Today is the 35th anniversary of the Hold That Tiger gig, a show in Chicago on the North American Sister tour that was recorded by Aadam Jacobs and released on vinyl as an "official bootleg" through Byron Coley's Goofin' imprint in 1991 (later adopted by Sonic Youth themselves). When their Sonic Death fan club had exceeded inactivity in the late 90s, they mailed all current members a reissue of the show on CD, remastered by Wharton Tiers. It wasn't until June 2020, when it became available via their bandcamp site, that they finally corrected the speed, which had been increased slightly to allow the hour of music to fit comfortably on one 12". It's a solid performance featuring almost all of the songs from that tour - "Hot Wire My Heart" is the only tune played with any regularity ignored that night, and the only song from Sister that doesn't appear. The most noteworthy inclusion is the four-song encore of Ramones covers that was unique to this tour. I received a video of this set back in the late 90s, it's pretty poor quality but seems to have slipped out of circulation, so I thought it would be nice to share now.
Aside from "White Kross", which had been in the set since May 1986, the Sister material was debuted at a pair of Maxwell's gigs in Hoboken, New Jersey. Unlike the Maxwell's premiere of the Bad Moon Rising or Daydream Nation material, Sister had already been recorded before these shows, though you might not believe it if you heard the tapes! The April 23rd show is a fascinating listen, as they run through the 10 Sister tracks while plagued by false starts, guitars going out of tune, and an increasingly hostile crowd who turns the band's commitment to new material into a running joke. As the mini-tour progresses, they do work out the kinks and add a few old songs ("Expressway" "Tom Violence" and "Brother James"), but as they'd already established, current is the rule. Parts of this tour are discussed in Lee's Jrnls80s book (as is much of 1987), and the May 22nd Trenton, New Jersey show (a month after the initial week of warm-up gigs) can be heard via bandcamp (though I recommend checking out those Maxwell's shows, conveniently available at this website along with hundreds of other shows we're extremely fortunate he taped, including some very critical Sonic Youth gigs!).
In June they embarked on a month of European shows, beginning in London with a notorious gig that has been parcelled out here and there - "Cotton Crown" and "PCH" on a Sonic Death 7", "Catholic Block" on a couple of compilations, "Stereo Sanctity" on one of the band's web-only mix tapes, and "Schizophrenia" and "I Wanna Be Yr Dog" (w/ Iggy Pop!) on the Screaming Fields Of Sonic Love VHS. The tour is full of interesting shows, including two radio sessions - one relatively straightforward VPRO taping, and one total nightmare in Geneva, Switzerland, where they had previously done a session in 1983 (featured in large, dissected part on the essential Sonic Death). Parts of the Geneva session appeared on the Master-Dik 12", the title track having also been worked on during this June tour (and played before the encore at many shows). An alternate mix would be included as a bonus track on the Sister CD, released that month. Aside from "Tom Violence" and "Expressway" (often played like the Starpower single edit, with the chorus repeated in lieu of an extended outro!), "Green Light" and "Be Yr Dog" made occasional appearances. The June 21st gig in Torino, Italy was released officially through bandcamp. They also released a piece titled "Broken Eye" on a 1990 Vera Groningen compilation, which was actually the drawn out noise coda to "White Kross" that they were doing on this leg of the tour (which would often segue into "Hot Wire My Heart", of all things). The tour officially ended where it began, in London, with a crazy set featuring a 5-song encore of classic '81-'83 material. They came back (?) for two festivals a week later, including their first appearance at Pukkelpop, for which a must-watch bootleg video circulates. The few '87 gigs available on video are generally filmed in dark clubs (and look only slightly better than the Chicago set), but this one was captured in broad daylight by somebody at the back of the stage, with a lot of focus on Steve, which is particularly cool (dig him counting out the beats for the "Tuff Gnarl" outro).
