Tangled Up in Blue

[Verse 1]

Early one morning the sun was shining

I was laying in bed

Wondering if she'd changed at all

If her hair was still red

Her folks they said our lives together

Sure was gonna be rough

They never did like mama's homemade dress

Papa's bankbook wasn't big enough

I was standing on the side of the road

Rain falling in my shoes

Heading out for the East Coast

Lord knows I've paid some dues

Coming through

Tangled up in blue

[Verse 2]

She was married when we first met

Soon to be divorced

I helpеd her out of a jam I guess

But I used a littlе too much force

We drove that car as far as we could

Abandoned it out West

Split up on a dark sad night

Both agreeing it was best

She turned around to look at me

As I was walking away

I heard her say over her shoulder

"We'll meet again someday

On the avenue"

Tangled up in blue

[Verse 3]

I had a job in the great north woods

Working as a cook for a spell

Never did like it all that much

One day the ax just fell

I drifted down to New Orleans

Waitin’ to implode

Working for a while on a fishing boat

Right outside of Delacroix

All the while I was alone

The past was close behind

I seen a lot of women

But they never escaped my mind

And I just grew

Tangled up in blue

[Verse 4]

She was working in a topless place

I stopped in for a beer

Just looking at the side of her face

In the spotlight so clear

Later on as the crowd thinned out

I was about to do the same

She was standing there in back of my chair

Muttered, “hi, don't I know your name?"

I muttered something underneath my breath

She studied the lines on my face

I must admit I felt a little uneasy

When she bent down to tie the laces

Of my shoe

Tangled up in blue

[Verse 5]

She lit a burner on the stove

Offered me a pipe

"I thought you'd never say hello," she said

"You look like the silent type"

And she opened up a book of poems

Handed it to me

Written by an Italian poet

From the thirteenth century

And every one of those words rang true

And glowed like burning coal

Pouring out of every page

Like it was written in my soul

From me to you

Tangled up in blue

[Verse 6]

I lived with them on Montague street

In a basement down the stairs

There was music in the cafés at night

And revolution in the air

Then he started into dealing with slaves

And something inside of him died

She had to sell everything she owned

And froze up inside

And finally when the bottom fell out

I became withdrawn

The only thing I knew how to do

Was to keep on keeping on

Like a bird that flew

Tangled up in blue

[Verse 7]

So now I'm going back again

Got to get to her somehow

All the people we used to know

They're an illusion to me now

Some are mathematicians

Some are carpenter's wives

Don't know how it all got started

Don't know what they’re doing with their lives

But me I'm still on the road

Heading for another joint

We always did feel the same

Just saw it from a different point

Of view

Tangled up in blue