Editing Tangled Up in Blue

{{short description|1975 song by Bob Dylan}}
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{{good article}}
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{{Infobox song
| name       = Tangled Up in Blue
| cover      = Tangled Up in Blue Cover.jpg
| alt        =
| type       = single
| artist     = [[Bob Dylan]]
| album      = [[Blood on the Tracks]]
| B-side     = [[If You See Her, Say Hello]]
| released   = January 20, 1975
| recorded   = December 30, 1974
| studio     = [[Sound 80]] (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
| venue      =
| genre      = [[Folk rock]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/29/arts/music/bob-dylan-and-wilco-americanarama-festival.html|title=Knockin' on the Country's Door|last=Pareles |first=Jon|date=July 28, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=August 17, 2020|archive-date=July 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701211436/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/29/arts/music/bob-dylan-and-wilco-americanarama-festival.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| length     = 5:41<ref name="ALLS" /><!--Album Record label and CD sleeve pictures show 5:40 but using that may be original research; pictures of the single show 5:31!-->
| label      = [[Columbia Records|Columbia]]
| writer     = [[Bob Dylan]]
| producer   = David Zimmerman (uncredited)
| prev_title = [[All Along the Watchtower]]
| prev_year  = 1974
| next_title = [[Hurricane (Bob Dylan song)|Hurricane]]
| next_year  = 1975
| misc       = {{Extra track listing
 | album  = [[Blood on the Tracks]]
 | type   = single
 | tracks = {{Blood on the Tracks tracks}}
}}
{{External music video|{{YouTube|YwSZvHqf9qM|"Tangled Up in Blue" (live)}}}}
}}

"'''Tangled Up in Blue'''" is a song by American singer-songwriter [[Bob Dylan]] and the opening track of his 15th studio album ''[[Blood on the Tracks]]'' (1975). It was released as the album’s sole single, reaching No. 31 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]. Written by Dylan and produced by David Zimmerman, Dylan's brother, the song concerns relationships from different narrative perspectives. Dylan has altered the lyrics in subsequent performances, changing the point of view and details in the song.

The track initially was recorded in September 1974, but later re-recorded on 30 December that year at [[Sound 80]] in [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]]. The latter version was released on ''Blood on the Tracks'' on 20 January 1975.{{efn|name=dateq}} The song received widespread acclaim from [[Music journalism|music critics]], with particular praise for the lyrics. ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' ranked it No. 68 on their list of the [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|500 Greatest Songs of All Time]]. A number of alternate versions have been released, including multiple studio out-takes on ''[[The Bootleg Series Vol. 14: More Blood, More Tracks]]'' (2014). Dylan has performed the song live over 1,600 times.

== Background and recording ==
The song was written in the summer of 1974, after Dylan's [[Bob Dylan and The Band 1974 Tour|comeback tour]] with [[The Band]] that year and his separation from [[Sara Dylan]], whom he had married in 1965. Dylan had moved to a farm in Minnesota with his brother, David Zimmerman, and there started to write the songs that were recorded for his album ''[[Blood on the Tracks]]''.<ref name="UNCUT">{{Cite web |title=Shelter From The Storm – the inside story of Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks |url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/features/shelter-from-the-storm-the-inside-story-of-bob-dylan-s-blood-on-the-tracks-15656/ |last=Hasted |first=Nick |date=15 November 2013 |website=Uncut |orig-year=2005 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715011356/https://www.uncut.co.uk/features/shelter-from-the-storm-the-inside-story-of-bob-dylan-s-blood-on-the-tracks-15656 |archive-date=15 July 2018 |access-date=6 April 2020}}</ref> In the spring of 1974, Dylan had taken art classes at [[Carnegie Hall]] and was influenced by his tutor [[Norman Raeben]], and in particular Raeben's view of [[time]], when writing the lyrics.<ref name="UNCUT" /><ref name="Rogovoy2009">{{Cite book |last=Rogovoy |first=Seth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IdbgeObYgIkC&pg=PA160 |title=Bob Dylan: Prophet, Mystic, Poet |date=24 November 2009 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4165-5983-2 |access-date=July 24, 2020 |archive-date=October 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003184046/https://books.google.com/books?id=IdbgeObYgIkC&pg=PA160 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|160}}<ref name="GillOdegard2004">{{Cite book |last1=Gill |first1=Andy |last2=Odegard |first2=Kevin |url=https://archive.org/details/simpletwistoffat00gill |title=A Simple Twist of Fate: Bob Dylan and the Making of Blood on the Tracks |date=January 2004 |publisher=[[Da Capo Press]] |location=Boston |isbn=978-0-306-81231-6 |page=148 |url-access=registration}}</ref> In a 1978 interview Dylan explained this style of songwriting: "What's different about it is that there's a code in the lyrics, and there's also no sense of time. There's no respect for it. You've got yesterday, today, and tomorrow all in the same room, and there's very little you can't imagine not happening".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Bob Dylan: The Rolling Stone Interview, Part 2 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bob-dylan-the-rolling-stone-interview-part-2-173545/ |first=Jonathan |last=Cott |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=16 November 1978 |access-date=3 October 2020 |archive-date=August 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805103955/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bob-dylan-the-rolling-stone-interview-part-2-173545/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Richard F. Thomas]], Professor of the [[Classics]] at [[Harvard University]], has written that Dylan has been "characteristically vague" on the use of any specific painting techniques emulated while he was writing the words for the songs on ''Blood On The Tracks''.<ref name="Thomas2019">{{cite book|first=Richard F. |last=Thomas|title=Why Bob Dylan Matters |date=2017|publisher=Harper Collins |location=New York|isbn=978-0-06-268573-5 |pages=32–33}}</ref> According to novelist [[Ron Rosenbaum]], Dylan told him that he'd written "Tangled Up in Blue" after spending a weekend listening to [[Joni Mitchell]]'s 1971 album ''[[Blue (Joni Mitchell album)|Blue]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_spectator/2007/12/the_best_joni_mitchell_song_ever.html|title=The Best Joni Mitchell Song Ever|last=Rosenbaum|first=Ron|date=2007-12-14|newspaper=Slate|language=en-US|issn=1091-2339|access-date=2016-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161016053229/http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_spectator/2007/12/the_best_joni_mitchell_song_ever.html|archive-date=October 16, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

