Dire Straits | Tunnel of Love (1980)
"Tunnel of Love" is a 1981 single by Dire Straits. It appears on the 1980 album Making Movies, and subsequently on the live albums Alchemy and Live at the BBC and the greatest hits albums Money for Nothing, Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits, and The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler: Private Investigations.
1980-10-24 19:00:00 - Dire Straits
The song was also featured in the 1982 Richard Gere film An Officer and a Gentleman and was included in the film’s accompanying soundtrack album.
"Tunnel of Love" is one of only three Dire Straits songs not credited to Mark Knopfler alone (the other two are "Money for Nothing" and "What's The Matter Baby?"). The song itself is entirely by Knopfler, but the opening instrumental is an arrangement of the "Carousel Waltz" from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel.
The song mentions the Spanish City which, at the time the song was released, housed fun fair rides and amusements, referenced throughout the song. Spanish City is in Whitley Bay, which is also referenced near the end of the song (along with Cullercoats). It tells the story from the protagonist's point of view of meeting a young girl at the amusement park, spending time with her only to lose her in the park and unable to find her again.