Intro
F Fsus4 F Fsus4
[Verse 1]
F D#6
Early one mornin' the sun was shinin',
F D#6
I was layin' in bed
F D#6
Wond'rin' if she'd changed at all
A#
If her hair was still red.
F D#6
Her folks they said our lives together
F D#6
Sure was gonna be rough
F D#6
They never did like Mama's homemade dress
A#
Papa's bankbook wasn't big enough.
C Dm
And I was standin' on the side of the road
F A#
Rain fallin' on my shoes
C Dm
Heading out for the East Coast
F A# C
Lord knows I've paid some dues gettin' through,
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Tangled up in blue.
[Verse 2]
F D#6
She was married when we first met
F D#6
Soon to be divorced
F D#6
I helped her out of a jam, I guess,
A#
But I used a little too much force.
F D#6
We drove that car as far as we could
F D#6
Abandoned it out West
F D#6
Split up on a dark sad night
A#
Both agreeing it was best.
C Dm
She turned around to look at me
F A#
As I was walkin' away
C Dm
I heard her say over my shoulder,
F A# C
"We'll meet again someday on the avenue,"
D# A# F Fsus F Fsus
Tangled up in blue.
[Verse 3]
F D#6
I had a job in the great north woods
F D#6
Working as a cook for a spell
F D#6
But I never did like it all that much
A#
And one day the ax just fell.
F D#6
So I drifted down to New Orleans
F D#6
Where I happened to be employed
F D#6
Workin' for a while on a fishin' boat
A#
Right outside of Delacroix.
C Dm
But all the while I was alone
F A#
The past was close behind,
C Dm
I seen a lot of women
F A# C
But she never escaped my mind, and I just grew
D# A# F Fsus F Fsus
Tangled up in blue.
[Verse 4]
F D#6
She was workin' in a topless place
F D#6
And I stopped in for a beer,
F D#6
I just kept lookin' at the side of her face
A#
In the spotlight so clear.
F D#6
And later on as the crowd thinned out
F D#6
I's just about to do the same,
F D#6
She was standing there in back of my chair
A#
Said to me, "Don't I know your name?"
C Dm
I muttered somethin' underneath my breath,
F A#
She studied the lines on my face.
C Dm
I must admit I felt a little uneasy
F A# C
When she bent down to tie the laces of my shoe,
D# A# F Fsus F Fsus
Tangled up in blue.
[Verse 5]
F D#6
She lit a burner on the stove
F D#6
and offered me a pipe
F D#6
"I thought you'd never say hello," she said
A#
"You look like the silent type."
F D#6
Then she opened up a book of poems
F D#6
And handed it to me
F D#6
Written by an Italian poet
A#
From the thirteenth century.
C Dm
And every one of them words rang true
F A#
And glowed like burnin' coal
C Dm
Pourin' off of every page
F A# C
Like it was written in my soul from me to you,
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Tangled up in blue.
[Verse 6]
F D#6
I lived with them on Montague Street
F D#6
In a basement down the stairs,
F D#6
There was music in the cafes at night
A#
And revolution in the air.
F D#6
Then he started into dealing with slaves
F D#6
And something inside of him died.
F D#6
She had to sell everything she owned
A#
And froze up inside.
C Dm
And when finally the bottom fell out
F A#
I became withdrawn,
C Dm
The only thing I knew how to do
F A# C
Was to keep on keepin' on like a bird that flew,
D# A# F Fsus F Fsus
Tangled up in blue.
[Verse 7]
F D#6
So now I'm goin' back again,
F D#6
I got to get to her somehow.
F D#6
All the people we used to know
A#
They're an illusion to me now.
F D#6
Some are mathematicians
F D#6
Some are carpenter's wives.
F D#6
Don't know how it all got started,
A#
I don't know what they're doin' with their lives.
C Dm
But me, I'm still on the road
F A#
Headin' for another joint
C Dm
We always did feel the same,
F A# C
We just saw it from a different point of view,
D# A# F Fsus F Fsus
Tangled up in blue.