Tangled Up in Blue

Workin' for a while on a fishin' boat
Was to keep on keepin' on like a bird that flew
But me, I'm still on the road
And later on when the crowd thinned out
Tangled up in blue
And one day the axe just fell
Sure was gonna be rough
I's just about to do the same
Working as a cook for a spell
She studied the lines on my face
There was music in the cafes at night
"We'll meet again someday on the avenue"
She was workin' in a topless place
Tangled up in blue

From the thirteenth century

She was standing there in back of my chair
Right outside of Delacroix
I helped her out of a jam, I guess
Then he started into dealing with slaves
When she bent down to tie the laces of my shoe
I lived with them on Montague street

And I was standin' on the side of the road
Tangled up in blue

We drove that car as far as we could

As I was walkin' away
"I thought you'd never say hello", she said

She was married when we first met
And we froze up inside

I seen a lot of women, but she never escaped my mind
Rain fallin' on my shoes
Tangled up in blue
Pourin' off of every page
And when in finally the bottom fell out
Tangled up in blue
Lord knows I've paid some dues gettin' through

Her folks they said our lives together
Where I happened to be employed
And handed it to me
We just saw it from a different point of view
The only thing I knew how to do
Soon to be divorced
And revolution in the air

I muttered somethin' underneath my breath
All the people we used to know
We always did feel the same

I heard her say over my shoulder
But I used a little too much force
Then she opened up a book of poems

Papa's bankbook wasn't big enough
And every one of them words rang true
And I just grew
If her hair was still red

And I stopped in for a beer
I just kept lookin' at the side of her face
"You look like the silent type"
Don't know how it all got started
But all the while I was alone
Said to me, "Don't I know your name?"
I must admit I felt a little uneasy

Split up on a dark sad night
Headin' for another joint
But I never did like it all that much
Tangled up in blue
In a basement down the stairs

So now I'm goin' back again
And glowed like burnin' coal
The past was close behind

I got to get to her somehow

I don't know what they're doin' with their lives
Like it was written in my soul from me to you
And something inside of him died
In the spotlight so clear
And offered me a pipe
I became withdrawn

They never did like mama's homemade dress
She lit a burner on the stove
Abandoned it out west
So I drifted down to New Orleans
Some are mathematicians
Heading out for the east coast

She had to sell everything she owned
Some are carpenter's wives
Wonderin' if she'd changed at all
I had a job in my great north woods
Both agreeing it was best
They're an illusion to me now
Written by an Italian poet
And she turned around to look at me