Tangled Up In Blue

Early one mornin' the sun was shinin'. I was laying in bed Wond'rin' if she'd changed it 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 And I was standin' on the side of the road, Rain fallin' on my shoes, Heading out for the east coast. Lord knows I've paid some dues gettin' through, Tangled up in blue. She was married when we first meet. 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 it up on a dark sad night; Both agreein' 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. I had a job in the great north woods Workin' 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 fishin' boat Right outside of Delacroix, But all the while I was alone. The past was close behind. I seen a lot of women, But she never escaped my mind and I just grew Tangled up in blue. She was workin' in a topless place And I stopped in for a beer. I just kept lookin' at the side of her face In the spotlight so clear And later on as the crowd thinned out I's just about to do the same, She was standin' there in back of my chair. Said to me, "Don't I know your name?" I muttered somethin' 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. 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 it to me. Written by an Italian poet From the thirteenth century And every one of them words rang true And glowed like burnin' 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 into dealin' with slaves And somethin' inside of him died. She had to sell everything she owned And froze up inside And when finally the bottom fell out, I became withdrawn. The only thing I knew how to do Was to keep on keepin' on like a bird that flew Tangled up in blue. So now I'm goin' back again. I got to get 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. I don't what they're doin' 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.