In September they began a tour of North America that would last until the end of October. The set list structure shifted slightly, but not much - the biggest change was the addition of "Beat On The Brat" (also recorded for Master-Dik) which was quickly joined by 3 additional Ramones tunes - "Loudmouth" "I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You" and "Today Yr Love, Tomorrow The World". These eventually pushed "Hot Wire My Heart" to the side, which was last known to be performed on October 6th in Bozeman, Montana. This gig also featured one of the loose encores that popped up occasionally on this tour, where they stumble through the weird Master-Dik version of "Ticket To Ride" and an assortment of other very quick not-quite-covers (Thurston reciting lyrics over noise, basically), though they do take a confusing stab at the Jesus & Mary Chain's "You Trip Me Up" to close the evening. The next night in Denver is one to behold as well, with "The World Looks Red" randomly inserted in the main set, and a second encore of "Death Valley '69" outdoing the Ramones block. On the 14th is the infamous Hold That Tiger show, and the last known recording from the tour is an oddball gig on October 24th at a shopping mall in Naugatuck, Connecticut that once again features a very loose, jammy encore with nods to "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Brown Sugar", "Mom, I Gave The Cat Some Acid" (which entered their repertoire when they played with the Happy Flowers earlier in the tour), and another Jesus & Mary Chain tune, "Just Like Honey". This show is also technically the final recorded performance of "Beauty Lies In The Eye" "Pipeline" and "Tuff Gnarl", though they were likely played the following night in Philadelphia.
So, that's what our three (!) Songs of the Week have in common - they're the only original Sister songs to be left behind in 1987. Unlike most Sonic Youth albums, the Sister tunes persevered in the tough battle against newer material for set list space, with "Schizophrenia" and "White Kross" in the top 5 most performed songs, and "Catholic Block" not far behind. Others like "Stereo Sanctity" "PCH" and "Cotton Crown" would pop up with moderate frequency, some after an extended period of dormancy. Still, aside from Daydream Nation, whose stats are radically boosted by the 2007 "reissue" tour, Sister was the album to be revisited the most...except for these 3 songs (and that dumb cover).
"Beauty Lies In The Eye" is notable for featuring Thurston on bass, with Lee overdubbing a number of guitars, including an acoustic track (something new for them, also appearing on "Catholic Block"). Kim plays no instrument, focusing on her vocal, similar to "Making the Nature Scene" or their cover of "I Wanna Be Yr Dog". Having filmed the music video for "Shadow of a Doubt", Kevin Kerslake returned to do another one for "Beauty Lies", capturing the band in their Ludlow Street rehearsal space. The video appeared on a couple of different SST promotional samplers, and was later collected on the Screaming Fields Of Sonic Love VHS compilation in 1995. The song itself was also included on the accompanying CD version of Screaming Fields.... It's the only surviving video from Sister, but a curiously forgotten clip for "Stereo Sanctity" did appear on SST's Over 35 Videos Never Before Released VHS sampler, circa 1987, along with "Death Valley '69" "Beauty Lies In The Eyes" and Lee's "New Groove" (which I think is actually "Destruction Site" from his From Here To Infinity LP). Also, a video for "White Kross" was discussed on the Sister Interview Disc, a collaboration merging Richard Kern footage with Savage Pencil animation which was ultimately unrealized (my understanding is that the footage from the band's rehearsal space in the "Teen Age Riot" was left over from this project).
"Beauty Lies" appeared in nearly every single set list played in 1987, before being banished forever. Lee played a simplified reduction of his multiple guitar parts, and Thurston played a slightly different bassline (without the ultra prominent wah pedal used on the record - this was the dawn of the "bass wah" era for them). Lee's tuning F#F#C#C#C#C# seems to be unique to this track, supporting a series of chord changes that he composed. At the first Maxwell's show, you can hear him pick the strings out and the middle two C# strings are in unison, a half step below the regular D string on a guitar (with the top two C# strings being tuned above the regular B string). However, I'm pretty sure he changed this at some point, as it sounds like the October tour has the top 3 C# strings tuned in unison (so that G string is tuned UP, watch out!). This allowed him to keep a high C# droning through the chords, but I suspect the record was tuned the way he had it at Maxwell's. Although, it's mentioned in JRNLS80s that in Morgantown, West Virginia a couple of days after the Hoboken shows, Lee found his second Telecaster Deluxe, which he ended up using for "Beauty Lies" throughout 1987. I don't know what guitar he used for the album or Maxwell's, but that may explain the octave shift in the tuning.
