#475 Bruce Springsteen- Tunnel of Love (1987)

My best friend and I go all the way back to the 5th grade.  We're both married now (not to each other), and life has evolved where we don't get to hang out as much as we'd like, but there was about an eight year block or so of high school and college that we did pretty much everything together.  Of course, music played a tremendous role during those years, and where as my musical heroes were the Beatles, his was Bruce Springsteen.

The tour guide I had back then to all things New Jersey pointed me toward songs and gave me insight that the average musical tourist passing through would have certainly missed, and I'm sure I reciprocated with things Liverpuldian.  We saw the concert that followed this album together and have often reminisced about it.  I'm lucky to have such an amazing now 30+ year friendship, and even luckier that Jovo's musical hero wasn't Jackyl.

Bruce was just coming off the whole Born in the USA album/tour/misinterpreted Jingoistic mega-movement.  He was in the last throes of a failing first marriage, and much of the album is introspective; songs about doubt, struggle, perhaps the disenchantment of love in theory, and marriage in reality.  I remind myself before listening to the album again that Bruce was 37 when writing this.  Mid life crisis, that hard steep staircase from our dream floor to reality that we all tumble down, perhaps this album was meant to carpet those steps.  Like most of us, Bruce eventually landed and found reality to be wonderful, but boy that first step can be a doozie.

Ain't Got You-  Bruce stripped down, voice, acoustic guitar, and harmonica.  You get the idea that he's setting the tone for a change in sound.  The song is too similar in concept to another favorite of my friend's and I, that I can't help but point it out.

Tougher Than the Rest-  I remember how wide and keyboard driven this sounded in concert.  Mostly recorded in Bruce's home studio.  The whole sound, drums, layered synth, it sounds heavy...weathered.  Bruce sings "well there's another dance, all you gotta say is yes, and if you're rough and ready for love, honey I'm tougher than the rest."  It's not how many times you fall, but how many times you get up that counts.

All That Heaven Will Allow-  a quick but warm and thick sounding song that first refers to the girl as all that heaven will allow, but then talks about how having the right love makes you want a long life: "I want all the time, all that heaven will allow"

Spare Parts-  a rocker albeit dark and bleak.  An unwed mother struggling to survive after the father runs off, contemplates drowning her son to avoid the commitment.  This song seems a little out of place on the album.

Cautious Man-  starts out in classic Springsteen story telling mode.  Guitar, voice... but when the pad layered synth sound comes in, it adds a gravity and depth that's breathtaking.  "On his right hand Billy'd tattooed the word Love and on his left hand was the word fear, and in which hand he held his fate was never clear"

Walk Like a Man-  is a song to Bruce's father, a song from a perspective he'd never had before, that of a husband.  Perhaps a little more forgiving and understanding of the difficulties his father endured.  "Well I was young and I didn't know what to do, when I saw your best steps stolen away from you, Now I'll do what I can, I'll walk like a man"

Tunnel of Love- Side two of the album (the last of Bruce's albums to be officially released as side one/side two) opens up with the title track.  I've always loved the metaphor, the carnival ride for marriage.  "The house is haunted and the ride gets rough, you've got to learn to live with what you can't rise above"  I bet even my best friend didn't know the middle part was a lift from the Moody Blues.  Nah, he probably knew.

Two Faces-  describes the inner struggle of man, the conflict of a duality.  One face of him swears to make her happy, and yet one makes her cry.  The writing is good, but the choice of guitar tone and organ, horrible.

Brilliant Disguise-  was the first single released (Tunnel of Love was the 2nd).  Both made it to the #1 spot on Mainstream Rock charts.  It's a song about doubt, in self and partner.  "who do I see when I look in your eyes"  I know this blog has been about listening to the music, but I can't forget the video for this.  It broke MTV ground for being the first single shot video without edits.  It's a song about trust, looking into someone's eyes; the almost painful video is a slow zoom of Bruce looking into the camera. "God have mercy on the man, who doubts what he's sure of"

One Step Up-  was the third single released from the album.  It's a song about the inability to resolve differences, degrading to cheating.  The singer accepts his role and responsibility "When I look at myself, I don't see the man I wanted to be"  Bruce recorded and played all the instruments on this song, the only other person to sing, ironically, is the woman he would marry after his break up, Patti Scialfa.

When You're Alone- I listen to this song again, and I'm struggling to find it's meaning.  At first I hear it as an angry song, and then it turns to sad, then forgiving, but then vengeful.  Maybe that's the point, so many emotions swirling around that it's difficult to think straight?

Valentine's Day-  somehow this song got past me, I'm sure I've heard it before... but I don't remember "hearing" it.  It's such a gem--perhaps in the last song on the album, the final landing on the bottom step of reality/dream, maybe that fall knocked some sense into Bruce.  "It wasn't the bitterness of a dream that didn't come true... No No baby it was you"

What a great listen that was for me, now on the adult side of the bumpy steps.  Not all marriages last, nor do many many more relationships.  Maybe the pieces don't match up, maybe there were gaps too large for the glue of love to set hold, or perhaps one or both of the people just weren't ready... I'm not going to act like I have any more answers than the next person... but I can appreciate Springsteen's tunnel of love metaphor; the ideal, excitement and dream of love upon entering, and the hard work, struggle, strain, and commitment through the sometimes dark and scary ride, that it takes to see the light at the end of it.

