"The Thunder Rolls" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Garth Brooks. It was released in April 1991 as the fourth and final single from his album No Fences. The song became his sixth number one on the country chart. It was originally recorded by Tanya Tucker, but was never released until it appeared on her self-titled 1995 box set. Her version included a fourth verse which Brooks himself intended to use on his version but did not at the suggestion of producer Allen Reynolds. A modernized version was recorded by Jet Black Stare, but without the fourth verse. Metalcore band All That Remains released a cover of the song on April 28, 2017 on their eight studio album, Madness. This song also appears on Brooks' albums The Hits,The Limited Series,Double Live and The Ultimate Hits.
Content
The first verse talks about a man driving home in torrential rain from "somewhere that he never should have been". In the second verse, his wife is waiting at home for his return "praying it's the weather that's kept him out all night". When the man does return, the woman rushes out to meet him only to smell a perfume on him, implying that he was with another woman. At this point in time, the lyrics "the thunder rolls" no longer refers to literal lightning and thunder surrounding the pair, but the anger in her heart, which is mentioned in the chorus.
Fourth verse
The original recorded version does not include the song's original fourth verse, most likely due to its graphic nature that hints that the woman plans to kill the man or herself due to the infidelity. Brooks does however sing the fourth verse when he performs the song in concert, so a version containing the fourth verse can be found on his live album Double Live. The fourth verse goes as follows:
She runs back down the hallway and through the bedroom door
She reaches for the pistol kept in the dresser drawer
Tells the lady in the mirror, he won't do this again
Cause tonight will be the last time, she'll wonder where he's been''
Writing and production
"The Thunder Rolls" was written by Garth Brooks and Pat Alger. The original idea was Brooks's, as he wanted to explore the concept of "thunder rolling inside of a marriage and outside at the same time". Almost immediately after hearing this hook, Alger grabbed a guitar and started playing what Brooks described as a "D-minor rolling thing." The song was originally pitched to Tanya Tucker. Although she liked it, her producer suggested a third verse, which they added. On learning that the song had been given away, Brooks's producer Allen Reynolds was disappointed; he believed the song was one of the most powerful Brooks had written. When Tucker dropped the song from her album, Brooks began recording it for his second album "No Fences". Reynolds suggested that they leave off the fourth verse, recording only the three original ones. During the recording session, Brooks invited Alger to play on it. He was impressed with Alger's work during their writing session and thought his passion would translate well in the recording. Both session musicians recorded the song live, with no overdubs and no second take. When they were finished, Brooks suggested that they would add the sound of thunder. Reynolds had that sound on hand from a previous recording session and Brooks decided when to bring in the thunder sounds. Garth provided the following background information on the song in the CD booklet liner notes from The Hits
Music video
Although the recording featured only the first three verses, Brooks often performed the fourth verse in concert, to audience delight. When he began thinking about a music video for the song, Brooks chose to allude to the fourth verse by including the theme of domestic violence. This would tie together the two versions of the song. Brooks chose to play the central part of the philandering husband himself, so that he could "make sure was ''so despicable that the whole viewing audience wanted to shoot him." Before the video's release, Cathy Gurley, the head of public relations at Capitol Nashville, arranged a screening for industry women. They unanimously endorsed the video, describing it as a powerful statement against domestic violence. The video was released to CMT and The Nashville Network, where CMT immediately named it a "Pick Hit." On May 1, the day after the video's release, TNN banned the video. CMT pulled it soon after, with a CMT representative commentating that the network was "in business to entertain, not to promote or condone gratuitous violence or social issues." TNN offered to resume airplay if Brooks would film a disclaimer for the end. Although Brooks and Gurley read the TNN script, he refused to film the additional scene, saying it felt as if he would be using the controversy to promote the video. Brooks told TNN they could add a disclaimer if they chose, but he was not going to compromise his vision. Because the video had been pulled so quickly, few people had seen it. Radio stations, country bars, television stations and newspapers began requesting copies of the video so that they – and their audiences – could form their own opinions. Several radio stations in the United States screened the video at quickly organized fundraisers for local battered women's shelters. Capitol Records was contacted numerous times by women's shelters, thanking the company for raising awareness of domestic violence. On May 7, VH-1, which generally aired pop videos, announced that they would begin playing "The Thunder Rolls." The following month, Capitol Nashville president Jimmy Bowen sent copies of the video to members of the Country Music Association, so that they could consider it for the upcoming annual awards show. On Oct. 2, the video was awarded the CMA Video of the Year award. At the 1991 Grammy Awards, the music video, directed by Bud Schaetzle and produced by Martin J. Fischer, was nominated for "Best Music Video – Short Form".
Heavy metal band All That Remains released a cover of The Thunder Rolls on August 22, 2017, off of Razor & Tie, on their album Madness. According to lead vocalist, Phil Labonte, the band is trying to push the boundaries of what All That Remains can do, with Labonte stating: "Our core audience likes a lot of diverse styles of music and gets it, and I think there's enough stuff on it for people that haven't heard ALL THAT REMAINS before to be kind of lured in. That's always our point: how can we reach out to new people?". Taste of Country has praised the cover commenting that All That Remains honors the song's dark nature with intense electric guitars and drums, coupled with lead singer Phil Labonte's haunting vocals. The cover is also notable for containing a signature heavy metal scream on the song's title. All That Remains' cover features Labonte's vocals being layered to create an ethereal effect along with female backing vocals by Diamante Azzura. The music video for the cover put All That Remains at No. 1 among trending Vevo metal artists at the time, in addition to ranking high on Soundscan. The band notably performed an acoustic version of the cover at the studios of KAZR, an alternative rock radio station in Des Moines, Iowa.
