Tangled Up In Blue
Jerry Garcia Band Lyrics

Early one mornin' the sun was shinin',
I woke up to a sunny morning

I was layin' in bed Wond'rin' if she'd changed at all If her hair was still red.
I wondered if my former lover still looked the same.

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.
Her parents didn't approve of our relationship because they thought our lives wouldn't mesh well, and didn't like that I wasn't wealthy.

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.
I left my old life behind and traveled to the East Coast, with difficulties along the way, feeling trapped in a situation without an easy way out.

She was married when we first met Soon to be divorced I helped her out of a jam, I guess, But I used a little too much force.
I met her while she was still married, but her divorce was on the horizon. I helped her through a difficult time but may have gone too far in trying to help her.

We drove that car as far as we could Abandoned it out West Split up on a dark sad night Both agreeing it was best.
We travelled west in a car, but eventually had to ditch it. We parted ways, realizing it was for the 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.
As I was leaving, she said we would cross paths again someday and be entangled in the same web of emotions and problems as before.

I had a job in the great north woods Working as a cook for a spell But I never did like it all that much And one day the ax just fell.
I worked as a cook in the north woods for a while, but didn't enjoy it and was eventually let go.

So I drifted down to New Orleans Where I happened to be employed Workin' for a while on a fishin' boat Right outside of Delacroix.
I found work on a fishing boat outside of Delacroix after moving to New Orleans.

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.
My past weighed heavily on me, and although I met many women, I could not forget about her, and remain caught up in my emotions.

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.
I saw her working in a topless bar and stopped in for a drink, watching the side of her face glow in the spotlight.

And later on as the crowd thinned out I's just about to do the same, She was standing there in back of my chair Said to me, "Don't I know your name?"
As the crowd cleared out, she approached me from behind and asked if we had met before.

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.
I was nervous as she studied my face, and when she bent down to tie my shoe, I felt an intense emotional connection towards her, despite feeling uneasy.

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.
We shared a pipe while she offered me a book of poems by an Italian from the thirteenth century. She commented I was quiet and aloof but remarked at my unexpected introduction.

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 felt like every word of the poems spoke to me and the truth of my circumstances, burning within my soul and connecting me to her.

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.
We lived in a basement on Montague street, where the local cafes played music at night and there was a sense of social and political revolution in the air.

Then he started into dealing with slaves And something inside of him died. She had to sell everything she owned And froze up inside.
My roommate began dealing with slaves, and it changed him negatively. She had to sell her belongings and became emotionally closed off.

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.
When everything started to fall apart around me, I became emotionally distant and the only way to cope was by continuing to push forward like a bird flying through the air, tangled in emotions.

So now I'm goin' back again, I got to get to her somehow. All the people we used to know They're an illusion to me now.
I'm heading back to find her, but all the people we used to know seem like illusions in my mind now.

Some are mathematicians Some are carpenter's wives. Don't know how it all got started, I don't know what they're doin' with their lives.
Some of the people we knew became mathematicians or married carpenters, but I don't know how it happened or what they're up to now.

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.
I'm still traveling and searching for something new, much like our former relationship in which we were connected, but viewed things differently and were tethered to one another in our own emotional ways.