"Pipeline/Kill Time" is Lee's vocal contribution to Sister, continuing a trend set with EVOL that he'd sing at least one song per album. It features Thurston and Lee playing in the F#F#F#F#EB tuning, rapidly picking shrieking parts that drive a spooky mood propelled by Steve's rolling drumline and Kim's simple yet effective bass progression. Presumably the vocal section is "Pipeline" with the drawn out coda the "Kill Time", accented by a giant wall-sized Moog synthesizer programmed by Walter Sear, played by Steve "Cougar" Shelley (the Sister liners assign a quirky middle name to all members, Steve's presumably a goof on John Cougar Mellencamp). Per David Browne's essential Goodbye 20th Century, the outro had some of Lee's spoken word removed for spatial purposes, though the text is preserved on the lyric sheet in the liner notes, dated April 5th, 1987: "Discontinuity / Sandy beaches / Bridges sinking into the sea / Beautiful confusion / You're a fading memory". The song is supposedly about the marriage of Lee's long-time friend Thom DeJesu (later referenced in "Lee #2", among other works). Speaking of JRNLS80s, scope out this entry Lee penned after the first show of the Savage Blunder tour on November 14, 1982 in Chapel Hill:
"Pipeline" likewise appeared in basically every show in 1987, with the "Kill Time" section stretched out as they saw fit on a nightly basis. For the October tour, they established a segue into "Catholic Block" with Thurston playing a weird hammer-on riff, which you can hear on Hold That Tiger (dig the early "Kool Thing" nod before the song, too!).
The lyrics to "Tuff Gnarl" were assembled via the cut-and-paste method, using Thurston's early 80s Killer zine as its source material. Curiously, the lyrics first turned up two years earlier on April 13th, 1985 in Zurich, Switzerland on the first European leg of the Bad Moon Rising tour - Thurston sings them in their entirety over "I'm Insane"! I don't know if he just grabbed the wrong index card or notebook page or whatever, but it's pretty amusing (and totally works!). He even includes the X'ed out lyrics "Ok Ok you ready? You ready? The wrench is set." and its then-title, "Sea-Sik".
This is one of Mike Watt's favorite Sonic Youth songs, and he included it on his star-powered 1995 LP Ball-Hog or Tugboat?, featuring himself on bass, Thurston, Lee and Nels Cline on guitars, Carla Bozulich and Petra Haden on vocals, Epic Soundtracks on tambourine, and both J. Mascis and Steve Shelley on drums (J. tagged out after the vocal section, claiming he doesn't "do jams"). While performing on the Lollapalooza second stage in Austin, Texas on August 9th, 1995, Watt was joined by Thurston and Steve for "Tuff Gnarl", the only time I'm aware of them playing it after 1987 (though I recall a rumor that it was in contention for the 2006 tour...). Watt was such a fan of the tune, he even voted for its inclusion on the Starbucks compilation disc Hits Are For Squares, though he was beaten to the punch by writer Dave Eggers, making it the only song chosen by two people! To quote Watt: "God damn it! Who picked fucking 'Tuff Gnarl' already? Shit, I wish I would've been asked earlier - does this mean I throw chingasos with Eggers over first dibs? What the hey, I'm making a fuss cuz that's truly my favorite song - it's got the best rock'n'roll lyrics ever with the emotional stiffener of the soar-chords on wings of tear-streamers 'round a inward-firing-outward-melody-singer-sender on the receiving end of much shove from the bonus-plower-pummel-thunder pushing it 'pert-near onto a full-on pearl ... me about to end-over and, well, when my body's ashes are sinking in the ocean and my spirit bird's doing the big fly-up into the 'yonder, that's what I wanna be hearing."
