I’m not an AC/DC fan, but I can appreciate that they have a vision and they stick with it. I’m not really even a hard rock genre fan. Although I like the ’80s aesthetic when these kinds of bands were playing sort of cartoon-evil characters, with fully developed iconography, logos, and fonts. This is Spinal Tap territory, in that I appreciate it both as art and parody simultaneously. But I have a special place in my heart for one of AC/DC’s songs, which I think most people know, but have overlooked for the pantheon of greatness.

That song is “Thunderstruck.”

Thunderstruck is not exactly underappreciated. It was a huge, international hit, off an album that sold 5 million copies. It’s the third most-played AC/DC song on Spotify with over 130 million plays. But I think it’s not entirely appreciated, either. Rolling Stone panned the album* as bland, obnoxious AC/DC filler, and didn’t even mention this song among the highlights. “Back In Black” garners their greatest glory.

*They did mention, in saying that it was devoid of any new rock ideas, that it was still noteworthy that the band was churning this stuff out when Angus Young was “over thirty now and [Brian] Johnson is past forty”. Just noting this nugget for some future discussion about musicians older than me, an increasingly rare phenomenon.

What a Rock Song Should Do

It should build up excitement, then unleash it in a catchy chorus.
The basic idea of a rock song is that it combines melody and rhythm, developing into a catchy and memorable crescendo. The message is simple and direct. You are given the signal that night is to enter, light is to exit. Or you might as well jump. Or you are informed you will be rocked like a hurricane. Or, perhaps, that one may engage in an experience that will leave you utterly dazed, or if you will, “thunderstruck.”

It should induce head-banging, or head-bobbing for the over-30 set or neck safety conscious.
Check.

The performers should show some disregard for social norms.
There are no classic rock songs about getting one’s taxes done on time. Nothing about tucking your shirt in. No one is disposing of litter properly. Here, the lyrics, such as they are, and from what can be gleaned from Brian Johnson’s unnatural screeching, describe an epic Texas roadtrip where they hit it off with some ladies. I’m sure I could google the lyrics but people who google AC/DC lyrics are certainly missing the point. What is clear is that extremely good times were had, such that some or all of the parties involved were left in a state of being thunderstruck. At one point we are told explicitly that they “broke all the rules” and “played all the fools.” That’s right, fools. You messed with the wrong gang of Australian misfits.

Song Structure

Thunderstruck is 4 minutes and 52 seconds long. Here is its detailed structure:

0:00 – 1:05 – Intense buildup of Angus doing the electric string-tapping trick. Maybe it’s too simplistic to say that it feels electric when the tapping is done on an electric guitar, but the way notes are popping in and out of existence as the strings make contact with the frets hammers home the metaphor. Some growling “Oh-ow-ah-A-AH-wow-ow”s complement it, eventually joined by some bass drum and “Thun-dah!”s. This goes on for over a minute! Brian doesn’t even show up for over 50 seconds. More than 20% of this song is pure prologue. Imagine a 2-hour movie where they broke for the opening credits almost half an hour in. I love it. Total disregard for social norms! See 2:21, e.g., breaking all the rules.

1:05 – 1:53 – First verse, classic Brian Johnson, shrieking out a some rhyming nonsense and hard syllables until “You been… Thunderstruck!” Music bumps up the tempo and Brian takes a five-second breather before tearing into the second verse. Throughout this second minute, we are still building up elements, adding a second guitar and even more pounding. The initial string tapping still feeling like it’s leading to…something.

1:58 – 2:28 – Second verse containing the general outline of the Texas roadtrip. It’s heavy on vocal effort and light on details. Listen, the lyrics don’t matter. They aren’t supposed to matter. We aren’t listening to Tracy Chapman or Bob Dylan today.

2:28 – 2:43 – Bridge. Everything comes together for a few lines and lead guitar revving up. You’ve been……………..

2:43 – 2:58 – ….Thunderstruck! Finally, sweet, chorus! We have been waiting for more than two and a half minutes, building building building, and it’s here, and it’s glorious. Brian really believes in the concept of being thunderstruck by now. Thunderstruck! Yeah-Yeah-Yeah! Thunderstruck!

2:58 – 3:10 – Bridge 2, a little guitar fiddling about, until

3:10 – 3:26 – Power solo!

3:26 – 3:42 – WE STILL NEED MORE BUILDUP! At the 3:42 mark, 63% of the way through the song, after the solo no less, Angus goes back to the string-tapping well. As the tool he used to generate interest, priming the pump with still more of it this late in the song is dumping gasoline on the fire.

3:42 – 3:58 – Chorus 2

3:58 – 4:12 – A chant leading into the climax. In case you had concerns about the lingering nature of being thunderstruck, worry not: Yeah, it’s all right. We’re, doing fine.

4:12 – 4:52 – Chaotic outro mixing all the previous elements.

A typical rock song might go like:

• Brief intro
• Verse
• Chorus
• Verse
• Chorus
• Solo
• Verse
• Chorus
• Outro

Often there’s some kind of bridge in there between the verses and choruses, too. Here’s what Thunderstruck does instead:

• Super long intro
• Verse
• Chorus Nope! Another verse. I bet you really wanted a chorus there. You’re really going to be wanting it when it gets here.
• Finally, a chorus! See? Their trick worked.
• Solo
• Not bothering with a verse again, just re-charging with some intro material, and right to another chorus
• Crowd-friendly chanting
• Outro of Utter Chaos

Hard to say what credit the Youngs get compared to producer Bruce Fairbairn. But clearly all of them were confident to, yes, break all the rules.

Only AC/DC Could Make This Song

As implied, I’m not really an AC/DC fan, but appreciate that they are world-class rock performers. I take no sides in the great Bon Scott/Brian Johnson debate, either, but I think Brian Johnson is amazing in this song. He’s like 5’5″, built like a pile of cinderblocks, has worn the same newsboy cap and black tanktop since 1979, and shrieks in a way that no human should be capable. I can’t imagine any other singer providing the power necessary to pull this off.

He didn’t write the words though. Wikipedia shares a bit from Angus, discussing writing the song with his brother (they wrote all the songs) from a re-release’s liner notes:

Lyrically, it was really just a case of finding a good title … We came up with this thunder thing and it seemed to have a good ring to it. AC/DC = Power. That’s the basic idea.

This song is pure electric power, translated into musical form.

Final thought. There’s a known writing problem when you have a story about some technology or work of art that, in the context of the story, is especially amazing. Like if you have a fictional author and they’ve written the greatest novel of all time. So all the characters read it and they are blown away. But the author can never share any excerpts of this magic novel because the reader’s imagination will have built it up beyond something realistic. If revealed, it will most likely seem pedestrian. So one has to be careful about promising too much, or if the payoff isn’t going to be there, showing too much of the goods. Ultimately my thesis here is that “Thunderstruck” builds and builds and builds, and you think, the payoff is never going to come, or they’ve promised too much, but in the end it delivers. It lives up to its own hype. That’s right. You’ve been…thunderstruck.