Dire Straits – Tunnel Of Love

• 0
  General Comment:Besides the Amusement parks in England the song also mentions Steeplechase, which was on Coney Island, New York, Palisades Amusement Park in New Jersey, and Rockaway, Queens New York.

  Flag pgm01on April 17, 2012   Link

  • No Replies Log in to reply
    
      There was an error.
• 0
  General Comment:This song will always remind me my ex.

  Flag tonyblueon January 26, 2012   Link

  • No Replies Log in to reply
    
      There was an error.
• +1
  Song Meaning:Mark Knopfler said this was about a girl he met at the Spanish City amusement park where he grew up. He spent an evening with her and they decided on remaining anomonyous to each other. He said he never felt stronger for someone than the girl he writes about in this song and you can tell. The guitar solo at the end of the song is just amazing. Evokes the feeling of longiness of wanting to find and be with someone you lost along the way.
  
  Best Dire Strait song bar, from a spiritual, lyrical and composition standpoint.
  
  

  Flag donjuansdaddyon September 21, 2011   Link

  • No Replies Log in to reply
    
      There was an error.
• 0
  General Comment:I think that that the lady hes reffering to is the LADY LUCK....the whole thing seems to be surrounded around a night of gambling and enjoying.....seems like lady luck to me

  Flag avinavaghoshon July 18, 2010   Link

  • No Replies Log in to reply
    
      There was an error.
• +2
  General Comment:The guitar at the end tells a story of its own.

  Flagged tyrockon April 15, 2010   Link

  • No Replies Log in to reply
    
      There was an error.
• +3
  General Comment:The best track Mark Knopfler ever created - bar none. This is a magical story about meeting a girl, liking her, and not wanting to spoil things by getting too deep. The song begins with Knopfler telling us that he likes the dangerous side of life, using fairground metaphors "Getting crazy on the walzers, but it's the life that I choose". Amongst the riff-raff he finds a like-minded female "In a screaming ring of faces I seen her standing in the light. She had a ticket for the races, yeah, just like me she was a victim of the night" and the girl decides they should enjoy the moment but remain anonymous in order to retain feeling of mystery and danger "It's just the danger when you're riding at your own risk. She said you are the perfect stranger, she said baby let's keep it like this". Then, in a bid to retain the feeling that the nameless relationship is perfect in its current state, she walks away and Mark knows its best not to go after it, but to remember this good time for what it was "And in the roar of dust and diesel I stood and watched her walk away. I could have caught up with her easy enough but something must have made me stay". However, he has a late change of heart, and sets off to find her "now i'm searching through these carousels and the carnival arcades". Many speculate that the song is merely about having a good time at a fun park, but I think there is a deeper meaning here. For example, "the big wheel keep on turning" in my mind is a clear reference to the fact the world keeps turning regardless of how he plays this out, and he claims that he is "high on this world" thanks to the excitement of the day, then he requests that the girl "take a low ride with me...on the Tunnel of Love". This seems to suggest to me that he knows falling in love would remove the "high" and the danger, but he still wants to get to that stage anyway. Musically, this has a curious opening (namely 'The Carousel Waltz') but, once it kicks into life, you know it's Dire Straits. Knopfler's playing on this track is more influenced by the blues than you may think. He sings a line, plays a bit, sings a line, plays a bit - a blues trait if ever there was one. Speaking of the guitar work, on this track the man really excelled himself. His solos are often similar to David Gilmour's in that he doesn't just play the whole way through the instrumental sections, he leaves plenty of gaps - an often underrated idea - and every time he stops for breath it just leaves the listener begging for more. Great playing, great lyrics - one of the best songs of the 80's without any shadow of a doubt.

  Flag Bazalinhioon March 12, 2010   Link

  • 1 Reply Log in to reply
    
      There was an error.
    0

    An excellent interpretation I must say.
    
    Musically speaking this is absolutely brilliant.

    Flag sanelaon March 01, 2011  
• 0
  General Comment:The Spanish City has been demolished and there's now a school built there -- Marine Park, which used to be housed in a Victorian building opposite (Also now demolished and turned into a car park). I used to sit in class and watch the roller coaster go round all day.

  Flag Filtrenon January 30, 2010   Link

  • No Replies Log in to reply
    
      There was an error.
• 0
  My Interpretation:''I could have caught up with her easy enough but something must have made me stay
  
  And the big wheel keep on turning neon burning up above
  And I'm just high on the world''
  
  This is classic small town boy mentality. He could have gone with the girl but the lure of the Spanish City was just too much to leave.
  
  
  Correct lyrics spelling is Cullercoats not cullercoasts

  Flag DJDiscoon December 02, 2009   Link

  • No Replies Log in to reply
    
      There was an error.
• 0
  General Comment:Anyone know what a torture tattoo would be? Sounds painful. ^^
  
  I had the impression that, given the general context of the song, "hand upon the lever" and "one-armed bandit fever" are a double entendre, but I could just be dirty-minded. :)

  Flag John Johnstonon October 07, 2009   Link

  • No Replies Log in to reply
    
      There was an error.
• 0
  General Comment:@ majordomo1 ...
  'One-armed bandit' is a British term for a slot machine. So he's talking about getting a big pile of coins and feeding the machine, and feeding it, hoping for a win.

  Flag leighrichmondrooseon September 29, 2009   Link

  • No Replies Log in to reply
    
      There was an error.

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!