Intro
C# C#sus4 C# C#sus4
[Verse 1]
C# B6
Early one mornin' the sun was shinin',
C# B6
I was layin' in bed
C# B6
Wond'rin' if she'd changed at all
F#
If her hair was still red.
C# B6
Her folks they said our lives together
C# B6
Sure was gonna be rough
C# B6
They never did like Mama's homemade dress
F#
Papa's bankbook wasn't big enough.
G# A#m
And I was standin' on the side of the road
C# F#
Rain fallin' on my shoes
G# A#m
Heading out for the East Coast
C# F# G#
Lord knows I've paid some dues gettin' through,
B F# C# C#sus C# C#sus
Tangled up in blue.
[Verse 2]
C# B6
She was married when we first met
C# B6
Soon to be divorced
C# B6
I helped her out of a jam, I guess,
F#
But I used a little too much force.
C# B6
We drove that car as far as we could
C# B6
Abandoned it out West
C# B6
Split up on a dark sad night
F#
Both agreeing it was best.
G# A#m
She turned around to look at me
C# F#
As I was walkin' away
G# A#m
I heard her say over my shoulder,
C# F# G#
"We'll meet again someday on the avenue,"
B F# C# C#sus C# C#sus
Tangled up in blue.
[Verse 3]
C# B6
I had a job in the great north woods
C# B6
Working as a cook for a spell
C# B6
But I never did like it all that much
F#
And one day the ax just fell.
C# B6
So I drifted down to New Orleans
C# B6
Where I happened to be employed
C# B6
Workin' for a while on a fishin' boat
F#
Right outside of Delacroix.
G# A#m
But all the while I was alone
C# F#
The past was close behind,
G# A#m
I seen a lot of women
C# F# G#
But she never escaped my mind, and I just grew
B F# C# C#sus C# C#sus
Tangled up in blue.
[Verse 4]
C# B6
She was workin' in a topless place
C# B6
And I stopped in for a beer,
C# B6
I just kept lookin' at the side of her face
F#
In the spotlight so clear.
C# B6
And later on as the crowd thinned out
C# B6
I's just about to do the same,
C# B6
She was standing there in back of my chair
F#
Said to me, "Don't I know your name?"
G# A#m
I muttered somethin' underneath my breath,
C# F#
She studied the lines on my face.
G# A#m
I must admit I felt a little uneasy
C# F# G#
When she bent down to tie the laces of my shoe,
B F# C# C#sus C# C#sus
Tangled up in blue.
[Verse 5]
C# B6
She lit a burner on the stove
C# B6
and offered me a pipe
C# B6
"I thought you'd never say hello," she said
F#
"You look like the silent type."
C# B6
Then she opened up a book of poems
C# B6
And handed it to me
C# B6
Written by an Italian poet
F#
From the thirteenth century.
G# A#m
And every one of them words rang true
C# F#
And glowed like burnin' coal
G# A#m
Pourin' off of every page
C# F# G#
Like it was written in my soul from me to you,
B F# C# C#sus C# C#sus
Tangled up in blue.
[Verse 6]
C# B6
I lived with them on Montague Street
C# B6
In a basement down the stairs,
C# B6
There was music in the cafes at night
F#
And revolution in the air.
C# B6
Then he started into dealing with slaves
C# B6
And something inside of him died.
C# B6
She had to sell everything she owned
F#
And froze up inside.
G# A#m
And when finally the bottom fell out
C# F#
I became withdrawn,
G# A#m
The only thing I knew how to do
C# F# G#
Was to keep on keepin' on like a bird that flew,
B F# C# C#sus C# C#sus
Tangled up in blue.
[Verse 7]
C# B6
So now I'm goin' back again,
C# B6
I got to get to her somehow.
C# B6
All the people we used to know
F#
They're an illusion to me now.
C# B6
Some are mathematicians
C# B6
Some are carpenter's wives.
C# B6
Don't know how it all got started,
F#
I don't know what they're doin' with their lives.
G# A#m
But me, I'm still on the road
C# F#
Headin' for another joint
G# A#m
We always did feel the same,
C# F# G#
We just saw it from a different point of view,
B F# C# C#sus C# C#sus
Tangled up in blue.