Dylan first recorded "Tangled Up in Blue" in New York City on 16&nbsp;September 1974 during the initial ''Blood on the Tracks'' sessions at [[A & R Recording|A&R Studios]].<ref name="Heylin2010" /> Eight takes were recorded in New York from 16 to 19 September, mostly featuring Tony Brown on bass alongside Dylan on guitar and harmonica,<ref name="UNCUTMBMT" /> and containing some minor variations in lyrics, as well as differences in vocal delivery, and [[tempo]].<ref name="NYORK" /> Two of the versions later released on ''The Bootleg Series Vol. 14: More Blood, More Tracks (Deluxe edition)'' also include [[Paul Griffin (musician)|Paul Griffin]] on organ.<ref name="UNCUTMBMT" /> That December, working from a suggestion from his brother that the album should have a more commercial sound, Dylan re-recorded half the songs on ''Blood on the Tracks'', including "Tangled Up in Blue" on 30 December at [[Sound 80]] in [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]].<ref name="Heylin2010">{{Cite book |last=Heylin |first=Clinton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jaSeBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT55 |title=Still on the Road: The Songs of Bob Dylan Vol. 2 1974–2008 |date=29 April 2010 |publisher=[[Little, Brown Book Group]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-84901-494-6 |pages=25–34 |access-date=July 24, 2020 |archive-date=October 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003184046/https://books.google.com/books?id=jaSeBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT55 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="OHAGAN">{{Cite news |last=O'Hagan |first=Sean |date=28 October 2018 |title=The raw, painful birth of Blood on the Tracks |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/oct/28/bob-dylan-more-blood-more-tracks-raw-painful-birth |url-status=live |access-date=5 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417055617/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/oct/28/bob-dylan-more-blood-more-tracks-raw-painful-birth |archive-date=17 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Chris |year=2007 |title=Bob Dylan: Blood On The Tracks Review |work=BBC |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/659x/ |url-status=live |access-date=5 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190919065715/http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/659x/ |archive-date=19 September 2019}}</ref>

David Zimmerman was the [[record producer|producer]] for the Minneapolis ''Blood on the Tracks'' recordings, but was not credited on the album.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bream |first=Jon |title=Minnesotans finally get credit for playing on Bob Dylan's 1975 classic "Blood on the Tracks" |url=https://www.startribune.com/minnesotans-finally-get-credit-for-playing-on-bob-dylan-s-1975-classic-blood-on-the-tracks/499161281/ |date=31 October 2018 |work=[[Star Tribune]] |location=Minneapolis |access-date=7 October 2020 |archive-date=October 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001113110/https://www.startribune.com/minnesotans-finally-get-credit-for-playing-on-bob-dylan-s-1975-classic-blood-on-the-tracks/499161281/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The re-recorded versions were radical departures from the original recordings, and each new recording included changes to the lyrics from the earlier versions.<ref name="UNCUT" /><ref name="Creswell2007">{{Cite book |first=Toby |last=Creswell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bhYnNaM0zEUC&pg=PA24 |title=1001 Songs |date=1 November 2007 |publisher=Hardie Grant Publishing |isbn=978-1-74273-148-3 |pages=24–25 |access-date=July 24, 2020 |archive-date=October 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003184046/https://books.google.com/books?id=bhYnNaM0zEUC&pg=PA24 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Dalton2012">{{Cite book |last=Dalton |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SDcDAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT346 |title=Who Is That Man? In Search of the Real Bob Dylan |date=1 June 2012 |publisher=[[Omnibus Press]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-85712-779-2 |pages=346–347 |access-date=July 24, 2020 |archive-date=October 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003184047/https://books.google.com/books?id=SDcDAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT346 |url-status=live }}</ref> This recording featured a full band: [[Kevin Odegard]] (guitar), Chris Weber (guitar) Gregg Inhofer (keyboards), [[Billy Peterson]] (bass), and [[Bill Berg (musician)|Bill Berg]] ([[Drum kit|drums]]), with Dylan singing, and on guitar and harmonica.<ref name="Heylin2010" /> These musicians were based locally and had arrived at Zimmerman's invitation, and Dylan had not met them before they started working together on 27 December.<ref name="UNCUT" />

