Early one morning the sun was shinin'
I was layin' in bed.
Wondering if she'd changed at all
If her hair was still red.
Her folks they said that our lives together,
Sure was gonna be rough.
They never did like Mama's home-made dress,
Papa's bank book wasn't big enough.
And I was standing on the side of the road,
Rain falling on my shoes.
Heading out for the east coast,
Lord knows I've paid some dues,
Getting through,
Tangled up in blue.
She was married when we first met
Soon to be divorced
I helped her out of a jam I guess
But I used a little 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 my shoulder
We'll meet again some day
On the avenue
Tangled up in Blue
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 axe just fell
So I drifted down to New Orleans
Where I was lucky to be employed
Workin' for a while on a fishing boat
Right outside of Delacroix
But all the while I was alone
The past was close behind
I seen alot of women
But she never escaped my mind
And I just grew
Tangled up in blue
She was working in topless place
And I stopped in for a beer
I just kept looking at the side of her face
In the spotlight so clear
And later on when the crowd thinned out
I was just about to do the same
She was standing there in back of my chair
Said to me "Don't I know your name/"
I muttered something undernaeth my breath
She studdied 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
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."
She opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me
Written by an Italian poet
From the thirteenth century
And every one of them words rang true
And glowed like burning coal
Pourin' off of every page
Like it was written in my soul
From me to you,
Tangled up in blue
I lived with them on Montague Street
In a basement down the stairs
There was music in the cafes at night
And revolution in the air
Then he started dealing with slaves
And something inside of him died
She had to sell everything she owned
And froze up inside.
And when it finally the bottom finally 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I became withdrawn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.
So now I'm going back again,
I 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 carpenters wives
Don't know how it all got started
I don't know what they do with their lives
But me, I'm still on the road
Headin' for another joint
We always did feel the same
We just saw it from a different point
Of view
Tangled up in blue.