Columbia Records released Bruce Springsteen’s Tunnel of Love on October 9, 1987. While the album was a quieter follow-up to the mega-hit Born in the USA and modern fans often consider it shadowed by other albums like Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town, it is a great album.
Had almost any other artist made Tunnel of Love, the album would have defined their careers. Instead it remains one of Springsteen’s somewhat overlooked albums.
Tunnel of Love also remains one of Springsteen’s most personal and least political albums. While he has many other love songs, the songs on Tunnel of Love focus largely on the heart, isolated from any one time and place.
Of course, Springsteen fans at the time sensed that the album reflected one particular troubled heart. In May 13, 1985, Springsteen had married actress Julianne Phillips after the two knew each other less than a year. Many thought Tunnel of Love reflected rocky waters for the marriage with lyrics in the title track such as “It’s easy for two people to lose each other in this tunnel of love.” The two had separated before the release of the album, and soon the couple filed for divorce on August 30, 1988.
During the tour for the album, tabloids reported on Springsteen’s new love with backup singer Patti Scialfa. Within a few years of Springsteen’s divorce, he and Scialfa would get married and the two are still together today.
In this video from the Tunnel of Love tour for “Tougher Than the Rest,” it may be acting, but one can sense some smoldering passion in the looks between the two on one of Springsteen’s greatest love songs.
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