The Thin Lizzy Track That Made Being on the Run From the Law Sound Exhilarating

Thin Lizzy delivered some of the most consistent hard rock pleasures of the 70s. Obviously, the Irish band could bring the thunder when they needed to do so. But they also possessed a knack for melodic songcraft that helped set them apart.

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The band enjoyed their biggest success with the 1976 album Jailbreak. It’s an album with a title track that epitomizes this band’s approach, as the song manages to righteously rock while telling a compelling tale amidst a catchy melody.

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History generally favors the winners. There are countless bands who’ve been faced with an ultimatum from their record labels to either come through with something special or get dropped. We don’t talk much about the ones who failed and were quickly forgotten.

But we celebrate those like Thin Lizzy who rose to the occasion in that scenario. Aside from a Top 10 UK single in 1972 with their jacked-up cover of the Irish traditional folk song “Whiskey In The Jar”, the group mostly released their first five albums to something of a shrug from the international public.

The band tried many different approaches. For instance, the 1974 LP Nightlife mostly focused on soul music instead of hard rock. When they came back with Fighting in 1975, they’d adopted a twin-lead guitar approach to beef up their sound again. Although none of it worked in terms of commercial success, they were building toward something special. The Jailbreak album brought it all to fruition for them in 1976.

The “Break” They Needed

Thin Lizzy likely would have lost their recording deal had they not emerged with such a winner of an album. It obviously helped that the record contained a worldwide hit single in “The Boys Are Back In Town”. But the rest of Jailbreak managed to live up to that promise.

Bassist and lead singer Phil Lynott came up with the opening riff to “JailbreaK” and then handed it off to guitarists Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson to add their pyrotechnics. The storyline was originally tied to a sci-fi concept that Lynott had once planned for the album.

Although that larger theme never came to pass, “Jailbreak” remained in place as the fiery opening track. It didn’t do much on the pop charts (although it did hit the Top 40 in the UK). But it quickly became one of the band’s most enduring tracks, one that will liven up a classic rock playlist in a hurry.

Behind the Lyrics of “Jailbreak”

The idea behind “Jailbreak” is a simple one, as we hear the story of a bunch of fugitives on the run. It’s how Lynott tells the story that sets it apart. His narrator is unapologetic in his willingness to cause some trouble. “If you see us coming I think it’s best,” he warns polite society. “To move away do you hear what I say/From under my breath.”

“Some of us won’t survive,” the protagonist explains. Lynott paints a vivid picture. “I can hear the hound dogs on my trail,” he admits. “All hell breaks loose, alarm and sirens wail.” And he doesn’t shy away from the potential consequences: “Like a game if you lose/Go to jail.”

Thin Lizzy possessed a knack for outlaw songs. They could deliver the thrills of the chase via their instrumental attack. And Phil Lynott had a way of keeping you on his side, no matter how his narrators behaved. You can hear all of that on “Jailbreak”, one of the best from these versatile, charismatic hard rockers.

Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns