Forgotten Movie Songs #26: "Where Do I Go From Here" from THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT

The other night, I took another look at Michael Cimino's directorial debut Thunderbolt and Lightfoot. I was as astonished at its easygoing but still action-packed pace as I was when I first saw it at a Georgia drive-in circa 1974. The quirky fellowship between the lead, Clint Eastwood (the titular Thunderbolt) and Jeff Bridges (Oscar-nominated as the extremely lovable Lightfoot, who says "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot! That sounds like something, doesn't it?") is radically palpable. The supporting performances from nominal villains George Kennedy and Geoffrey Lewis (who are actually our heros' duplicitous cohorts) are slimy and superb. And the film moves along at a quick and always clever clip (it was cut by Manchurian Candidate editor Ferris Webster). It's a tautly simple heist yarn, but its more lasting effect is as a story of a short but powerful friendship. And I love movies about friendship; to me, this is the most important element in life. If you have friends, you have everything.


The song from Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, "Where Do I Go From Here" is well-used, popping up at the beginning, middle, and end of Cimino's movie as its theme of wanderlust (it matches so well with the film's open-skyed, road-trippy feel). Beautifully orchestrated, it's an unjustly overlooked tune by the great Paul Williams who, in 1974, was reveling in his heyday (that same year, he produced the soundtrack for and co-starred in Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise--a movie which will, despite its cult status, surely make an appearance in this Forgotten Movie Songs series). "Where Do I Go From Here," performed by Williams, hails from a movie that itself deserves much more love and friendship.



If I knew the way, I'd go back home
But the countryside has changed so much
I'd surely end up lost
Half-remembered names and faces
So far in the past
On the other side of bridges
That were burned once they were crossed

Tell me where
Where does a fool go
When there's no one left to listen?
To a story without meaning
That nobody wants to hear
Tell me where
Where does a fool go
When he knows there's something missing?
Tell me where
Where do I go from here?
Where do I go from here?

To get back home
Where my childhood dreams and wishes
Still out number my regrets
Get back to a place where I can figure on the odds
Have a fighting chance to lose the blues
And win my share of bets

Tell me where
Where does a fool go
When there's no one left to listen?
To a story without meaning
That nobody wants to hear
Tell me where
Where does a fool go
When he knows there's something missing?
Tell me where
Where do I go from here?
Where do I go from here?

Tell me where
Where does a fool go
When there's none left to listen?
To a story without meaning
That nobody wants to hear
Tell me where
Where does a fool go
When he knows there's something missing?
Tell me where
Where do I go from here?
Where do I go from here?