Rain fallin' on his shoes
Heading 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 agreein' it was best

And she turned around to look at him
'Cause 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 ax just fell

When he drifted down to L.A.
Where he reckoned to try his luck
Workin' for a while on an airplane plant
Loading cargo on to a truck

But all the while he was alone
The past was close behind
He'd 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 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 was about to do the same
She was standing there in back of my chair
Said to me, "What's your name?"

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

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

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

He was always in a hurry
Too busy or too stoned
And everything that she ever planned
Just had to be postponed

We 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I became withdrawn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 going 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 doctor's 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