Ought to be easy, ought to be simple enough

What does it mean when you can't trust your own heart, let alone your partner? What does it mean when that lack of trust, both internally and externally, strips away your vulnerability, your essence, your self-confidence, your dreams?

Bruce Springsteen takes a long road trip through the land of adult relationships on "Tunnel of Love," and the result is an intense and deeply emotional song cycle that explores all things love and decides that relationships, commitment and marriage are all part of a driving-while-blind journey into the unknown.

And that's a jolting conclusion (and realization) for anyone who happened to grow up with those typical romantic dreams in their head.

Twelve years earlier he and Wendy went off to find out if love was real. Here, after thinking he'd finally found the answer, he realizes that he still doesn't know and wonders if he, or anyone, ever will.

"You've got to learn to live with what you can't rise above," he sings in the title track, "if you want to ride on down, into the Tunnel of Love."

My favorite Springsteen album varies on my mood, and that's understandable when dealing with an artist with such a rich catalog.

Right now, This is the One.

Strictly 100: Number 29: Bruce Springsteen, "Tunnel of Love"