The Minneapolis version was included as the opening track on ''Blood on the Tracks'', released on 20 January 1975,{{efn|name=dateq|Some sources state the release date as 17 January 1975}}<ref name="BDBOTT">{{cite web |title=Tangled Up in Blue |url=http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/blood-tracks/ |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=bobdylan.com |publisher=Sony Music Entertainment |access-date=5 October 2020 |archive-date=September 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200917111207/http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/blood-tracks/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="UNCUT" /> and in February as a single backed with "[[If You See Her, Say Hello]]".<ref name="Krogsgaard1991">{{cite book|first=Michael |last=Krogsgaard|title=Positively Bob Dylan: A Thirty-year Discography, Concert & Recording Session Guide, 1960-1991|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i7cQAQAAMAAJ|year=1991|publisher=Popular Culture|isbn=978-1-56075-000-0 |page=106}}</ref> The single reached number 31 on the [[Hot 100]] chart.<ref name="Nogowski2008">{{cite book|first=John |last= Nogowski|title=Bob Dylan: A Descriptive, Critical Discography and Filmography, 1961–2007, 2nd ed.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g1WQBQAAQBAJ|date=28 April 2008|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-3518-0 |page=66}}</ref> Outtakes of "Tangled Up in Blue" from the New York sessions were released in 1991 on ''[[The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991]]'' and in 2018 on the single-CD and 2-LP versions of ''[[The Bootleg Series Vol. 14: More Blood, More Tracks]]'', while the complete New York sessions were released on the deluxe edition of the latter album.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bobdylan.com/news/more-blood-more-tracks-the-bootleg-series-vol-14-to-be-released-on-november-2/|title=More Blood, More Tracks – The Bootleg Series Vol. 14 to Be Released on November 2 {{!}} The Official Bob Dylan Site|website=www.bobdylan.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-10-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105064613/https://www.bobdylan.com/news/more-blood-more-tracks-the-bootleg-series-vol-14-to-be-released-on-november-2/|archive-date=November 5, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The deluxe version of  ''The Bootleg Series Vol. 14'' also included a remix of the December 1974 master issued on ''Blood on the Tracks''.<ref name="MBMTREL">{{Cite web |title=More Blood, More Tracks – The Bootleg Series Vol. 14 to Be Released on November 2 {{!}} The Official Bob Dylan Site |url=https://www.bobdylan.com/news/more-blood-more-tracks-the-bootleg-series-vol-14-to-be-released-on-november-2/ |website=www.bobdylan.com |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105064613/https://www.bobdylan.com/news/more-blood-more-tracks-the-bootleg-series-vol-14-to-be-released-on-november-2/ |archive-date=5 November 2018 |access-date=21 October 2018}}</ref>

== Composition and lyrical interpretation ==
{{Listen|filename=Tangled Up In Blue.ogg|title="Tangled Up in Blue"|format=[[ogg]]|description=A 25-second sample of "Tangled Up in Blue". A writer from ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' said that the "strong acoustic background" instrumentals were reminiscent of Dylan's early songs.<ref name=bb/>|pos=right}}
With "Tangled Up in Blue", Dylan used shifting perspectives of time, influenced by his recent studies under Raeben.<ref name="Heylin2010" /> [[Michael Gray (author)|Michael Gray]] describes the structure of "Tangled Up in Blue's" lyrics as the story of a love affair and career and how the "past upon present, public upon privacy, distance upon friendship, [and] disintegration upon love" transform and are complicated over time.<ref name="GRAYENC">{{cite book |last=Gray|first=Michael |title=The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia| pages=659–661 |date=2008 |publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group]] |location=London|isbn=9780826429742}}</ref> Timothy Hampton, Professor of [[Comparative Literature]] and French at the [[University of California, Berkeley]], has described the structure of the lyrics as a set of [[sonnet]]s, with seven [[stanza]]s each of 14 lines, each with a [[Volta (literature)|volta]] after line eight.<ref name="Hampton2019">{{cite book|first=Timothy|last=Hampton|title=Bob Dylan's Poetics: How the Songs Work|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=51WRDwAAQBAJ|date=26 March 2019|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=978-1-942130-15-4|pages=132–133|access-date=October 5, 2020|archive-date=October 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201007115950/https://books.google.com/books?id=51WRDwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

Dylan continually re-worked the lyrics and arrangement even after the album was released.<ref name="GRAYENC" /><ref name="Heylin2010" /> During his 1978 World Tour, the line starting "She opened up a book of poems" became "She opened up the Bible and started quotin' it to me", becoming one of the first public indicators of Dylan's conversion to Christianity.<ref name="GRAYENC" /> The version released on ''[[Real Live]]'', as performed throughout his 1984 Europe tour, differs radically in structure and lyrics from earlier versions, with a more cynical view of romance.<ref name="GRAYENC" /><ref name="Heylin2010" /> Dylan said in 1985 that he was more satisfied with the implementation of multiple viewpoints in the song than he had been with the original.<ref name="NYORK">{{cite magazine |last=Slate |first=Jeff |title=Bob Dylan's First Day with "Tangled Up in Blue" |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/bob-dylans-first-day-with-tangled-up-in-blue |date=31 October 2018 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |access-date=8 October 2020}}</ref> Dylan has often stated that the song took "ten years to live and two years to write".<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://entertainment.time.com/2011/05/23/the-10-best-bob-dylan-songs/slide/tangled-up-in-blue/ | title=The 10 Best Bob Dylan Songs | magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=May 19, 2011 | access-date=July 1, 2014 | last=Sanburn |first=Joel | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714130734/http://entertainment.time.com/2011/05/23/the-10-best-bob-dylan-songs/slide/tangled-up-in-blue/ | archive-date=July 14, 2014 | url-status=live }}</ref>

