When he was bigger than anybody else in the rock-n-roll universe, as big as he would ever get, Bruce Springsteen once again defied expectations, this time by putting out his most personal and introspective album yet.
1987’s Tunnel of Love, released three years after Born in the U.S.A., was the first Springsteen album that felt like autobiography. And the personal matter he explored happened to be the dissolving of his brief marriage to model/actress Julianne Phillips.
Springsteen and Phillips didn’t separate until a year after Tunnel of Love was released, but traces of their problems can be heard all over the album (and, awkwardly, often with Springsteen’s next wife, Patti Scialfa, singing background).
Musically and thematically, many of the songs on Tunnel of Love reach back to the sparse style of Nebraska, only fleshed out with more of a pop sheen and focused on losers in love rather than losers in life.
The two standout songs are the title track, which adds carnival-like production to a rich metaphor for the rough waters of a relationship, and ‘Brilliant Disguise,’ one of the most effective songs in Springsteen’s career. This is one of the most powerful and poignant break-up songs ever written, not least because it doesn’t assign blame but rather captures the helplessness of watching something fall apart for reasons you can’t understand.
It’s summed up beautifully in the song’s gripping final lines: “God have mercy on the man who doubts what he’s sure of.”
as the band plays
What are those words whispered baby
just as you turn away
I saw you last night
out on the edge of town
I wanna read your mind
To know just what I’ve got in this new thing I’ve found
So tell me what I see
when I look in your eyes
Is that you baby
or just a brilliant disguise?
I heard somebody call your name
from underneath our willow
I saw something tucked in shame
underneath your pillow
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?
Now look at me baby
struggling to do everything right
And then it all falls apart
when out go the lights
I’m just a lonely pilgrim
I walk this world in wealth
I want to know if it’s you I don’t trust
’cause I damn sure don’t trust myself
Now you play the loving woman
I’ll play the faithful man
But just don’t look too close
into the palm of my hand
We stood at the alter
the gypsy swore our future was right
But come the wee wee hours
Well maybe baby the gypsy lied
So when you look at me
you better look hard and look twice
Is that me baby
or just a brilliant disguise?
Tonight our bed is cold
I’m lost in the darkness of our love
God have mercy on the man
Who doubts what he’s sure of
Meet Me In Montauk 
I believe that this is my favorite of all of Bruce’s albums. To me, this record falls in that sweet spot between the emotional and raw intensity of something like Nebraska and the pure pop commercialism of Born in the USA. The songs have enough musical meat to be easily accessed and enjoyed, yet contain some of the most gripping and honest lyrics Bruce has ever written.
Today’s song is, of course, a highlight as is the title track. Another favorite of mine is “One Step Up.”
This album was probably the last of Bruce’s that I really absorbed, though I have owned and heard later records. I am looking forward to the the rest of your theme to hear what I may have missed….
This is by far my favorite Springsteen album. In my eyes, this is his Full Moon Fever or Road to Ensenada, There isn’t a moment on this album that doesn’t feel perfect. Each song leads seamlessly into the next, the emotions are all so raw and powerful, and Springsteen’s voice suits every word so well. The last line you quote is a favorite, but I could cite a dozen other lyrics on this album just as effective.
Love, love, love…