Synopsis

Bruce Springsteen performs "Tunnel of Love" inside the Casino building at Asbury Park, surrounded by the faded grandeur of the Jersey Shore amusement scene. His guitar performance is intercut with black-and-white images of dancing women, carnival performers, and amusement-park attractions, giving the clip a dreamlike, slightly haunted atmosphere. The video gradually shifts away from the performance and toward the rides themselves, ending with Springsteen moving through the abandoned-looking attractions that echo the song's uneasy view of romance.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed at Palace Amusements in Asbury Park, New Jersey, on November 16 and 17, 1987.

• Palace Amusements was an important part of Springsteen's local cultural landscape. The historic amusement complex closed in 1988, shortly after the video was made, which gives the footage an unintended farewell quality.

• The song's amusement-park atmosphere was also built into the recording. Engineer Toby Scott captured roller-coaster sounds at an amusement park in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, and incorporated them into the track.

• "Tunnel of Love" received five nominations at the 1988 MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year, Best Male Video, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, and Viewer's Choice.

• It lost Video of the Year to INXS' "Need You Tonight/Mediate," but the nomination confirmed Springsteen's continued importance in MTV's late-1980s visual culture.

• The video was later included in the home-video collection "Bruce Springsteen: Video Anthology 1978-1988."