Tunnel of Love is one of my most listened-to Bruce Springsteen albums. Most, if not all, of the songs are winners in my book. “Tougher than the Rest” reminds me a lot of “Thunder Road” in that he is urging a woman who may have given up on love to give it another chance – with him. As I’m reading about Tunnel of Love online, I see he’d just broken up with his wife, so much of the album is his way of processing the loss. What is mildly irritating is watching Bruce and Patty making goo-goo eyes at each other throughout the video. Come on now, which is it, grief at losing your marriage or chomping at the bit to get it on with Patti? It didn’t look like Patti needed much encouragement! Regardless, I love the song. It is one of my favorite Bruce tunes.

Tunnel of Love is the eighth studio album by Bruce Springsteen, released on October 9, 1987. Although members of the E Street Band occasionally performed on the album, Springsteen recorded most of the parts himself, often with drum machines and synthesizers.

Irish filmmaker Meiert Avis directed the music videos for “Brilliant Disguise”, “One Step Up”, “Tougher Than the Rest”, and “Tunnel of Love”. The videos were shot on location in New Jersey, including Asbury Park. The music video features live concert footage interspersed with vignettes of couples made at venues on his “Tunnel of Love Express” tour. The video includes both gay and lesbian pairs interspersed with heterosexual couples as representatives of the artist’s fans. Springsteen included this explicitly homosexual imagery with neither fanfare nor exploitation.

Well It’s Saturday night
You’re all dressed up in blue
I been watching you awhile
Maybe you been watching me too
So somebody ran out
Left somebody’s heart in a mess
Well if you’re looking for love
Honey I’m tougher than the rest

Some girls they want a handsome Dan
Or some good-lookin’ Joe
On their arm some girls like a sweet-talkin’ Romeo
Well ’round here baby
I learned you get what you can get
So if you’re rough enough for love
Honey I’m tougher than the rest

The road is dark
And it’s a thin thin line
But I want you to know I’ll walk it for you any time
Maybe your other boyfriends
Couldn’t pass the test
Well if you’re rough and ready for love
Honey I’m tougher than the rest

Well it ain’t no secret
I’ve been around a time or two
Well I don’t know baby maybe you’ve been around too
Well there’s another dance
All you gotta do is say yes
And if you’re rough and ready for love
Honey I’m tougher than the rest
If you’re rough enough for love
Baby I’m tougher than the rest

Songwriters: Bruce Springsteen