Tangled Up in Blue

And offered me a pipe
Tangled up in blue
Sure was gonna be rough
The only thing I knew how to do
Was keep on keepin' on like a bird that flew

Tangled up in blue

I must admit I felt a little uneasy
Loading cargo on to a truck
Too busy or too stoned
In the spotlight so clear
Workin' as a cook for a spell

And he was standin' on the side of the road

He was always in a hurry

I was about to do the same
And later on, as the crowd thinned out

Tangled up in blue
But all the while he was alone
Like it was written in my soul, from me to you
Both agreein' it was best
'Cause he was walkin' away
Don't know what they're doin' with their lives
Written by an Italian poet
She lit a burner on the stove
They're an illusion to me now
And they drove that car as far as they could
We just saw it from a different point of view
Some are mathematicians
He helped her out of a jam, I guess
She said, "This can't be the end
They never did like Mama's homemade dress
Where he reckoned to try his luck
Soon to be divorced
She thought they were blessed

But he never did like it all that much
We'll meet on another day, on the avenue"

And split up on a dark sad night

We thought they were successful

And handed it to me
But I never was impressed

She was married when they first met

Just had to be postponed
Said to me, "What's your name?"

So now I'm going back again
Wonderin' if she'd changed at all

And she turned around to look at him

He'd seen a lot of women
Workin' for a while on an airplane plant
Lord knows, he's paid some dues gettin' through
"I thought you'd never say hello", she said

Headin' for another joint
All the people we used to know
Heading out for the old East Coast
I just kept lookin' at the side of her face
Rain fallin' on his shoes
Tangled up in blue
But she never escaped his mind, and he just grew
He had a job in the old North Woods

Some are doctor's wives
Tangled up in blue
We always did feel the same

When he drifted down to L.A.
I got to get to her somehow
When she bent down to tie the laces of my shoe
And one day the ax just fell
And every one of them words rang true
And everything that she ever planned
"You look like the silent type"
Tangled up in blue
The past was close behind
But he used a little too much force
And when it all came crashin' down
She was workin' in a topless place
I muttered somethin' underneath my breath
But me, I'm still on the road
Pourin' off of every page
From the thirteenth century
With objects and material things
Her folks, they said, our lives together

Then she opened up a book of poems
Abandoned it out west
I became withdrawn
She was standing there in back of my chair
She studied the lines on my face
And glowed like burnin' coal
If her hair was still red
Papa's bankbook wasn't big enough

Don't know how it all got started
I stopped in for beer