Category Archives: Tangled Up In Blue

Tangled Up In Blue (October 14, 2016)

On this third concert date following a two month break, Dylan switched up one particular line for the first time, making his character’s actions less a possible accident of emotion (“used a little too much (brute) force”) and more calculating (“Then he let the law take its course”).

Here is this line as sung on October 14, while the first outing has been verified to have been on the previous day in Las Vegas.

She was married when they first met
She was soon to be divorced
But he helped her out of a jam, I guess
Then he let the law take its course

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

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Tangled Up In Blue (2013)

Well, she lit a burner on the stove
And brushed away the dust
Well, she looked at me, and she said to me
“You look like somebody I can trust.”
Then she opened up a book of poems
And she said, “Just so you’ll know,
Memorize every one of these lines
And you can use ’em when you’re walkin’ to and fro
And every one of them words rang true
Glowed like burnin’ coal
And pourin’ off of every page
Like it was written in my soul from me to you
Tangled up in blue

Now I’m goin’ back again
I’ve got to get to them somehow
All the people that we used to know
They’re an illusion to me now
Well, some went up the mountain
And some of ’em went down to the ground
Some of their names are written in flames
And some of them they just left town
But me, I’m still on the road
And I’m tryin’ to stay out of the joint
We always did feel the same
We just saw it from a different point, point of view
Tangled up in blue

…Splittin’ up on a dark sad night
Somewhere in the wilderness
He turned around to look at her
As she was walkin’ away
Sayin’ over her shoulder
“We’re gonna meet again someday, truckin’ down the avenue”
Tangled up in blue

Well, she lit a burner on the stove
And then she swept away the dust
“I thought you looked like someone that I used to know
You look like someone that I can trust”
Then she opened up a book of poems
And then she said, “Just so you’ll know
Memorize these lines, and remember these rhymes
When you’re out there walkin’ to and fro”
And every one of them words rang true
Glowed like burnin’ coal
Pouring off of every page
Like it was written in my soul from me to you
Tangled up in blue
…
Now I’m goin’ back again
I’ve got to get to them somehow
Yesterday it is gone
And tomorrow might as well be now
Some went up on the mountain
And some of them they went down to the ground
Some of their names – written in flames
And some of them they just left town
Me, I’m still on the road
And I’m tryin’ to stay out of the joint
Well, we always felt the same
Depending on your point of view
Tangled up in blue

…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
…
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
…
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 carpenters’ 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

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Tangled Up In Blue (2012)

He had a job and a pretty face
And everything seemed to fit
When he helped her out way down at the race
He just put it all down and he split
And he drifted down, down to New Orleans
Where they treated him just sure like a tramp
He nearly drowned, running up to Baton Rouge
Where the weather was cold and damp
All the while he was alone
You know the past was close behind
He seemed [lowdown] deceiving
That world was so [defiled/defined], except for you
We were tangled up in blue

He had a job and a pretty face
And everything seemed to fit
Then one day, he could just a-feel the waste
He put everything down and he quit
Then he drifted down to New Orleans
Working nights, working every day
Nearly drowned down in Baton Rouge
On a cold, on a cold December day
All the while that he was alone
You know the past was close behind
He’s seen a lot of women
But none of them were–them were ever too refined, except for you
But you were tangled up in blue

He had a job and a pretty face
Everything seemed to fit
One day, he just – everything felt out of place
He put everything down and he just quit
He drifted down to New Orleans
[Where he’d been destroyed] every day
Well, he nearly drowned in Baton Rouge
Everything [went/running] away
All the while he was alone
You know the past was close behind
He’s seen a lot of women
And none of them were too refined, except for you
You were 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

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