In a 1985 interview with Bill Flanagan, Dylan said that although many people thought that the album ''Blood on the Tracks'' was autobiographical, "It didn't pertain to me. It was just a concept of putting in images that defy time&nbsp;– yesterday, today and tomorrow. I wanted to make them all connect in some kind of a strange way."<ref name="Flanagan2010">{{Cite book |first=Bill |last=Flanagan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BUAqAAAAQBAJ |title=Written in My Soul: Conversations with Rock's Great Songwriters |date=1 April 2010 |publisher=RosettaBooks |isbn=978-0-7953-1081-2 |access-date=6 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506011534/https://books.google.com/books?id=BUAqAAAAQBAJ |archive-date=6 May 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> In his 2004 memoir ''[[Chronicles: Volume One]]'', Dylan claimed that ''Blood on the Tracks'' was "an entire album based on [[Anton Chekhov|Chekhov]] short stories. Critics thought it was autobiographical&nbsp;– that was fine."<ref name="OHAGAN" />

==Critical reception==
''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' regarded "Tangled Up in Blue" as Dylan's most powerful and most commercial single in a long time, saying that Dylan's voice and the "strong acoustic background" instrumentals were reminiscent of Dylan's early songs.<ref name=bb>{{cite news|title=Top Single Picks|newspaper=Billboard|access-date=2020-07-17|date=March 8, 1975|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/70s/1975/Billboard%201975-03-08.pdf|page=86|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719213636/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/70s/1975/Billboard%201975-03-08.pdf|archive-date=July 19, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>  ''[[Cash Box]]'' said that it is a "great tune...with lyrics pouring forth in profusion and with Bob's voice in excellent shape."<ref name=cb>{{cite news|title=CashBox Record Reviews|date=March 8, 1975|page=33|accessdate=2021-12-11|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1975/CB-1975-03-08.pdf|newspaper=Cash Box|archive-date=January 31, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131061641/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1975/CB-1975-03-08.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>  Jon Landau in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' praised Dylan's lyrics and delivery of the song, but was unimpressed by the accompanying musicians and the production of the album,<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/blood-on-the-tracks-255430/ |title=Blood on the Tracks |last=Landau |first=Jon |date=13 March 1975 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |access-date=7 August 2020 |archive-date=December 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230122112/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/blood-on-the-tracks-255430/ |url-status=live }}</ref> while [[Jonathan Cott]], in the same issue of the magazine, called the track "brilliant and haunted." Cott likened the effect of the album's lyrics to those of the Italian 13th century poem referred to in the song, quoting from the song:<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bob-dylan-blood-on-the-tracks-55031/ |title=Bob Dylan: Blood on the Tracks |last=Cott |first=Jonathan |date=13 March 1975 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |access-date=7 August 2020 |archive-date=October 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003184048/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bob-dylan-blood-on-the-tracks-55031/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{quote|And every one of them words rang true<br>And glowed like burnin’ coal<br>Pourin’ off of every page<br>Like it was written in my soul<br>From me to you<br>Tangled up in blue}}

Some commentators have taken the reference in "Tangled Up in Blue" to the "Italian poet/From the thirteenth century" as a reference to [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]].<ref name="Trager2004" /><ref name="SHADES2011">{{cite book|first=Clinton|last=Heylin|title=Behind the Shades: The 20th Anniversary Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dd5EmZDdScoC&pg=PA485|date=1 April 2011|publisher=Faber & Faber|isbn=978-0-571-27241-9|page=485|access-date=October 9, 2020|archive-date=July 29, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729162733/https://books.google.com/books?id=dd5EmZDdScoC&pg=PA485|url-status=live}}</ref> Matthew Collins of Harvard, noting that Dylan may not have been precise with dates, argues that there are similarities between elements of the lyrics of "Tangled up in Blue" and the fifth [[canto]] of Dante's 14th Century'' [[Inferno (Dante)|Inferno]]'', but finds it unlikely that Dylan will ever confirm who the reference in the song is to.<ref name="COLLINS">{{cite journal |last1=Collins |first1=Matthew |date=2019 |title=Bob Dylan and that "Italian Poet from the Thirteenth Century" |url=https://ddd.uab.cat/pub/dea/dea_a2019v6/dea_a2019v6p11.pdf |journal=Dante e l'Arte |volume=6 |pages=11–24 |doi=10.5565/rev/dea.110 |access-date=9 October 2020 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Hampton, however, believes that the reference is more likely to [[Petrarch]].<ref name="Hampton2019" /> Both Collins and Hampton note that in a 1978 interview, in reference to "Tangled Up in Blue", Dylan was asked who the poet was and replied "[[Plutarch]]. Is that his name?"<ref name="COLLINS" /><ref name="Hampton2019" />

