Tangled Up In Blue

[Verse 1]

Early one morning the sun was shining

I was lying in bed

Wondering if she'd changed at all or if her hair was still red

Her folks they said our lives together

Sure was going to be rough

They never did like Mama's homemade dress

Papa's bankbook wasn't big enough

And I was standing on the side of the road

Rain fallin' on my shoes

Heading out for that old East Coast

Lord knows I've paid some dues

Getting 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

And we abandoned it out west

Split up on a dark sad night

Both agreeing that it was best

She turned around to look at me

As I was walkin away

I heard her say over my 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

But I never did like it all that much

And one day the ax just fell

So I drifted down to New Orleans

Where I'm lucky to be employed

Working for a while on a fishing boat

Right outside of Delacroix

But all the while I was alone

The past was close behind

I've seen a lot of women

But she never escaped my mind

And I just grew

Tangled up in blue

[Verse 4]

She was working in a topless place

And I stopped in for a beer

I just kept looking at the side of her face

In the spotlight was so clear

And later on, when the crowd thinned out

I was just about to do the same

She was standin there, in the back of my chair

Said, "Tell me, 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

But when she bent down to tie the laces of my shoe

Tangled up in blue

[Verse 5]

She lit a burner on the stove

And offered me a pipe

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

"You look like the silent type"

Then she opened up a book of poems

And handed me

Written by an Italian poet

From the thirteenth century

And every one of them words rang true

And glowed like a burning coal

Pouring off of every page

It was like it was written in my soul

From me to you

Tangled up in blue

[Verse 6]

I lived up and down on Montague Street

In a basement down the stairs

There was music in the cafes at night

And there was revolution in the air

Then he started into dealing with slaves

And inside of him something died

She had to sell everything she owned

And froze up inside

And when finally the bottom fell out

Oh 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

I got to get to her somehow

All the people we used to know

They're just an illusion to me now

Some are mathematicians

Some are carpenter's wives

Don't know how it all got started

I don't know what they did with their lives

But me, I'm still on the road

I'm headed for another joint

We always felt the same

We just saw it from a different point of view

Tangled up in blue