This is another early Steve track where they experiment with time signatures, with each member seeming to follow their own lead during the song's outro. I thought tabbing it out would help me make sense of it, but I'm still kind of at a loss. They played the song much quicker live, but also seemed to trim the outro - the Hold That Tiger version runs about 2:20 versus the album's 3:14. By the way, Lee's quip that "we promise a new tuning every night" before the song is a callback to the previous night in Madison where a broken string left Thurston struggling to play the riff, with Lee calling it "a new version" after they'd finished.
I've had tabs for all three of these songs posted for the past 20 years (bass tabs since '97!), but not Lee's part for "Tuff Gnarl", and his tuning was slightly off for "Beauty Lies". I've touched everything up, hopefully it's an improvement! As always, please let me know if you have any comments or corrections.
"BEAUTY LIES IN THE EYE"
LAYOUT
A - B - A - B - C - D - C - D - A - B
THURSTON
EADG
CENTER
LEE
F#F#C#C#C#C#
LEFT/CENTER/RIGHT
This is basically a tab for the live version, which I've probably made way more complicated than necessary by splitting up into different sections. The chord structure is essentially the same as the album, there are just 3 guitars basically playing variations of the same thing (one acoustic, one a slightly dirty electric, and one with a wah). The biggest difference on the record is Thurston's bass part, which he plays through a wah and kind of floats all over the place, where-as he keeps a pretty steady foundation for the live arrangement. He tends to bend some of the notes a bit, on some versions more than others. This is based on the HOLD THAT TIGER performance, which is relatively bendless. Depending on whether you choose to tune the G string down to C# or (good luck!) up to C#, you may want to "thumb" the chords with that string open. A SECTION 00:00-00:27 Lee strums a series of chords. Listen for the rhythm. C#---0------7------0------7--5------ C#---0------7------0------7--5------ C#---5------0------5------0--0------ C#---5------0------5------0--0------ F#---5------0------5------0--0------ use your thumb for 5th fret F#---5------0------5------0--0------ Kim starts singing: C#---0------7------ C#---0------7------ C#---5------0------ C#---5------0------ F#---5------0------ F#---5------0------ Thurston plays: G-------------------------------------- D-------------------------------------- repeat simile A----------16-16-----------16--16-16--- E---14--14-------14--14-14------------- B SECTION 00:27-00:35 Lee strums in the same pattern: C#---0------0----- C#---0------0----- C#---3------2----- C#---3------2----- w/ thumb F#---3------2----- F#---3------2----- Thurston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~-----\8---8~~---\10~~10~~10~~-- C#---2-3----0--5~--------7-7~~---\10~~10~~10~~-- C#---0------5----------------------------------- C#---0------5----------------------------------- F#---0------5----------------------------------- F#---0------5----------------------------------- Thurston: G---11--11--11-11----------------------------------------------------- D-----------------0-0-0--0-0-0----11-11-11-11---9--9-9-9-9--7-7-6-6--- A--------------------------------------------------------------------- E--------------------------------------------------------------------- He bends most of these notes as he plays them. For the first note, he holds it and then adds the open D string, letting the 11th fret ring. He moves to the 11th fret on the D string when Kim sings the second "beauty lies", then 9th fret for "lost in another's dream", then he walks down to the low F# for the next part. D SECTION 01:28-01:32 C#-----0--0--0--0------0--0--0--0-----0--0--0--0-----0--0--0--0----- C#---\12-12-12-12br---12-12-12-12br--12-12-12-12br--12-12-12-12br--- C#------------------------------------------------------------------ C#------------------------------------------------------------------ F#------------------------------------------------------------------ F#------------------------------------------------------------------ Thurston: G---------------------------------------------------- D---------------------------------------------------- A---------------------------------------------------- E---2--2-2-2br--2--2-2-2br--2--2-2-2br--2--2-2-2br--- C