Don Stanley in ''[[The Vancouver Sun]]'' said that the song "succeeds on the strength of its metaphors."<ref>{{cite news |title=It's not the old Dylan on his new album|last=Stanley |first=Don |date=7 March 1975 |work=[[The Vancouver Sun]] |page=104}}</ref> An opposing view was expressed by Al Rudis, in ''[[The Pittsburgh Press]]'', who was unimpressed by the song's lyrics, calling the track "a long lurching song [but with] no build-up of cumulative power" and stating that it contains "seemingly meaningless images."<ref>{{cite news |title=It's not the old Dylan on new album|last=Rudis |first=Al |date=2 February 1975 |work=[[The Pittsburgh Press]] |page=111}}</ref> Neil McCormick remarked in 2003 that the song is "A truly extraordinary epic of the personal, an [[Unreliable narrator|unreliable narrative]] carved out of shifting memories like a five-and-a-half-minute musical [[Marcel Proust|Proust]]."<ref>{{cite book| title=The Rough Guide to Bob Dylan |first=Nigel |last=Williamson |isbn=1-84353-139-9 |publisher=Rough Guides |year=2004}}</ref> ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' has described the song as "The most dazzling lyric ever written, an abstract narrative of relationships told in an amorphous blend of first and third person, rolling past, present and future together, spilling out in tripping cadences and audacious internal rhymes, ripe with sharply turned images and observations and filled with a painfully desperate longing."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/bob-dylan/10450680/Bob-Dylan-30-greatest-songs.html?frame=2736174 |title=Bob Dylan: 30 greatest songs |work=The Daily Telegraph |last=McCormick |first=Neil |date=18 November 2013 |access-date=2013-11-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205070540/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/bob-dylan/10450680/Bob-Dylan-30-greatest-songs.html?frame=2736174 |archive-date=February 5, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Jim Beviglia ranks "Tangled Up in Blue" 14th in his 2013 assessment of the 100 best Dylan songs, saying that "this masterful song doesn't skimp on the pain."<ref name="Beviglia2013">{{cite book|last=Beviglia|first=Jim|title=Counting Down Bob Dylan: His 100 Finest Songs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nRMeAAAAQBAJ|pages=160–161|date=11 July 2013|publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]]|isbn=978-0-8108-8824-1|access-date=August 6, 2020|archive-date=October 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003184100/https://books.google.com/books?id=nRMeAAAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> In a 2020 article for ''[[The Guardian]]'', [[Alexis Petridis]] ranked it the twelfth-greatest of Dylan's songs.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Petridis |first=Alexis |date=9 April 2020 |title=Bob Dylan's 50 greatest songs – ranked! |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/apr/09/bob-dylans-50-greatest-songs-ranked |url-status=live |access-date=10 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200409235447/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/apr/09/bob-dylans-50-greatest-songs-ranked |archive-date=9 April 2020}}</ref> The track was ranked 3rd on ''Rolling Stone''{{'s}} 2016 ranking of the 100 greatest Dylan songs, with the staff describing it as "where emotional truths meet the everlasting comfort of the American folk song."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-bob-dylan-songs-65159/tangled-up-in-blue-1975-158227/ |title=100 Greatest Bob Dylan Songs |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=24 May 2016 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |access-date=6 August 2020 |archive-date=July 8, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708020330/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-bob-dylan-songs-65159/tangled-up-in-blue-1975-158227/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' ranked it No. 68 on their 2011 list of the [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|500 Greatest Songs of All Time]],<ref name="RS500B">{{Cite magazine |title=500 Greatest Songs of All time: 68 – Bob Dylan, "Tangled Up in Blue" |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-151127/bob-dylan-tangled-up-in-blue-51844/ |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=7 April 2011 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |access-date=26 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629153715/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-151127/bob-dylan-tangled-up-in-blue-51844/ |archive-date=June 29, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> and re-ranked it at No. 67 in 2021.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-songs-of-all-time-1224767/bob-dylan-tangled-up-in-blue-3-1225271/|title=Tangled Up in Blue ranked #67 on Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs List|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=September 15, 2021|access-date=18 September 2021}}</ref> A 2021 [[The Guardian|''Guardian'']] article included it on a list of "80 Bob Dylan songs everyone should know".<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-05-22|title=Beyond Mr Tambourine Man: 80 Bob Dylan songs everyone should know|url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/may/22/beyond-mr-tambourine-man-80-bob-dylan-songs-everyone-should-know|access-date=2021-05-22|website=the Guardian|language=en|archive-date=May 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522100415/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/may/22/beyond-mr-tambourine-man-80-bob-dylan-songs-everyone-should-know|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Live performances==
Dylan has performed the song live 1,685 times up to August 2018. The first was on 13&nbsp;November 1975 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, [[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]].
<ref name="BDTUIB">{{cite web |title=Tangled Up in Blue |url=http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/tangled-blue/ |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=bobdylan.com |publisher=Sony Music Entertainment |access-date=24 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217050224/http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/tangled-blue/ |archive-date=December 17, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="BDTUIBSL">{{cite web |title=Setlists that contain Tangled Up in Blue |url=http://www.bobdylan.com/setlists/?id_song=26001 |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=bobdylan.com |publisher=Sony Music Entertainment |access-date=7 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200106015233/http://www.bobdylan.com/setlists/?id_song=26001 |archive-date=January 6, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> The most recent live performance as of October 2020 was on 28 August 2018 at [[Christchurch Arena|Horncastle Arena]], Christchurch, New Zealand.<ref name="BDTUIBSL" />

Dylan played the song solo on acoustic guitar during the first leg of the [[Rolling Thunder Revue]] tour in 1975, a performance of which is featured in Dylan's 1978 film ''[[Renaldo and Clara]]'' and which later became the song's official music video.<ref name="Trager2004">{{cite book|first=Oliver|last=Trager|title=Keys to the Rain: The Definitive Bob Dylan Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MuEHAQAAMAAJ|year=2004|publisher=Billboard Books|isbn=978-0-8230-7974-2|page=606|access-date=October 8, 2020|archive-date=July 29, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729162733/https://books.google.com/books?id=MuEHAQAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Bob Dylan - Tangled Up In Blue (Video)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwSZvHqf9qM|language=en|access-date=2021-05-02|archive-date=May 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502055947/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwSZvHqf9qM|url-status=live}}</ref> On the second leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue, in 1976, the song was performed with a full band in what [[Clinton Heylin]] has called a "gear-crunching heavy-metal" arrangement.<ref name="Heylin2010" /> The [[Bob Dylan World Tour 1978|1978 World Tour]] performances were slower, with a [[big band]].<ref name="Trager2004" /> After 1978, the next live performances were in [[Bob Dylan/Santana European Tour 1984|1984]],<ref name="BDTUIBSL" /> again solo on acoustic guitar but this time with radically reworked lyrics.<ref name="Heylin2010" /> Versions performed after 1984 have been closer to the original.<ref name="GRAYENC" />

