[00:09.84]Early one mornin'' the sun was shinin'',
[00:13.01]I was layin'' in bed
[00:14.87]Wond''rin'' if she''d changed at all
[00:17.69]If her hair was still red.
[00:19.65]Her folks they said our lives together
[00:22.52]Sure was gonna be rough
[00:24.53]They never did like Mama''s homemade dress
[00:27.48]Papa''s bankbook wasn''t big enough.
[00:29.62]And I was standin'' on the side of the road
[00:32.67]Rain fallin'' on my shoes
[00:34.17]Heading out for the East Coast
[00:37.22]Lord knows I''ve paid some dues gettin'' through,
[00:40.52]Tangled up in blue.
[00:50.64]She was married when we first met
[00:56.15]Soon to be divorced
[00:58.02]I helped her out of a jam, I guess,
[01:00.92]But I used a little too much force.
[01:02.91]We drove that car as far as we could
[01:05.80]Abandoned it out West
[01:07.74]Split up on a dark sad night
[01:10.66]Both agreeing it was best.
[01:12.60]She turned around to look at me
[01:15.57]As I was walkin'' away
[01:17.79]I heard her say over my shoulder,
[01:20.35]"We''ll meet again someday on the avenue,"
[01:23.59]Tangled up in blue.
[01:34.96]I had a job in the great north woods
[01:39.23]Working as a cook for a spell
[01:41.09]But I never did like it all that much
[01:44.01]And one day the ax just fell.
[01:45.84]So I drifted down to New Orleans
[01:48.69]Where I happened to be employed
[01:50.89]Workin'' for a while on a fishin'' boat
[01:53.55]Right outside of Delacroix.
[01:55.52]But all the while I was alone
[01:58.11]The past was close behind,
[02:00.22]I seen a lot of women
[02:02.80]But she never escaped my mind, and I just grew
[02:06.15]Tangled up in blue.
[02:10.43]
[02:16.82]She was workin'' in a topless place
[02:21.33]And I stopped in for a beer,
[02:23.49]I just kept lookin'' at the side of her face
[02:26.31]In the spotlight so clear.
[02:28.42]And later on as the crowd thinned out
[02:31.19]I''s just about to do the same,
[02:33.10]She was standing there in back of my chair
[02:35.85]Said to me, "Don''t I know your name?"
[02:37.92]I muttered somethin'' underneath my breath,
[02:40.71]She studied the lines on my face.
[02:42.54]I must admit I felt a little uneasy
[02:45.14]When she bent down to tie the laces of my shoe,
[02:48.51]Tangled up in blue.
[02:53.48]
[02:58.78]She lit a burner on the stove and offered me a pipe
[03:05.32]"I thought you''d never say hello," she said
[03:08.31]"You look like the silent type."
[03:10.14]Then she opened up a book of poems
[03:12.99]And handed it to me
[03:14.61]Written by an Italian poet
[03:17.65]From the thirteenth century.
[03:20.01]And every one of them words rang true
[03:22.31]And glowed like burnin'' coal
[03:24.30]Pourin'' off of every page
[03:27.11]Like it was written in my soul from me to you,
[03:30.05]Tangled up in blue.
[03:36.46]
[03:39.43]I lived with them on Montague Street
[03:45.09]In a basement down the stairs,
[03:46.95]There was music in the cafes at night
[03:49.65]And revolution in the air.
[03:51.55]Then he started into dealing with slaves
[03:54.56]And something inside of him died.
[03:56.24]She had to sell everything she owned
[03:59.10]And froze up inside.
[04:00.80]And when finally the bottom fell out
[04:03.53]I became withdrawn,
[04:05.63]The only thing I knew how to do
[04:08.12]Was to keep on keepin'' on like a bird that flew,
[04:11.64]Tangled up in blue.
[04:16.68]
[04:22.81]So now I''m goin'' back again,
[04:26.02]I got to get to her somehow.
[04:28.06]All the people we used to know
[04:30.66]They''re an illusion to me now.
[04:32.38]Some are mathematicians
[04:35.12]Some are carpenter''s wives.
[04:37.23]Don''t know how it all got started,
[04:39.62]I don''t know what they''re doin'' with their lives.
[04:41.67]But me, I''m still on the road
[04:44.41]Headin'' for another joint
[04:46.49]We always did feel the same,
[04:49.01]We just saw it from a different point of view,
[04:53.08]Tangled up in blue.