that's a great story. I'll admit, losing my first love to divorce and all that happened made "if I should fall behind" feel like a song of failure for me, and I've worked hard to repurpose it, as i have with much of the music that I held dear from a prior life, but this one we are talking about is still so absolutely pure I can't and won't lose it for what it is, the most poignant and beautiful love song I've ever heard.
I think your point about "deeper cuts" and music that isn't super popular in his catalog and how your wife was stunned and became an instant convert is on point - I could actually take or leave his anthem rock, top 40 stuff, it's fun and okay, but if you like folk music, if you like meaningful lyrics, if you like artists with undeniable melancholy in their music then there is no way you aren't a Bruce fan unless you haven't taken the time to explore. I go back to "Straight Time" - it's one of the few songs I know where my mind paints the picture, I'm actually watching a movie in my head while he's singing that song - and I think the music fan that loves music with these attributes might have that one track in their top 10 all time and that's from someone who mainlines TVZ and a bunch of other troubled souls on the reg (Pancho and Lefty is another I sometimes see a movie in my mind's eye while listening). Highway 29 is another I'm watching the movie as I listen. And that is the most telling fact for me if an artist is really good at their craft, when the movie just plays in my mind, you're listening to a fantastic artist. Bruce is absolute upper echelon on story telling, somber, folksy, melancholic sounds and if that's your style and you haven't deep dived Bruce's catalog you are way missing out.