SECTION 01:32-01:45 C#---0--0-5~-5~5~~---\8~----8~~---\10~~10~~10~10~10\--- C#---0--0-5~-5~5~~------7~7~7~~---\10~~10~~10~10~10\--- C#----------------------------------------------------- C#----------------------------------------------------- F#----------------------------------------------------- F#----------------------------------------------------- D SECTION 01:45-01:53 C#-----0--0--0--0------0--0--0--0-----0--0--0--0-----0--0--0--0----- C#---\12-12-12-12br---12-12-12-12br--12-12-12-12br--12-12-12-12br--- C#------------------------------------------------------------------ x 2 C#------------------------------------------------------------------ F#------------------------------------------------------------------ F#------------------------------------------------------------------ Thurston plays the same low F# only he slides up an octave to the 14th fret at the end. A SECTION 01:53-02:02 C#---0------7------ C#---0------7------ C#---5------0------ C#---5------0------ F#---5------0------ F#---5------0------ Thurston: G---16-16-14-14------------------------------14-------------- D---------------16--16-16--16-16----14^16-16-----16--16-16--- A------------------------------------------------------------ E------------------------------------------------------------ B SECTION 02:02-02:17 C#---0------0------2\3---- C#---0------0------2\3---- C#---3------2------0------ C#---3------2------0------ F#---3------2------0------ F#---3------2------0------ Thurston: G------------------------------------------------- D---14-------------------------------------------- A------16-16--16~---14^16-16-16~~----------------- E-------------------------------------14br~~~~---- text + tab by Chris Lawrence
"PIPELINE/KILL TIME"
LAYOUT
A - B - A - C - D
KIM
EADG
CENTER
THURSTON
F#F#F#F#EB
RIGHT
LEE
F#F#F#F#EB
LEFT
The album version doesn't entirely match the live version, to my ears. I can imagine why
Lee simplified his part to sing it live, but I still hear minor differences in the basic
chord shapes. It's probably in my head, though. Thurston and Lee basically play the same
parts throughout the live version, except during the 2nd verse when Thurston sticks to
what he does on the record.
INTRO 00:00-00:04
Thurston starts with:
B-------
E-------
F#--0---
F#--0---
F#--0---
F#--0---
Lee plays:
B---10-------
E------------
F#------10--- w/ wah
F#-----------
F#-----------
F#-----------
A SECTION 00:04-00:29
On the album, each guitarist has a slightly different part, but they both seemed to play
the same thing (during the first verse) on live versions:
B---------------
E--------------- basically, slide up to the 19th fret and trem pick furiously,
F#---\19---/0--- then slide back to the open strings
F#---------/0---
F#---\19---/0--- x 4
F#-----/---/0---
B----/----
E----/---- then keep trem picking the same chord, but slowly bend the strings
F#--19br-- up and back down (more emphasis on the lower octave)
F#--------
F#--19br-- x 4
F#---0----
This is basically what they're doing on the album, but I always thought it sounded more like
they were picking the middle F# strings and not the octave chord. Either way, it's basically
trem picking the 19th fret and sliding back.
On the record, it sounds like Thurston plays:
BEND STRINGS UP AND BACK DOWN
B-----------------------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------------------- furious trem picking
F#---19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19--------
F#---19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-------- keep picking while
F#---------------------------------------------19\\\-- sliding down fretboard...
F#----------------------------------------------------
sometimes he stretches up to the 22nd fret ("I think you know the place we should meet")
B---------------------------------------
E---------------------------------------
F#---19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-22/--
F#---19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-22/--
F#--------------------------------------
F#--------------------------------------
"run me out a thin wire":
B-------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------
F#------------------------------------------ bend strings up slowly
F#------------------------------------------ and return, trem picking
F#--19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-- rapidly......
