Tangled Up in Blue [Alternate take] lyrics

Early one mornin' the sun was shinin'

He was lyin' in bed

Wondrin' 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

Headin' out for the old East Coast

Lord knows he's 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 they drove that car as far as they could

Abandoned it out west

And 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

She said, "This can't be the end

We'll meet on another day, on the avenue

Tangled up in blue."

He had a job in the old north woods

Workin' as a cook for a spell

But he never did like it all that much

And one day the axe just fell

When he drifted down to L.A

Where he reckoned to try his luck

Workin' for a while in an airplane plant

Loadin' 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

I stopped in for a beer

I just kept lookin' at the side of her face

In the spotlight so clear

And later on as the crowd thinned out

I's about to do the same

She was standin' there, in back of my chair

Said, "Tell me, what's your name?"

I muttered somethin' underneath my breath

She studied the lines of 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

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"

Then 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 flowed like burning coal

Pourin' 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 that she ever planned

Just had to be postponed

He thought they were successful

She thought they were blessed

With objects and material things

But I never was impressed

And when it all came crashin' down

I became withdrawn

The only thing I knew how to do

Was keep on keepin' on like a bird that flew

Tangled up in blue

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

Some are mathematicians

Some are doctors' 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

Headin' for another joint

We always did feel the same

We just saw it from a different point of view

Tangled up in blue