"Tunnel of Love" is the title song by

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

from his 1987 '' Tunnel of Love'' album. It was released as the second single from the album, reaching #9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 as well as #12 on the ''Cash Box'' Top 100 . Like the first single from the album, "

Brilliant Disguise "Brilliant Disguise" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from his 1987 album '' Tunnel of Love''. It was released as the first single from the album, reaching the No. 5 position on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock char ...

", "Tunnel of Love" reached number one on the

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...

chart and reached the top twenty in Canada peaking at #17. The music video received five

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category ...

nominations, including Video of the Year and

Best Male Video The MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video was one of four original general awards that have been handed out every year since the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. In 2007, though, the award was briefly renamed Male Artist of the Year, and ...

History

Engineer Toby Scott recorded "Tunnel of Love" in late June thru early July 1987, with Springsteen on all instruments, at his home studio in Rumson, New Jersey. All songs for a new, nameless album had been recorded by this time, with "Lucky Man" in the album sequence. Next, Scott was sent to an amusement park in

Point Pleasant, New Jersey Point Pleasant is a Borough (New Jersey), borough situated on the Jersey Shore, in northern Ocean County, New Jersey, Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 18,941, an i ...

to record sounds of a family riding a

roller coaster A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...

. Finally, several members of the

E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band that has been the primary backing band for rock musician Bruce Springsteen since 1972. In 2014, the E Street Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For the bulk of Springsteen's recordin ...

recorded instrumental tracks that Scott added, replacing Springsteen's.

Roy Bittan Roy J. Bittan (born July 2, 1949) is an American musician best known as a long-time member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Nicknamed "The Professor", Bittan joined the E Street Band in 1974. He plays the piano, organ, accordion and synth ...

played synthesizers,

Nils Lofgren Nils Hilmer Lofgren (born June 21, 1951) is an American rock musician, recording artist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Along with his work as a solo artist, he has been a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band since 1984, a memb ...

lead guitar,

Max Weinberg Max Weinberg (born April 13, 1951) is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' an ...

drums, and

Patti Scialfa Vivienne Patricia Scialfa ( ; born July 29, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Scialfa has been a member of the E Street Band since 1984 and has been married to Bruce Springsteen since 1991. In 2014, Scialfa was inducted into t ...

provided backing vocals. "Tunnel of Love" became the title track of the album, replacing "Lucky Man", which was released as the b-side of the first single, "

". The song uses a fairground funhouse ride as a metaphor for marriage. The relationship described in the song has three principals - the singer, his wife, and all the things they are scared of. The singer feels that marriage should be simple ("man meets woman and they fall in love"), but recognizes that along the way the ride can become difficult and unpredictable. The characters in the song laugh when they see each other in the funhouse mirrors, but it is not clear if they are laughing out of humor, or laughing at each other in derision. The song notes that it is all too easy for two people to lose each other on the "funhouse ride" of marriage. The music of the song echoes the lyrics. The music is complex and has half of the E Street Band playing on the song. Lofgren's surging guitar sound has been likened to the sound of the bickering couple, and the percussion and synthesizer add to the carnival atmosphere. The chanted vocal bridge at 3:40 in the song borrows the melody from the bridge of the Moody Blues' song "

New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research Institut ...

" (from their 1972 album ''

Seventh Sojourn ''Seventh Sojourn'' is the eighth album by the Moody Blues, released in October 1972. The album reached No. 5 in the United Kingdom, and became the band's first American chart-topper, spending five weeks at No. 1 there to close out 1972. Backg ...

''). The song was later released on the compilation album ''

The Essential Bruce Springsteen ''The Essential Bruce Springsteen'' is a compilation album by Bruce Springsteen, released on November 11, 2003. The collection is part of a series of ''Essential'' sets released by Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music. It includes songs from vari ...

''. The song has been listed as the #20 Best Rock and Roll single of all time by Jimmy Guterman in 1992 and as one of the 7500 most important songs from 1944 through 2000 by Bruce Pollock. It was also ranked as the #10 single of 1987 by the ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

'' and the Single of the Year in 1987 by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

''.

Music video

Like several other videos from the ''Tunnel of Love'' album, including "

", "

One Step Up "One Step Up" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from his eighth studio album, '' Tunnel of Love'' (1987). It was released as the third single from the album, following " Brilliant Disguise" and the title track. It reached position #13 on the ''B ...

" and "

Tougher Than the Rest "Tougher Than the Rest" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from his 1987 '' Tunnel of Love'' album. It was released as a single in some countries, following "Brilliant Disguise" and the title track, but was not released as a single in the United ...

", the video for "Tunnel of Love" was directed by

Meiert Avis Meiert Avis is an Irish music video and commercial director. Career Meiert Avis has directed videos for artists such as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Avril Lavigne, Paramore, Alanis Morissette, Flyleaf, Jennifer Lopez, New Found Glory ...

. The video narrative reflects the fun house described in the song. It was filmed at

Palace Amusements Palace Amusements was a historical indoor amusement park in Asbury Park, New Jersey. It was built in 1888 and expanded several times over its history, but after a worsening economic situation in both Asbury and the country in the mid-1980s, it ...

Asbury Park, New Jersey Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 15,188, a decr ...

over November 16–17, 1987. The video was later released on the VHS and DVD '' Video Anthology / 1978-88''.

Live performance history

Despite the personal nature of the song, it has occasionally been performed live. Between the

Tunnel of Love Express Tour The Tunnel of Love Express Tour was a concert tour by Bruce Springsteen and featuring the E Street Band with the Horns of Love that began at the end of February 1988, four and a half months after the release of Springsteen's October 1987 albu ...

that supported the initial release of the album through July 2005, the song received 71 live performances in concert. It received renewed attention on the 2007–2008 Magic Tour as a showcase for

's singing and

's guitar work.

Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon: *

– vocals, guitars, special effects, bass, drum machine *

– lead guitar *

– synthesizer *

– percussion *

– vocals

Chart performance

References

External links

Lyrics & Audio clips from Brucespringsteen.net
{{Authority control 1987 singles Bruce Springsteen songs Songs written by Bruce Springsteen Music videos directed by Meiert Avis Song recordings produced by Jon Landau Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by Bruce Springsteen Song recordings produced by Chuck Plotkin