==Credits and personnel==
Credits for the ''Blood on the Tracks'' and single release, adapted from the ''Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track'' book.<ref name="ALLS">{{cite book |last1=Margotin |first1=Philippe |last2=Guesdon |first2=Jean-Michel |date=2015 |title=Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track |publisher=Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers |pages=452–461 |isbn=978-1579129859}}</ref>

'''Musicians'''
* [[Bob Dylan]]{{spaced en dash}}[[Singing|lead vocals]], [[acoustic guitar|acoustic rhythm guitar]], [[harmonica]]
* Kevin Odegard{{spaced en dash}}acoustic lead guitar
* Chris Weber{{spaced en dash}}acoustic lead guitar
* Gregg Inhofer{{spaced en dash}}[[Keyboard instrument|keyboards]]
* [[Billy Peterson]]{{spaced en dash}}[[bass guitar]]
* [[Bill Berg (musician)|Bill Berg]]{{spaced en dash}}[[drums]]

'''Technical'''
* David Zimmerman{{spaced en dash}}[[record producer|producer]] (uncredited)
* Paul Martinson{{spaced en dash}}[[Audio engineering|engineering]]

== Covers and references ==
The song has been covered by various artists, including [[Barb Jungr]], [[Jerry Garcia]], [[Half Japanese]], [[Robyn Hitchcock]], the [[Indigo Girls]], [[Kim Larsen]], [[T-Bone Burnett]],<ref name="OBCOVER">{{Cite web |title=Tangled Up in Blue |url=http://www.bjorner.com/songst.htm#_Tangled_Up_In |last=<!--Not stated--> |website=bjorner.com |publisher=[[Olof Björner]] |access-date=24 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207211021/http://www.bjorner.com/songst.htm#_Tangled_Up_In |archive-date=December 7, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Great White]], [[Joan Baez]], [[Ani Difranco]], [[KT Tunstall]], [[The Whitlams]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lewis |first1=Jonathan |title=The Whitlams - Eternal Nightcap |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/eternal-nightcap-mw0000461197 |website=AllMusic |publisher=RhythmOne |access-date=15 July 2022 |archive-date=July 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220715161546/https://www.allmusic.com/album/eternal-nightcap-mw0000461197 |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[The String Cheese Incident]].<ref name="RS40F" /> [[Mary Lee's Corvette]] covered the entire ''Blood on The Tracks'' album in 2002, including "Tangled Up in Blue".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mary Lee's Corvette – Blood on the Tracks |url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/mary-lees-corvette-blood-on-the-tracks-28113/ |last=<!--Not stated--> |date=1 February 2003 |website=Uncut |access-date=6 April 2020 |archive-date=October 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003184111/https://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/mary-lees-corvette-blood-on-the-tracks-28113/ |url-status=live }}</ref> According to [[Hootie & the Blowfish]] vocalist [[Darius Rucker]], their song "[[Only Wanna Be with You]]" was written as a tribute to Dylan;<ref name="RSHOOTIE">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/darius-rucker-on-wagon-wheel-and-the-future-of-hootie-20130719|title=Darius Rucker on 'Wagon Wheel' and the Future of Hootie|last=Greene|first=Andy|date=19 July 2013|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=3 October 2020|archive-date=June 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613041033/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/darius-rucker-on-wagon-wheel-and-the-future-of-hootie-20130719|url-status=live}}</ref> it includes the lines "Put on a little Dylan sitting on a fence," "Ain't Bobby so cool?", and "I'm tangled up in blue."<ref name="TASTECOUNT">{{cite web|url=http://tasteofcountry.com/remember-when-bob-dylan-sued-darius-rucker/|title=Remember when Bob Dylan sued Darius Rucker?|last=Dukes|first=Billy|work=Taste of Country|date=6 July 2013|access-date=3 October 2020|archive-date=June 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190613030828/https://tasteofcountry.com/remember-when-bob-dylan-sued-darius-rucker/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The song is a playable track on ''[[Rock Band 2]]'', as the most difficult song in the vocal section, and the final song for the player to complete in the "Impossible Vocal Challenge".<ref name="RS40F">{{Cite magazine |title=Dylan's blood-best album: 40 facts about the 40-year-old Blood On The Tracks |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/dylans-bloody-best-album-40-facts-about-the-40-year-old-blood-on-the-tracks-159901/ |last=Willman |first=Chris |date=21 January 2015 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=24 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200405155031/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/dylans-bloody-best-album-40-facts-about-the-40-year-old-blood-on-the-tracks-159901/ |archive-date=April 5, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> "Tangled Up in Blue" is also published as one of two poems by Dylan in ''The Seagull Book of Poems.''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.wwnorton.com/books/webad.aspx?id=4294994970|title=The Seagull Book of Poems {{!}} W. W. Norton & Company|last=Kelly|first=Joseph|website=books.wwnorton.com|access-date=2019-01-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190130055159/https://books.wwnorton.com/books/webad.aspx?id=4294994970|archive-date=January 30, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Dylan reworked the lyrics again for an artwork, consisting of handwritten lyrics and a sketch of an abandoned car, displayed at the [[Halcyon Gallery]]'s ''Mondo Scripto'' exhibition in 2018.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bob Dylan, Mondo Scripto |url=https://www.halcyongallery.com/exhibitions/bob-dylan-mondo-scripto |publisher=Halcyon Gallery |year=2018 |access-date=7 October 2018 |archive-date=August 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200828080321/https://www.halcyongallery.com/exhibitions/bob-dylan-mondo-scripto |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Holmes |first=Kevin |title=Bob Dylan's Lyrics Celebrated in New Exhibition "Mondo Scripto" |url=https://www.rockarchive.com/news/2018/bob-dylan-lyrics |website=rockarchive.com |date=12 October 2018 |access-date=7 October 2020 |archive-date=October 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201007115952/https://www.rockarchive.com/news/2018/bob-dylan-lyrics |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Charts (single)==
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Chart performance for "Tangled Up in Blue"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (1975)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
{{single chart|Billboardhot100|31|artist=Bob Dylan|rowheader=true|refname="hot100"|access-date=7 October 2020}}
|}

