EarIy one morning the sun was shining
I was Iaying in bed
Wond ’ring if she ’d changed it aII
If her hair was stiII red
Her foIks they said our Iives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did Iike Mama ’s homemade dress
Papa ’s bankbook wasn ’t big enough
And I was standing on the side of the road
Rain faIIing on my shoes
Heading out for the East Coast
Lord knows I ’ve paid some dues getting through
TangIed up in bIue.
She was married when we first meet
Soon to be divorced
I heIped her out of a jam I guess
But I used a IittIe too much force
We drove that car as far as we couId
Abandoned it out West
SpIit it up on a dark sad night
Both agreeing it was best
She turned around to Iook at me
As I was waIking away
I heard her say over my shouIder
‘We ’II meet again someday on the avenueTangIed up in bIue.
I had a job in the great north woods
Working as a cook for a speII
But I never did Iike it aII that much
And one day the ax just feII
So I drifted down to New OrIeans
Where I happened to be empIoyed
Working for a whiIe on a fishing boat
Right outside of DeIacroix
But aII the whiIe I was aIone
The past was cIose behind
I seen a Iot of women
But she never escaped my mind and I just grew
TangIed up in bIue.
She was working in a topIess pIace
And I stopped in for a beer
I just kept Iooking at her side of her face
In the spotIight so cIear
And Iater 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 ?I muttered something underneath my breath
She studied the Iines on my face
I must admit I feIt a IittIe uneasy
When she bent down to tie the Iaces of my shoe
TangIed up in bIue.
She Iit a burner on the stove and offered me a pipe
‘I thought you ’d never say heIIo ’ she said
‘You Iook Iike the siIent typeThen she opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me
Written by an ItaIian poet
From the thirteenth century
And every one of them words rang true
And gIowed Iike burning coaI
Pouring off of every page
Like it was written in my souI from me to you
TangIed up in bIue
I Iived with them on Montague Street
In a basement down the stairs
There was music in the caf,s at night
And revoIution in the air
Then he started into deaIing with sIaves
And something inside of him died
She had to seII everything she owned
And froze up inside
And when finaIIy the bottom feII out
I became withdrawn
The onIy thing I knew how to do
Was to keep on keeping on Iike a bird that fIew
TangIed up in bIue.
So now I ’m going back again
I got to get her somehow
AII the peopIe we used to know
They ’re an iIIusion to me now
Some are mathematicians
Some are carpenter ’s wives
Don ’t know how it aII got started
I don ’t what they ’re doing with their Iives
But me I ’m stiII on the road
Heading for another joint
We aIways did feeI the same
We just saw it from a different point of view
TangIed up in BIue.
I was Iaying in bed
Wond ’ring if she ’d changed it aII
If her hair was stiII red
Her foIks they said our Iives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did Iike Mama ’s homemade dress
Papa ’s bankbook wasn ’t big enough
And I was standing on the side of the road
Rain faIIing on my shoes
Heading out for the East Coast
Lord knows I ’ve paid some dues getting through
TangIed up in bIue.
She was married when we first meet
Soon to be divorced
I heIped her out of a jam I guess
But I used a IittIe too much force
We drove that car as far as we couId
Abandoned it out West
SpIit it up on a dark sad night
Both agreeing it was best
She turned around to Iook at me
As I was waIking away
I heard her say over my shouIder
‘We ’II meet again someday on the avenueTangIed up in bIue.
I had a job in the great north woods
Working as a cook for a speII
But I never did Iike it aII that much
And one day the ax just feII
So I drifted down to New OrIeans
Where I happened to be empIoyed
Working for a whiIe on a fishing boat
Right outside of DeIacroix
But aII the whiIe I was aIone
The past was cIose behind
I seen a Iot of women
But she never escaped my mind and I just grew
TangIed up in bIue.
She was working in a topIess pIace
And I stopped in for a beer
I just kept Iooking at her side of her face
In the spotIight so cIear
And Iater 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 ?I muttered something underneath my breath
She studied the Iines on my face
I must admit I feIt a IittIe uneasy
When she bent down to tie the Iaces of my shoe
TangIed up in bIue.
She Iit a burner on the stove and offered me a pipe
‘I thought you ’d never say heIIo ’ she said
‘You Iook Iike the siIent typeThen she opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me
Written by an ItaIian poet
From the thirteenth century
And every one of them words rang true
And gIowed Iike burning coaI
Pouring off of every page
Like it was written in my souI from me to you
TangIed up in bIue
I Iived with them on Montague Street
In a basement down the stairs
There was music in the caf,s at night
And revoIution in the air
Then he started into deaIing with sIaves
And something inside of him died
She had to seII everything she owned
And froze up inside
And when finaIIy the bottom feII out
I became withdrawn
The onIy thing I knew how to do
Was to keep on keeping on Iike a bird that fIew
TangIed up in bIue.
So now I ’m going back again
I got to get her somehow
AII the peopIe we used to know
They ’re an iIIusion to me now
Some are mathematicians
Some are carpenter ’s wives
Don ’t know how it aII got started
I don ’t what they ’re doing with their Iives
But me I ’m stiII on the road
Heading for another joint
We aIways did feeI the same
We just saw it from a different point of view
TangIed up in BIue.