It’s purely coincidence that a song from The Boss comes up on this list when Springsteen’s profile is higher than it’s been in some time thanks to a new album and his upcoming Super Bowl performance. Tunnel of Love is certainly Bruce’s best album of the Eighties (sorry, fans of Nebraska and Born in the U.S.A., and might actually be one of the decade’s Top Ten albums. Each of it’s singles, however, stand alone as classics by themselves.
Of course, it helps to listen to this song in it’s proper context. Bruce was in love with a woman at the time, but that woman was not his then-wife Julianne Phillips. It was a young lady named Patti Scialfa, who within a couple of years was Mrs. Springsteen. She also sings harmony on part of the last verse on this song, giving it an extra bit of pathos.
Bruce has always (rightfully) been praised for his songwriting, and this song is one of his many excellent short stories. The music and the timbre of Bruce’s vocal does a lot to set the mood for the song, but his lyrics put it over the top. I didn’t even know there was a video for this song, but here it is!
