Tangled Up in Blue by Bob Dylan was the first track on the 1975 album Blood on the Tracks. It was also released as a single. It is a song about relationships, but the narrative shifts to several different perspectives and refers to several different periods of his life. Dylan was influenced by an artist who was experimenting with non-linear presentation of his work, so we listen to the song and we wonder if this is one person with whom he has had a relationship over the years, or if it is several women from different phases of his life. Looking back he hints at regrets, mistakes, and of partners drifting apart, but he still wants to find the right relationship:
So now I’m going back againI got to get her somehowAll the people we used to knowThey’re an illusion to me now
Although the lyrics provide specific instances of circumstances and of broken relationships, it seems to move from one person to the possibility of a stream of past partners with the whole set of memories “tangled up in blue.” We are left to surmise whether this is autobiographical or if it just musings of the challenges of relationships. In an interview he denied that the song was about him and he hinted that it was just storytelling, mixing images with shifts in time and perspective.
As a listener, I lean toward the latter interpretation. Over time memories loses their sequential nature and become a series of images, each with some level of emotional connection. And we are all tangled up, but looking for ways to get back to that place we have in our hearts. 4.8 out of 5.0 stars
