TANGLED UP IN BLUE - Bob Dylan
(from Blood on the Tracks)

Early one morning the sun was shinin'
He was layin' in bed
Wond'rin' if she'd changed at all
If her hair was still red
Her folks they said their lives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did like Mama's homemade dress,
Papa's bankbook wasn't big enough
And he was standin' at the side of the road
Rain fallin' on his shoes
Heading out for the old East Coast
Lord knows he paid some dues, gettin' through
Tangled up in blue.

She was married when they first met
Soon to be divorced
He helped her out of a jam I guess
But he used a little too much force
And he drove that car as far as he could
Abandoned it out west
And they split up on a dark sad night
Both agreeing it was best
And she turned around to look at him
As he was walkin' away
And she said "This ain't the end
We'll meet again some day, on the avenue,
Tangled up in blue."

He had a job in the great north woods
Working as a cook for a spell
But he never did like it all that much
And one day the axe just fell
So he drifted down to L.A.
Where he reckoned he tried his luck
Workin' for a-while in an airplane plant
Loading cargo onto a truck
But all the while he was alone
The past was close behind
He seen a lot of women
But she never escaped his mind and he 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 a spotlight so clear
And later on as the crowd thinned out
I's about to do the same
She was standing there in back of my chair
Sayin' to me "What's your name?"
I muttered something 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 shoes
Tangled up in blue.

She lit a burner on the stove
And offered me a pipe
"Thought you'd never say hello", she said
"You look like the silent type"
And 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 burning coal
Pouring off of every page
Like it was written in my soul from me to you
Tangled up in blue.

He was always in a hurry
Too busy or too stoned
And everything she ever planned
Just had to be postponed
She thought they were successful
He thought they were blessed
With objects and material things
But I never was impressed
And when it all came crashing down
I became withdrawn
The only thing I knew how to do
Was to keep on keeping on like a bird that flew
Tangled up in blue.

So now I'm going back again
Got to get to her somehow
All the people we used to know
They're an illusion to me now
Some are mathematicians
Some are doctor' wives
Don't know how it all got started
Don't know what they're doin' with their lives
But me, I'm still on the road
Heading for another joint
We always did feel the same
We just started from a different point of view
Tangled up in blue.