Refer to the lyrics at www.bobdylan.com
The following is an attempted summary of the lyric changes between the three known studio versions of "Tangled up in Blue":
1. 12 September 1974
2. 16 September 1974
3. 30 December 1974
(1) released on original "Blood on the Tracks" test pressing, November
1974.
(2) released on "The Bootleg Series", 1991.
(3) released on "Blood on the Tracks" 1975, "Biograph" 1985.
Version (1), 12 September 1974, is used as the 'original' lyric against which the other two are compared.
Notes:
o "Sep74" refers to both the 12 September and 16 September lyrics.
o Some very minor lyric changes have been omited, eg. "And I
stopped in for a beer" compared to "I stopped in for a beer".
--
Tangled Up In Blue
(Bob Dylan)
Copyright Ram's Horn Music 1974, 1975.
Early one morning the sun was shinin',
And he [30Dec74: I] was layin' in bed
Wondering if she'd changed at all
If her hair was still red.
Her folks they said their [30Dec74: our] lives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did like Mama's homemade dress
Papa's bankbook wasn't big enough.
And he [30Dec74: I] was standing on the side of the road
Rain falling on his [30Dec74: my] shoes
Heading out for the old East Coast
Lord knows he's [30Dec74: I've] paid some dues getting through,
Tangled up in blue.
She was married when they [30Dec74: we] first met
Soon to be divorced
He [30Dec74: I] helped her out of a jam, I guess,
But he [30Dec74: I] used a little too much force.
They [30Dec74: We] drove that car as far as they [30Dec74: we] could
Abandoned it out west
Sep74: And they split up on a dark, sad night
30Dec74: Split up on a dark, sad night
Both agreeing it was best.
And she turned around to look at him [30Dec74: me]
As he [30Dec74: I] was walking away
12Sep74 And she said "This ain't the end
We'll meet again some day on the avenue
16Sep74: She said "This can't be the end
We'll meet on another day, on the avenue,
30Sep74: I heard her say over my shoulder
We'll meet again someday on the avenue,
Tangled up in blue."
He [30Dec74: I] had a job in the great north woods
Working as a cook for a spell
But he [30Dec74: I] never did like it all that much
And one day the axe just fell.
Sep74: So he drifted down to L.A.
Where he reckoned he'd try his luck
Working for a while on an airplane plant
Loading cargo onto a truck.
30Dec74: So I drifted down to New Orleans
Where I was lucky to be employed
Working for a while on a fishin' boat
Right outside of Delacroix.
And all the while he [30Sep74: I] was alone
The past was close behind,
He'd [30Sep74: I] seen a lot of women
But she never escaped his [30Sep74: my] mind, and he [30Sep74: I] just
grew
Tangled up in blue.
She was working in a topless place
And I stopped in for a beer.
I just kept looking at the side of her face
In the spotlight so clear.
And later on as the crowd thinned out
12Sep74: I was just about to do the same,
30Dec74
16Sep74: I's about to do the same
She was standing there in back of my chair
Sep74: Said to me, "What's your name?"
30Dec74: 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 she 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 burning coal
Pouring 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 a-had to be postponed.
12Sep74: She thought they were successful
He thought they were blessed
16Sep74: He thought they were successful
She thought they were blessed
By objects and material things
But I never was impressed
And when it all came crashing down
30Dec74: [replaces above lines in this verse with:]
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 it finally the bottom fell out
I became withdrawn
The only thing I knew how to do
Was to keep on keeping on like a bird that flew
Tangled up in blue.
So now I'm going on back again
I've got to get to her somehow
All the people we used to know
They're an illusion to me now
Some are mathematicians
Sep74: Some are doctor's wives
30Dec74: Some are carpenter'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
Heading for another joint
We always did feel the same
We just saw it from a different point of view
Tangled up in blue.
Ben Taylor
--
Leeds, England
[email protected]
Somebody wrote:
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 in into dealing with slaves
And something inside of him died
She had to sell everything she owned
And froze up inside"
Can someone explain to me the significance and/or the exact maening of the reference to dealing with slaves?
Somebody else wrote:
My guess is that he's not talking about pre-Civil War slaves, but slaves in modern society, such as people working at jobs they hate, married to mates they don't love, i.e. people not living there own life, but living a life that they somehow feel has been force on them. which in this case lead to something inside of him dying.
Johannes wrote:
This is probably the primary meaning of the phrase. However, the callage/cut-up type method of the lyrics opens it up in a number of ways.
I think it also evokes the myth that Rimbaud started dealing slaves in Africa when he quit France and poetry writing-- which is a strong parable you stop writing poetry and beauty etc and begin dealing with slaves, the uggliest thing available to a person. (HOwever, I think rimbaud in reality traded weapons, not slaves.)
Johannes