Tunnel of Love - Springsteen, Bruce (CD 1987)

So you re the man everyone knows as The Boss . Three years prior you all but conquered not just your homeland, but the world as well with Born in the USA . You ve also gone from being rock s most eligible bachelor to marrying dream model Julianne Phillips. What a fairy tale! Is there anything left but to live happily ever after?

Just like the characters in Springsteen s best songs, all was not well in the heartland. Apparently being married to a model ain t all it s cracked up to be, and makes one take a hard look at life. It s been said great art is born of pain, and we the listeners are all the better for Bruce s pain.

Since he hit the big time, Bruce has followed his popular anthemic records with more personal acoustic affairs. Ghost of Tom Joad followed the twins Lucky Town & Human Touch , Nebraska was begotten after the double album The River . With Tunnel of Love Bruce gets as personal as we ll probably ever see him on record. Even on his anthems Bruce has the uncanny ability to portray intimacy, but it s still the trained eye of a skilled documentarian. It s always about the common man, but here it really feels like it s about Bruce. And he does it without coming across the least bit self indulgent or self pitying, pitfalls that would plague a lesser artist. The only other company I think this record really shares are Beck s Sea Change or Dylans Blood on the Tracks . Heartache never sounded so good.

Bruce s expressive vocals and his guitar alone kick the album off right. Musically, no ground is broken with his acoustic blues, but it s the power behind it that grabs you. It s the same feeling you can only get putting the pedal to the floor in a huge American car with a throaty V-8 roaring and your best girl by your side. Only in this song, Bruce is working his magic trying to win and seduce the pretty young thang. No sin in that, except he s probably singing to his backup singer rather than his new wife.

Next up he proves he s Tougher Than The Rest . This song continues the story, as he s talked the girl into a first date, and is making a plea for her heart. It s sung in the same voice as the guy wooing Mary on Thunder Road or Wendy in Born to Run .

Well it ain t no secret
I ve been around a time or two
Well I don t know baby maybe you ve been
Around too

See, she ain t no virgin dressed in white. This girl has the eyes of the hydra upon her; dirty, sweet and soon his girl.

If he was wooing her in Tougher than the Rest , we re on to hard core romancing with All that Heaven will Allow . Making all the same promises Meatloaf did in Paradise by the Dashboard Light , stripping it of all the histrionics, cutting down to the soul s core. This ain t no brat packer begging for love, this is a real icon proving he s; not just all night, but for the long haul to.

Spare Parts examines the wreckage left after the pillow talk has evaporated and ugly consequences of youthful action rears it s monstrous head. Janey ain t out on Greasy Lake anymore, she s singing a whole new birthday song; but instead of a soulful duet this time it s a heart-wrenching solo. That chugging rhythm section comes on as strong as an Old Testament prophet, and really accentuates the hard choices Janey makes. Hand it to her, she s a survivor grittily refusing to play the part of the victim.

Cautious Man sounds like it s from Nebraska . Bill Horton seems cold, but he was wired that way to protect himself. Cupid still found the path to his heart somehow, in a rare moment when he let his guard down. Now he s trying to understand what it all means, this new life with his young lover. It s masterful storytelling and imagery, but like some of Nebraska s slower songs, I find myself skipping over it a lot, the same way I do Mansion on the Hill .

Walk like a Man I skip over a lot to, for basically the same reasons. I ve just never found it that appealing when Bruce sings in this certain style, as the music casually moves along and atmospheric keyboards float behind. The story of a guy looking back over the years with his wife reads great in a classic greeting card way, but just doesn t appeal to me overall.

Tunnel of Love I hated when it was all over the radio, but the ensuing years find me appreciating it. Bruce perfectly illustrates how love seems like it should be easy, but waters in the tunnel of love sometimes have whitecaps.

It ought to be easy ought to be simple enough
A man meets a woman and they fall in love
But the house is haunted and the ride gets rough
And you ve got to learn to live with what you can t rise above
If you want to ride on down into this tunnel of love

Bruce s passionate vocals and the swirling keyboards suit this song. Somehow the song alternates between elation and frustration, just like love does. A strong relationship is work, they don t just happen.

Two Faces takes the acoustic sound introduced at the start of the record, and examines in further detail that ol Hungry Heart . It s that sinking feeling when you know love is slipping away, but your brain tries tricking you into thinking you can stop it. Your heart may be foolish, but it s also a beast and won t be manipulated so easily.

Brilliant Disguise takes a hard look at trust. I loved tapping my toe along to this song when it first came out, but I m almost sad to say I got to really understand this song later on down life s road. You want to lay all the blame on her, trying your best not to see maybe part of the problem is you. This takes the theme of Billy Joel s The Stranger and makes it that much more personal.

God Have mercy on the man
Who doubts what he s sure of

One Step Up shows the Boss finally realizing it really is over. Do you miss her, or is it you miss the hope things may still be salvageable. You could flirt with and maybe take home the girl at the end of the bar, but that s only delaying (& possibly fueling?) the hell awaiting.

When you re Alone finds Bruce singing in that same droning style as Cautious Man and Walk like a Man intresting verses are slayed by a monotonous chorus. If you re feeling blue, that chorus works like salve on a tender heart. In happier times you ll be reaching for the skip button. (My initial listenings of this record had me getting off my a s s to pick up the needle off the vinyl touching down onto another track.)

Valentine s Day I always skip to, unless I m using this record for background music. In the old days it was time to switch out the vinyl, today I just click onto the next cd on the tray.

I ve never understood why Bruce s Eightie s output never gets the same critical tongue-baths his seventies material does. He gets just as personal on these records, and even throws in a few stronger musical hooks. It s tough when your cult favorite breaks big to the masses. You get the self-satisfaction of discovering them, but they re no longer your secret pleasure anymore. Don t let the lesser amount of accolades prevent you from discovering this gem. This is some of Bruce at his finest, and perhaps my favorite work. Check it out.