Tangled Up In Blue Lyrics - Jerry Garcia

Early one mornin' the sun was shinin', 

I was layin' in bed 

Wond'rin' if she'd changed at all 

If her hair was still red. 

Her folks they said our lives together 

Sure was gonna be rough 

They never did like Mama's homemade dress 

Papa's bankbook wasn't big enough. 

And I was standin' on the side of the road 

Rain fallin' on my shoes 

Heading out for the East Coast 

Lord knows I've paid some dues gettin' through, 

Tangled up in blue. 

She was married when we first met 

Soon to be divorced 

I helped her out of a jam, I guess, 

But I used a little too much force. 

We drove that car as far as we could 

Abandoned it out West 

Split up on a dark sad night 

Both agreeing it was best. 

She turned around to look at me 

As I was walkin' away 

I heard her say over my shoulder, 

"We'll meet again someday on the avenue," 

Tangled up in blue. 

I had a job in the great north woods 

Working as a cook for a spell 

But I never did like it all that much 

And one day the ax just fell. 

So I drifted down to New Orleans 

Where I happened to be employed 

Workin' for a while on a fishin' boat 

Right outside of Delacroix. 

But all the while I was alone 

The past was close behind, 

I seen a lot of women 

But she never escaped my mind, and I just grew 

Tangled up in blue. 

She was workin' in a topless place 

And 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 just about to do the same, 

She was standing there in back of my chair 

Said to me, "Don't I know 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. 

I lived with them on Montague Street 

In a basement down the stairs, 

There was music in the cafes at night 

And revolution in the air. 

Then he started into dealing with slaves 

And something inside of him died. 

She had to sell everything she owned 

And froze up inside. 

And when finally the bottom fell out 

I became withdrawn, 

The only thing I knew how to do 

Was to 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 carpenter's wives. 

Don't know how it all got started, 

I 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.