Tunnel of Love - Springsteen, Bruce (CD 1987)

In my many years of Bruce Springsteen fandom, I've found that there is a large segment of the population who doesn't understand Bruce Springsteen. As startling as that may be, it's true! Many people immediately think of the bandana clad Bruce singing Born in the USA, and what they perceive to be a patriotic song (it's NOT, but that's another story). While these people think of the IMAGE of Bruce from the mid-80's, in actuality, he's been a brilliant singer/songwriter/performer for over 25 years.

Springsteen is arguably one of the greatest songwriters in rock history, taking the torch passed on by artists like Bob Dylan, Hank Williams, and Woody Guthrie. Bruce has influenced a wide range of musicians, including the more apparent ones like John Mellencamp, Melissa Etheridge, Dire Straits, Bob Seger, Bon Jovi, the BoDeans, and U2. But his songs have also been covered by artists as diverse as Johnny Cash ("Johnny 99," "Highway Patrolman"), Rage Against the Machine ("The Ghost of Tom Joad"), Joan Jett ("Light of Day"), Air Supply ("Sandy"), Elvis Costello ("Brilliant Disguise"), The Knack ("Don't Look Back"), Faith Hill ("If I Should Fall Behind"), David Bowie ("It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City," "Growin' Up"), Natalie Cole ("Pink Cadillac"), Enrique Iglesias ("Sad Eyes"), The Pointer Sisters ("Fire," "The Fever"), Manfred Mann ("Blinded By the Light," "Spirit in the Night," "For You"), and even 2 Live Crew ("Banned in the USA").

The Springsteen album I picked for this review is "Tunnel of Love." It's probably not my favorite Springsteen album (although it's among my favorites), but the reason I picked this particular album for my review is because a lot of Epinions members are married, and I honestly believe Tunnel of Love is the greatest adult rock album of all-time. Now you're probably thinking, "Craigmoosh, you've completely lost your mind!" Of course I have, but that's beside the point. Actually, I'm not alone in my high opinion of the album. USA Today rated Tunnel of Love as the best album of the 80's. The author, Father Andrew Greeley said Tunnel of Love was a more important event to Catholics than the Pope's visit to America (yes, this is from a Catholic priest). It's certainly not a religious album by any means, but it portrays love and marriage in a realistic manner.

It was a brave, bold move for Bruce to make Tunnel of Love when he did. He had just had astronomical success with the Born in the USA album and tour, followed by the hugely successful live boxed set. He could have gone for a Born in the USA 2 type of album, but he decided to do an introspective mid-tempo album, fully aware that he would lose some of his popularity and mainstream appeal with that move. Not surprisingly, that did happen to an extent. Tunnel of Love did go triple platinum (3 million sold in the US), which is great by most standards, but far short of the staggering 15 platinum of Born in the USA and 13 platinum of his live album. The ironic thing is that Tunnel of Love is a far superior album to Born in the USA. The album did spawn a few radio hits, namely "Brilliant Disguise," "Tunnel of Love," and "One Step Up" ("Tougher Than the Rest" did quite well in England).

Bruce wrote Tunnel of Love shortly after he got married for the first time (he has since divorced, and been married to his second wife, Patti Scialfa since 1991), and the album is primarily about the struggle of adult love and relationships. The characters in the songs are constantly trying to figure out how to make things work, and struggling with commitment.

The album starts out tongue in cheek with the acapella "Ain't Got You," in which Bruce pokes fun at his own fame and success...

"I got a pound of caviar sitting home on ice
I got a fancy foreign car that rides like paradise
I got a hundred pretty women knockin' down my door
Folks wanna kiss me that I ain't ever seen before
I been around the world and all across the seven seas
Been paid a king's ransom for doin' what comes naturally
But I'm still the biggest fool, honey, the world ever knew
'Cause the only thing I ain't got, baby, I ain't got you"

Bruce himself has said that Brilliant Disguise is the core of the album. It's about trust being a fragile thing, requiring allowing others to see as much of ourselves as we have the courage to reveal. You drop one mask, find one behind it, until you begin to doubt your own feelings about who you are...

"Well, I've tried so hard, baby
But I just can't see
What a woman like you
Is doing with me
So tell me who I see
When I look in your eyes
Is that you, baby
Or just a brilliant disguise"

In Tunnel of Love (the song), he uses the carnival ride as a metaphor for 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 in through this tunnel of love"

Bruce's writing is very deep, and sometimes multi-layered. With Springsteen, you have to pay attention to the lyrics to fully appreciate the songwriting. Yes, I've heard the complaint that Bruce can be hard to understand at times, but Tunnel of Love (along with all but one of Bruce's albums) comes with printed lyrics.

Spare Parts is a chilling tale about a mother with a newborn baby whose boyfriend left town, never came back, and how she struggled to move on with her life. Another amazing song.

Here is the full song listing:

Ain't Got You
Tougher Than the Rest
All That Heaven Will Allow
Spare Parts
Cautious Man
Walk Like a Man
Tunnel of Love
Two Faces
Brilliant Disguise
One Step Up
When You're Alone
Valentine's Day

If you get a chance, pick up this CD and give it a listen. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!