kate_nepveu

I've been thinking about this for a while, and the dog is asleep on my foot, so now's as good a time as any to ask: is there a generally-accepted theory about the women in "Tangled Up in Blue"?

This will be easier to explain with lyrics, so cut for length:

Lyrics from Dylan's website, with numbered verses for ease of reference:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.

The women in verses 1 & 2 can't be the same. I think verse 5 refers to yet a third woman (who is also the same as the woman in verse 4). The woman in verse 6 could be the same as any of the prior women, or someone completely different. And yet the singular is used throughout.

Any generally accepted interpretation of this? Personally I like to think of it as a fantasy story of some sort, but my biases are showing.