==Official album releases==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!  !! Album !! Release Year !! Recorded at !! Recording date !! [[Take]]/ version !! Personnel !! Ref.
|-
| 1 || ''[[Blood on the Tracks]]'' || 1975 || [[Sound 80]] || 30 December 1974 ||  || Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica; Kevin Odegard: guitar; Chris Weber: guitar; Gregg Inhofer: keyboards; [[Billy Peterson]]: bass; [[Bill Berg (musician)|Bill Berg]]: [[Drum kit|drums]] || align="center"|<ref name="Heylin2010" />
|-
| 2 || ''[[Real Live]]'' || 1984 || [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]] || 7 July 1984 ||  || Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica; [[Colin Allen]]: drums; [[Ian McLagan]]: keyboards; [[Gregg Sutton]]:[[bass guitar]]; [[Mick Taylor]]: guitar || align="center"|<ref>{{cite web |title=Real Live |url=http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/real-live/ |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=bobdylan.com |publisher=Sony Music Entertainment |access-date=24 July 2020 |archive-date=May 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529230835/http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/real-live/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=1984 Europe Tour |url=http://www.bjorner.com/DSN07010%20-%201984%20Europe%20Tour.htm#DSN07310 |website=bjorner.com |publisher=[[Olof Bjorner]] |access-date=6 August 2020 |archive-date=October 20, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020170124/http://www.bjorner.com/DSN07010%20-%201984%20Europe%20Tour.htm#DSN07310 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| 3 || ''[[Biograph (album)|Biograph]]'' || 1985 || || || ''[[Blood on the Tracks]]'' version || || align="center"|<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/biograph/ |title=Biograph (1985) |website=bobdylan.com |publisher=Sony Music Entertainment |access-date=26 July 2020 |archive-date=June 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628041440/https://www.bobdylan.com/albums/biograph/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| 4 || ''[[The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991]]'' || 1991 || [[A & R Recording|A&R Studios]] || 16 September 1974 || Take 3, Remake 2 || Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica; Tony Brown: bass. Unknown additional acoustic guitar, from one of Charles Brown, III,  Eric Weissberg, or Barry Kornfeld. Later also released on ''[[The Bootleg Series Vol. 14: More Blood, More Tracks]]'' || align="center"|<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/the-bootleg-series-vol-1-3-rare-and-unreleased-1961-1991/ |title=The Bootleg Series, Vol 1–3: Rare & Unreleased 1961–1991 (1991) |website=bobdylan.com |publisher=Sony Music Entertainment |access-date=26 July 2020 |archive-date=June 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626195828/https://www.bobdylan.com/albums/the-bootleg-series-vol-1-3-rare-and-unreleased-1961-1991/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="UNCUTMBMT" />
|-
| 5 || ''[[Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Volume 3]]'' || 1994 || || || ''[[Blood on the Tracks]]'' version || || align="center"|<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/greatest-hits-volume-3/ |title=Greatest Hits Volume 3 (1994) |website=bobdylan.com |publisher=Sony Music Entertainment |access-date=26 July 2020 |archive-date=June 10, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610175142/https://www.bobdylan.com/albums/greatest-hits-volume-3/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| 6 || ''[[The Essential Bob Dylan]]'' || 2000 || || || ''[[Blood on the Tracks]]'' version || || align="center"|<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/essential-bob-dylan/ |title=The Essential Bob Dylan (2000) |website=bobdylan.com |publisher=Sony Music Entertainment |access-date=26 July 2020 |archive-date=June 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200618221449/http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/essential-bob-dylan/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| 7 || ''[[The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue]]'' || 2002 || [[Boston Music Hall]] || 21 Nov 1975 || Evening show || Later also released on ''[[Bob Dylan – The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings]] (Deluxe edition)'' (For personnel, see that entry)|| align="center"|<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/bootleg-series-vol-5-bob-dylan-live-1975/ |title=The Bootleg Series, Vol 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975 (2002) |publisher=Sony Music Entertainment |access-date=26 July 2020 |archive-date=June 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200618102923/http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/bootleg-series-vol-5-bob-dylan-live-1975/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="RTDELUXE" />
|-
