Intro
D# D#sus4 D# D#sus4
[Verse 1]
D# C#6
Early one mornin' the sun was shinin',
D# C#6
I was layin' in bed
D# C#6
Wond'rin' if she'd changed at all
G#
If her hair was still red.
D# C#6
Her folks they said our lives together
D# C#6
Sure was gonna be rough
D# C#6
They never did like Mama's homemade dress
G#
Papa's bankbook wasn't big enough.
A# Cm
And I was standin' on the side of the road
D# G#
Rain fallin' on my shoes
A# Cm
Heading out for the East Coast
D# G# A#
Lord knows I've paid some dues gettin' through,
C# G# D# D#sus D# D#sus
Tangled up in blue.
[Verse 2]
D# C#6
She was married when we first met
D# C#6
Soon to be divorced
D# C#6
I helped her out of a jam, I guess,
G#
But I used a little too much force.
D# C#6
We drove that car as far as we could
D# C#6
Abandoned it out West
D# C#6
Split up on a dark sad night
G#
Both agreeing it was best.
A# Cm
She turned around to look at me
D# G#
As I was walkin' away
A# Cm
I heard her say over my shoulder,
D# G# A#
"We'll meet again someday on the avenue,"
C# G# D# D#sus D# D#sus
Tangled up in blue.
[Verse 3]
D# C#6
I had a job in the great north woods
D# C#6
Working as a cook for a spell
D# C#6
But I never did like it all that much
G#
And one day the ax just fell.
D# C#6
So I drifted down to New Orleans
D# C#6
Where I happened to be employed
D# C#6
Workin' for a while on a fishin' boat
G#
Right outside of Delacroix.
A# Cm
But all the while I was alone
D# G#
The past was close behind,
A# Cm
I seen a lot of women
D# G# A#
But she never escaped my mind, and I just grew
C# G# D# D#sus D# D#sus
Tangled up in blue.
[Verse 4]
D# C#6
She was workin' in a topless place
D# C#6
And I stopped in for a beer,
D# C#6
I just kept lookin' at the side of her face
G#
In the spotlight so clear.
D# C#6
And later on as the crowd thinned out
D# C#6
I's just about to do the same,
D# C#6
She was standing there in back of my chair
G#
Said to me, "Don't I know your name?"
A# Cm
I muttered somethin' underneath my breath,
D# G#
She studied the lines on my face.
A# Cm
I must admit I felt a little uneasy
D# G# A#
When she bent down to tie the laces of my shoe,
C# G# D# D#sus D# D#sus
Tangled up in blue.
[Verse 5]
D# C#6
She lit a burner on the stove
D# C#6
and offered me a pipe
D# C#6
"I thought you'd never say hello," she said
G#
"You look like the silent type."
D# C#6
Then she opened up a book of poems
D# C#6
And handed it to me
D# C#6
Written by an Italian poet
G#
From the thirteenth century.
A# Cm
And every one of them words rang true
D# G#
And glowed like burnin' coal
A# Cm
Pourin' off of every page
D# G# A#
Like it was written in my soul from me to you,
C# G# D# D#sus D# D#sus
Tangled up in blue.
[Verse 6]
D# C#6
I lived with them on Montague Street
D# C#6
In a basement down the stairs,
D# C#6
There was music in the cafes at night
G#
And revolution in the air.
D# C#6
Then he started into dealing with slaves
D# C#6
And something inside of him died.
D# C#6
She had to sell everything she owned
G#
And froze up inside.
A# Cm
And when finally the bottom fell out
D# G#
I became withdrawn,
A# Cm
The only thing I knew how to do
D# G# A#
Was to keep on keepin' on like a bird that flew,
C# G# D# D#sus D# D#sus
Tangled up in blue.
[Verse 7]
D# C#6
So now I'm goin' back again,
D# C#6
I got to get to her somehow.
D# C#6
All the people we used to know
G#
They're an illusion to me now.
D# C#6
Some are mathematicians
D# C#6
Some are carpenter's wives.
D# C#6
Don't know how it all got started,
G#
I don't know what they're doin' with their lives.
A# Cm
But me, I'm still on the road
D# G#
Headin' for another joint
A# Cm
We always did feel the same,
D# G# A#
We just saw it from a different point of view,
C# G# D# D#sus D# D#sus
Tangled up in blue.