Next Up- #474 Otis Redding- Otis Redding Live in Europe (1967)

#479 Richard and Linda Thompson- I Want To See the Bright Lights Tonight (1974)

I feel it needs to be chronicled that Whitney Houston died last night.  Her 1984 debut album placed #254 on this list...at the rate I've been going lately, I'll be reviewing it around July 31st, 2014 (put down the calculator, I already did the math).  Maybe it's a simple function of supply and demand, but we all tend to value things, people, art more after they're gone.  For those of you old enough to remember when television stations actually signed off at the end of the day, I feel this is the only suitable goodnight for Miss Houston.

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My first introduction to the genius of Richard Thompson came as I was nosing my way through the CD collection of a girl I dated shortly after college.  I borrowed an album that took me many months to return, and then only after purchasing my own copy.  That was 1992.  Twenty years later I'm married, that girlfriend is now a dear friend of ours both,  but I still keep Rumor and Sigh on heavy rotation.  The album I'm about to listen to was written twenty years before that, when Richard was married to Linda.  It's the first of six albums, two of which make the 500 list, that were released by them before their break-up.  I can't claim to have listened to any of them full through, so this seems a good place to start.  I wonder if Richard and Linda are dear friends now too?

When I Get to the Border-  It's like seeing a picture of a friend when he was much younger and lankier.  I can hear the youth in his voice, but his playing was just as brilliant then.  This song seemingly about heaven, has this endearing ending section of what I can only explain as a parade of instruments going by with Richard and guitar leading: concertina, dulcimer, krummhorn, penny-whistle.

The Cavalry Cross-  The drone organ intro behind his guitar playing sounds like a bagpipe.  The backing vocals are so thick and warm...was this really recorded in '73?  Also loving the hard tremolo.  Is this a song about drugs or religion?  His metaphors are loose and open for interpretation.

Withered and Died-  Linda's voice is very Natalie Merchant sounding in its pureness. The song is a heart breaking account of the loss of dreams, love, and general loss of one's way.  Richard's guitar solos are unmistakable in any decade.

I Want To See the Bright Lights Tonight-  The title song seems a complete 180 degree turn from the last song.  The double tracked vocal of Linda now sounds like Blondie, both sonically and in attitude.  The song could have come from the 80's that is until the flugelhorn of the Manchester Brass Band kicks in.  Perhaps the brass represents the stuffy old-fashioned English town the singer is trying to escape, if only for the weekend.

Down Where the Drunkards Roll-  Dulcimer and Electric Piano... who would have known such a pairing would sound so sweet?  It's another song about escape, but this time via bottle vs. train.

We Sing Hallelujah-  The krummhorn's nasally signature sound transports me to old-world England.  The song is a collection of wonderful similes, all describing the futility of a man's life.  We're all just rolling along awaiting death... yeah I know sounds depressing, but the music's great.

Has He Got a Friend For Me-  Linda sings this song of loneliness, despair, and desperation.  Knowing Richard's singing style so well, it hits me how similar her phrasing and style is to his.  I'm not sure who influenced whom.

The Little Beggar Girl-  Folk-rock has gone almost completely Irish folk-traditional here.  Linda turns on the cockney and thumbs her nose at the rich of pocket, and poor of heart.  "Oh the poor they will be rich, and the rich they will be poor, That's according to Saul when he wrote down the law, and I'd much rather be rich after than before."

The End of the Rainbow-  Wow, they don't make songs much more depressing than this.  "Life seems so rosy in the cradle.... There's nothing to grow up for anymore"  To me, the song isn't just the song, it's the story of the singer.  The song itself is pure despair, but I believe our interpretation of what has happened to the protagonist, the singer and how he has gotten to this point; that's the art.

The Great Valerio-  Whoa, metaphor 3 levels deep.  This song is about a tight-rope walker who symbolizes IMHO those that completely risk their hearts and/or do not fear death.  Or maybe the song is about those of us on the ground who are afraid, and our fascination with them above.  The name Valerio is derived from the Latin verb "valere" which means "to be strong."  Based on Erik Satie's Sports et Divertissements, Richard's ending guitar work mimics the man walking the wire, until it just stops.  Did he fall or make it to the other side?

After listening, I try to imagine these songs sung by Richard instead of Linda.  While I can't explain it, I feel much more empathy for Linda's desperation, longing and sorrow than I think I would have if Richard had sung these songs.  Is it a form of sexism, in which men are meant to be the rescuers and women the rescued?  Or is it some social programming that women more readily share these feelings and men don't?  I'm probably barking up the wrong tree here.

What I have listened to is a joint effort; a beautifully sorrowful album rich with folk instrumentation, emotive heartbreaking singing, and genius guitar playing.  All this built on the writing of a 24 yr old Richard Thompson--the album seems to have come from the vantage point of someone who's tired and broken from carrying the world on his back, someone 40 years his senior.

Next up #478  LL Cool J- Radio (1985)