| 8 || ''[[The Best of Bob Dylan]]'' || 2005 || || || ''[[Blood on the Tracks]]'' version || || align="center"|<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/the-best-of-bob-dylan/ |title=The Best of Bob Dylan (2005) |website=bobdylan.com |publisher=Sony Music Entertainment |access-date=26 July 2020 |archive-date=June 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200618105640/http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/the-best-of-bob-dylan/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| 9 || ''[[Dylan (2007 album)|Dylan]]'' || 2007 || || || ''[[Blood on the Tracks]]'' version || || align="center"|<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/dylan/ |title=Dylan (2007) |website=bobdylan.com |publisher=Sony Music Entertainment |access-date=26 July 2020 |archive-date=June 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626162357/https://www.bobdylan.com/albums/dylan/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| 10 || ''[[The Very Best of Bob Dylan]]'' || 2013 || || || ''[[Blood on the Tracks]]'' version || || align="center"|<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-09-25 |title=Bob Dylan / The Very Best Of – SuperDeluxeEdition |url=https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/bob-dylan-the-very-best-of/ |access-date=2025-05-10 |language=en-US}}</ref>
|-
| 11 || ''[[The Bootleg Series Vol. 14: More Blood, More Tracks]]'' || 2018 || [[A & R Recording|A&R Studios]] || 19 September 1974 || 19/9/74, Take 3, Remake 3 ||Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica; Tony Brown: bass || align="center" |<ref name="UNCUTMBMT">{{Cite web |title=Read the complete tracklisting for Bob Dylan's More Blood, More Tracks – The Bootleg Series Vol. 14 |url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/news/read-complete-tracklisting-bob-dylans-blood-tracks-bootleg-series-vol-14-107408/ |last=Bonner |first=Michael |date=20 September 2018 |website=Uncut |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407115523/https://www.uncut.co.uk/news/read-complete-tracklisting-bob-dylans-blood-tracks-bootleg-series-vol-14-107408/ |archive-date=7 April 2020 |access-date=7 April 2020}}</ref><ref name="BCD" />
|-
| 12 || rowspan="10" | ''[[The Bootleg Series Vol. 14: More Blood, More Tracks]] (Deluxe edition)'' || rowspan="10" | 2018 || [[A & R Recording|A&R Studios]] || 16 September 1974  || Take 1 || Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica; Tony Brown: bass || rowspan="10" align="center"|<ref name="UNCUTMBMT" /><ref name="BCD">{{cite book |last=Heylin |first=Clinton  |date=1996 |title=Dylan: behind closed doors. The recording sessions (1960–1994) |publisher=Penguin |pages=101–107 |isbn=0140257497}}</ref>
|-
| 13 || [[A & R Recording|A&R Studios]] || 17 September 1974 || Rehearsal || Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica; Tony Brown: bass; [[Paul Griffin (musician)|Paul Griffin]]: organ 
|-
| 14 || [[A & R Recording|A&R Studios]] || 17 September 1974  || Take 2, Remake || Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica; Tony Brown: bass; [[Paul Griffin (musician)|Paul Griffin]]: organ
|-
| 15 || [[A & R Recording|A&R Studios]] || 17 September 1974  || Take 3, Remake || Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica; Tony Brown: bass 
|-
| 16 || [[A & R Recording|A&R Studios]] || 19 September 1974  || Rehearsal and Take 1, Remake 2 ||  Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica; Tony Brown: bass 
|-
| 17 || [[A & R Recording|A&R Studios]] || 19 September 1974  || Take 2, Remake 2 || Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica; Tony Brown: bass
|-
| 18 || [[A & R Recording|A&R Studios]] || 19 September 1974  || Take 3, Remake 2 || Included on a test pressing and also on ''[[The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991]]'') 
|-
| 19 || [[A & R Recording|A&R Studios]] || 19 September 1974  || Rehearsal and Takes 1–2, Remake 3 || Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica; Tony Brown: bass
|-
| 20 || [[A & R Recording|A&R Studios]] || 19 September 1974  || Take 3, Remake 3 || Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica; Tony Brown: bass
|-
| 21 ||  ||  || ''[[Blood on the Tracks]]'' version|| 
|-
| 22 || rowspan="3" | ''[[Bob Dylan – The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings]] (Deluxe edition)'' || rowspan="3" | 2019 || [[Worcester Memorial Auditorium]] || 19 November 1975 || || rowspan="3" | Bob Dylan – vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica; [[Bob Neuwirth|Bobby Neuwirth]]: guitar, vocals; [[Scarlet Rivera]]: [[violin]]; [[T Bone Burnett|T Bone J. Henry Burnett]]: guitar, vocals; [[Steven Soles]]: guitar, vocals; [[Mick Ronson]]: guitar; [[David Mansfield]]: [[steel guitar]], [[mandolin]], violin, [[dobro]]; [[Rob Stoner]]: bass guitar, vocals; [[Howard Wyeth|Howie Wyeth]]: drums, piano; Luther Rix: drums, percussion, [[conga]]s; [[Ronee Blakley]]: vocals; [[Ramblin' Jack Elliott]]: vocals, guitar; [[Allen Ginsberg]]: vocals, [[zill|finger cymbals]]; [[Joni Mitchell]]: vocals ||rowspan="3" align="center"|<ref name="RTDELUXE">{{cite web |url=http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/bob-dylan-the-rolling-thunder-revue-the-1975-live-recordings/ |title=Bob Dylan – The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings (2019) |website=bobdylan.com |publisher=Sony Music Entertainment |access-date=26 July 2020 |archive-date=June 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626182436/https://www.bobdylan.com/albums/bob-dylan-the-rolling-thunder-revue-the-1975-live-recordings/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| 23 ||  [[Boston Music Hall]] || 21 November 1975 || Evening show
|-
| 24 ||   [[Montreal Forum|Forum de Montréal]] ||  4 December 1975 ||
|-
|}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/tangled-blue Lyrics]  at Bob Dylan's official website

{{Bob Dylan}}
{{Bob Dylan singles}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tangled Up in Blue}}
[[Category:1975 singles]]
[[Category:1974 songs]]
[[Category:Bob Dylan songs]]
[[Category:Columbia Records singles]]
[[Category:Songs written by Bob Dylan]]