s the way he wrote it in his original notebooks, that’s the way he sang it on ‘Born to Run,’ in 1975, that’s the way he has always sung it at thousands of shows, and that’s the way he sings it right now on Broadway. Any typos in official Bruce material will be corrected. And, by the way, ‘dresses’ do not know how to ‘wave.’”
The mistake was later corrected on Springsteen's website.
[Source: Classic Hits Today]