Blog on Something Else

Tangled Up in Blue

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,

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I became withdrawn,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.

(修改於2016/10/18)
憂鬱纏結

一天清早太陽高照
我正躺在床上
好奇她是否變了樣
是否還是一頭紅髮
她父母說我們在一起
日子一定不好過
他們從沒喜歡媽媽做的衣裳
爸爸的口袋也不夠深
而我就站在路邊
雨落在我的鞋上
出發前往東岸
天知道我付出多少代價
憂鬱纏結

初遇時她還是有夫之婦
即將要離婚
我猜我幫忙拉了她一把
只是多用了一點力
我們盡力開向遠方
把車丟棄在西邊
在悲傷的黑夜中分手
雙方都同意這是最好的結果
她回過身看著我
我正步行離去
我聽見她在我身後說
"有一天我們會在街上再度相遇"
憂鬱纏結

我在北大林有份工作
做了一陣子廚師
但我從不真的喜歡這差事
有天就被炒了魷魚
所以我流浪到紐奧良
碰巧在那兒找了份差事
在漁船上工作一段日子
就在德洛克魯瓦外頭
那段時光我都孤獨一人
往事緊跟在背後
我見過許多的女人
只是我從未曾忘記她，我就逐漸地
憂鬱纏結

她在上空酒吧討生活
我路過進去喝杯啤酒
我只是不斷地望著她的側臉
聚光燈下如此地清晰
稍後當人群逐漸散去
我也正打算要離開
她就站在我坐椅的後面
對我說 "我不是認識你嗎？"
我喃喃地說了些什麼
她解讀著我臉上的字句
我必需承認我覺得有些緊張
當她彎下腰來繫緊我的鞋帶
憂鬱纏結

她在爐子上點了火並給了我一管煙
"我以為你不會來打招呼"她說
"你看來是沉默的那一型"
接著她打開一本詩集
交給了我
那是十三世紀
一位義大利詩人所寫
上面的每一字讀來皆真確
像炭火一樣閃爍著光芒
從每一頁裏流洩出來
像是寫在我的靈魂中地向你傾訴
憂鬱纏結

我和他們一起住在蒙特古街
樓下的一間地下室裏
夜晚咖啡廳靡漫著音樂
空氣中飄盪著革命的味道
然後他開始交易奴隸
他心中的一部份就這麼死去
她只得賣掉她所有的家當
把內心封閉起來
當最後終於崩盤
我變得退縮且封閉
我唯一能做的
就是繼續不斷地堅持著，像隻飛鳥
憂鬱纏結

所以如今我又回頭
我得想法子找到她
所有我們過去認識的人
現在對我都只是幻影
有些是數學家
有些是木匠的太太
不清楚一切如何開始
也不知他們怎樣過日子
但是我，依然在路上
前往一個又一個的地點
我們總是有一樣的感覺
只是以不同的觀點看待它
憂鬱纏結