Early one mornin’ 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' on the side of the road
Rain fallin' on his shoes
Heading out for the East Coast
Radio blastin' the news
Straight on 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.
They drove that car as far as they could,
Abandoned it out west.
Splitting up on a dark, sad night,
Her believing it was best.
And she turned around to look at him
As he was walking away.
She said I wish I could tell you all the things
That I never learned how to say
He said that’s alright babe
I love you too,
But we were tangled up in blue.

He had a steady job and a pretty face,
And everything seemed to fit.
But one day he could just feel the waste,
So he put it all down and split.
And he headed down to New Orleans,
Where they treated him like a boy.
He nearly went mad in Baton Rouge,
He nearly drowned in Delacroix
And all the time he was alone,
The past was close behind.
He felt he'd had one too many lovers,
And none of them were too refined,
All except for you,
But you were tangled up in blue.

She was sitting in the blinding light,
When I stopped in for a drink.
I just kept looking at the side of her face
I didn't know what to think.
Later on as the crowd thinned out,
I was about to do the same
She was standing there, beside my chair,
Saying "Don't tell me, let me guess your name"
I muttered something underneath my breath
She studied the lines on my face.
I could feel the heat and the pulse of her
As she bent down to tie the laces
Of my shoe,
Tangled up in blue.

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.
Every one of them words rang true
And glowed like burnin' 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
She thought they were blessed
With objects and material things,
He never was impressed
But when it all came crashing down,
I was already south.
I didn't know whether the world was flat or round,
I had the worst taste in my mouth,
That I ever knew,
Tangled up in blue.

Now I'm going back again,
Maybe tomorrow, maybe next year.
I've got to find someone among the women and men
Whose destiny too is unclear
Some are ministers of illusion,
Some are masters of the trade.
All under strong delusion,
All of their beds unmade.
Me I'm heading toward the sun,
Trying to stay out of the joint
We always did love the very same one
We just saw her from a different point
Of view,
Tangled up in blue.