Songfacts®:

• This story song is another semi-autobiographical Mark Knopfler composition, reminiscing about visiting the fairground at the Spanish City in Whitley Bay. As a boy, Knopfler lived in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, about 10 miles away. The fair may have been what inspired him to pursue a musical career; he said once that it was the first place he heard rock 'n' roll played really loud. It would eventually close, but for a while "Tunnel Of Love" was its unofficial anthem.
• Although it was written solely by Knopfler, the song begins with a sample of "The Carousel Waltz" by Rogers and Hammerstein, a song that would typically be playing on the Tunnel Of Love amusement park ride.
• The song runs 8:11 with a trademark lengthy Knopfler guitar solo. It was issued as a single in many territories (not America) but had to be split into two parts to fit on the 45 rpm disc. "Part 1," running 5:01, can play as a standalone version. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Alexander Baron - London, England, for all above
• "Tunnel Of Love" is part of the third Dire Straits album, Making Movies, which as the title suggests, contains very cinematic songs, meaning they have storylines and some musical complexity. The two other songs that were released as singles from the album are similarly romantic and emotive: "Romeo And Juliet" and "Skateaway."
• Speaking with The Times of London Mark Knopfler talked about a moment of songwriting bliss he achieved with this one. "It's the moment when you know you're really on to something," he said. "It happened to me when I was writing 'Tunnel of Love.' There's a certain part of the song that I call the breakdown and when I got there I could feel the drums, the piano, all the things that I wanted all the instruments to do. When you get to that state, there's a strange sense of one thing following another, of elements falling into place quite naturally."
• MTV wasn't yet on the air, but VHS machines were in many homes so Dire Straits commissioned the director Lester Bookbinder to make high-end films to serve as music videos for this song, along with "Skateaway" and "Romeo & Juliet." These were packaged and sold on VHS as a compilation called Making Movies. A few years later, Dire Straits went into hot rotation on MTV with "Money For Nothing." They didn't become video stars though - that one was animated and doesn't show the band.
• The "Tunnel Of Love" music video stars Leslie Ash, who played Steph in the 1979 film Quadrophenia.
• Bruce Springsteen released his own "Tunnel of Love" as the title track to his 1987 album. The songs have a connection besides the title: Roy Bittan, a keyboard player in Springsteen's E Street Band, played on both songs. Dire Straits didn't have a keyboard player until Alan Clark joined for their next album, so Bittan was brought in as a session player.