Tangled Up In Blue
Bob Dylan (Blood on the Tracks 1975) Lyrics

Early one mornin' the sun was shinin'
It was a bright morning and the sun was up early.

I was layin' in bed
I was still in bed and had not gotten up yet.

Wondrin' if she'd changed at all
I was uncertain if she changed over time.

If her hair was still red
I wondered if her hair color was still the same.

Her folks they said our lives together
Her parents warned that our life together would be difficult.

Sure was gonna be rough
It would be challenging to be together.

They never did like
Her parents never approved of.

Mama's homemade dress
The clothes her mother made.

Papa's bank book wasn't big enough
Her father's money was insufficient.

And I was standin' on the side of the road
I was on the roadside.

Rain fallin' on my shoes
The rain was falling on my shoes while I waited.

Heading out for the east coast
I was on my way to the East Coast.

Lord knows I've paid some dues
I have faced many challenges in my journey.

Gettin' through
I had to overcome these challenges.

Tangled up in blue
I was caught up in my thoughts and emotions, unable to escape them.

She was married when we first met
When we met, she was already married.

Soon to be divorced
But their relationship was on the rocks, and they were on the verge of separating.

I helped her out of a jam I guess
I assisted her when she needed help.

But I used a little too much force
But I may have used too much force to help her out.

We drove that car as far as we could
We drove as much as we could before the car broke down.

Abandoned it out west
We left the car behind and continued our journey.

Split up on a dark sad night
We separated sadly on a dark night.

Both agreeing it was best
We both knew it was the best thing to do.

She turned around to look at me
Before we went separate ways, she looked back at me.

As I was walkin' away
I was leaving.

I heard her say over my shoulder
Before I left, she spoke to me from behind.

We'll meet again some day
She said we would meet again someday in the future.

On the avenue
On the street.

Tangled up in blue
Caught up in our past and our emotions, unable to escape them.

I had a job in the great north woods
I worked at a job in the northern forest area.

Working as a cook for a spell
I worked as a cook for some time.

But I never did like it all that much
I wasn't fond of that job.

And one day the axe just fell
One day, I lost my job suddenly and unexpectedly.

So I drifted down to New Orleans
I moved to New Orleans without any clear plan.

Where I was looking for to be employed
I was searching for a job.

Workin' for a while on a fishin' boat
I worked temporarily on a fishing boat.

Right outside of Delacroix
I worked near the town of Delacroix.

But all the while I was alone
Despite being in new surroundings, I was still alone.

The past was close behind
My past experiences were still fresh in my mind.

I seen a lot of women
I met many women, but none were like her.

But she never escaped my mind
She was always on my mind.

And I just grew
My thoughts, feelings, and emotions grew as time passed.

Tangled up in blue
I was caught up in my thoughts and emotions, unable to escape them.

She was workin' in a topless place
She worked at a strip club.

And I stopped in for a beer
I went there for a drink.

I just kept lookin' at the side of her face
My eyes were fixed on a side profile of her face.

In the spotlight so clear
She was under a bright spotlight.

And later on as the crowd thinned out
As time passed, fewer people remained in the club.

I's just about to do the same
I was about to leave too.

She was standing there in back of my chair
But before I could leave, she came up behind my chair.

Said to me, Don't I know your name?
She asked me if she knew me.

I muttered somethin' under my breath
I mumbled a response quietly.

She studied the lines on my face
She scrutinized the features of my face.

I must admit I felt a little uneasy
I felt slightly uncomfortable.

When she bent down to tie the laces
She knelt down to tie my shoelaces.

Of my shoe
She tied my shoelaces.

Tangled up in blue
Caught up in my thoughts and emotions, unable to escape them.

She lit a burner on the stove
She lit a stove burner.

And offered me a pipe
She offered me a smoking pipe.

I thought you'd never say hello, she said
She expressed surprise that I hadn't said hello earlier.

You look like the silent type
She thought I seemed like a quiet person.

Then she opened up a book of poems
She took out a book of poems.

And handed it to me
She gave me the book.

Written by an Italian poet
The poems were written by an Italian poet.

From the thirteenth century
The poems were from the 13th century.

And everyone of them words rang true
Every word of the poems felt true to my experiences.

And glowed like burnin' coal
The words were powerful and intense.

Pourin' off of every page
The words seemed to jump off the pages.

Like it was written in my soul
It seemed as if the words were written specifically for me.

From me to you
From my experiences to hers.

Tangled up in blue
Caught up in my thoughts and emotions, unable to escape them.

I lived with them on Montague Street
I lived with a group of people on Montague Street.

In a basement down the stairs
We lived in a basement that was accessed by a staircase.

There was music in the cafes at night
At night, we could hear music coming from the cafes.

And revolution in the air
There was a feeling of social unrest and upheaval in the air.

Then he started into dealing with slaves
Someone in the group began to involve themselves in the slave trade.

And something inside of him died
This activity caused a change in them, almost like they died inside.

She had to sell everything she owned
One of the women in the group had to sell all of her possessions to survive.

And froze up inside
This experience caused her to become emotionally distant and closed off.

And when finally the bottom fell out
When things went really bad and we hit rock bottom.

I became withdrawn
This experience made me become introverted.

The only thing I knew how to do
The only thing I knew how to do to cope with this situation.

Was to keep on keepin' on
Was to keep moving forward despite the challenges and difficulties.

Like a bird that flew
Like a bird that is constantly on the move.

Tangled up in blue
Caught up in my thoughts and emotions, unable to escape them.

So now I'm goin' back again
I am returning to a place from my past.

I got to get to her somehow
I need to find a way to get to her.

All the people we used to know
All the people I used to know in that place.

They're an illusion to me now
They no longer seem real or familiar to me.

Some are mathematicians
Some of them are mathematicians now.

Some are carpenters' wives
Some of them are married to carpenters.

Don't know how it all got started
I am uncertain how all of this began.

I don't know what they're doin' with their lives
I don't know what their current life situations are.

But me, I'm still on the road
I am still traveling and trying to find my way.

Headin' for another joint
I am going to another location.

We always did feel the same
We always shared the same feelings and experiences.

We just saw it from a different point
We had different perspectives when it came to certain aspects of life.

Of view
Our individual perspectives on life.

Tangled up in blue
Caught up in my thoughts and emotions, unable to escape them.