F#---0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--
On the record, Lee plays:
B---------
E----21b-- keep bending up and down
F#---19---
F#---19--- rapidly pick w/ wah
F#--------
F#-------- he doesn't slide back to the open strings
"run me out a thin wire":
B-------
E---9b-- keep bending up and down
F#--7---
F#--7--- rapidly pick...
F#------
F#------
Kim plays:
G---------------------------------------------
D---------------------------------------------
A---------------------------------------------
E--9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-\14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14---
B SECTION 00:29-01:04
Thurston and Lee play this on the live versions:
B--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F#--15-15-15--15-15-15-15\17-17-17--17-17-17-19-19-19-19-19-19-19--17-17-17-17---
F#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F#--15-15-15--15-15-15-15\17-17-17--17-17-17-19-19-19-19-19-19-19--17-17-17-17---
F#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------/---
F#--15-15-15--15-15-15-15\17-17-17--17-17-17-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-20-20-20-20--20-20-20-22---
F#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F#--15-15-15--15-15-15-15\17-17-17--17-17-17-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-20-20-20-20--20-20-20-22---
F#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------/---
Hold last chord @ 22nd fret, bend up and pick furiously
For the chord part, on live versions they both appear to go from the 3rd to 8th fret,
but I swear I hear other notes in there on the record...
B---3---3---3---3---8---8---8---8----/---
E---3---3---3---3---8---8---8---8----/---
F#--3---3---3---3---8---8---8---8---19--- hold last chord and trem pick while bending
F#--3---3---3---3---8---8---8---8--------
F#--3---3---3---3---8---8---8---8---19---
F#--3---3---3---3---8---8---8---8----/---
I wonder if maybe Thurston only plays the higher strings?
B---3-- and --8--
E---3-- --8--
F#--0-- --0--
F#--0-- --0--
F#----- -----
F#----- -----
This was my old tab for it if you'd like a different approach. I don't really hear the
higher octave on the album version.
B------------------------------------------------------
E------------------------------------------------------
F#--3-3-3--3-3-3-3\5-5-5--5-5-5-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-5-5-5-5--
F#--3-3-3--3-3-3-3\5-5-5--5-5-5-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-5-5-5-5--
F#-----------------------------------------------------
F#-----------------------------------------------------
bend......
B----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E------------------------------------------------------------12-12-12-12-12-12-12--
F#--3-3-3--3-3-3-3\5-5-5--5-5-5-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-8-8-8-8--8-8-8-11-11-11-11-11-11-11--
F#--3-3-3--3-3-3-3\5-5-5--5-5-5-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-8-8-8-8--8-8-8-10-10-10-10-10-10-10--
F#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B--------------------------------------keep trem picking while bending string up
E----5---5---5---5---3---3---3---3--9b------------------------------
F#---3---3---3---3---1---1---1---1--7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7---
F#---3---3---3---3---0---0---0---0--7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7---
F#-------------------0---0---0---0----------------------------------
F#-------------------0---0---0---0----------------------------------
Kim plays:
G-------
D---0--- keep playing this note for the entire section
A-------
E-------
She might actually be picking the 5th fret of the A string, then throwing the open D
in for emphasis.
A SECTION 01:04-01:28
Thurston starts with:
B-------
E---9b-- keep bending string up and down
F#--7--- trem pick furiously...
F#--7---
F#------ this is probably played at the 19th fret
F#------ but I like the dissonance you can get with the triple unison
"he was mistaken for sane":
B----------------------------------------------------------------------
E---------------------------------------------------------------------- trem pick
F#--12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19--
F#--12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19-19--
F#---------------------------------------------------------------------
F#---------------------------------------------------------------------
"we move and groove and cut loose from fear":
B---------------------
E---------------------
F#---7------12----19-- trem pick (same pattern as "mistaken for sane")
F#---7------12----19--
F#---/-------/-----/--
F#---/-------/-----/--
He does play these notes on the live versions, too.
On the record, Lee plays this cool riff, but on live versions he just repeated
the same part he plays in the first verse.
"i'm not moving doesn't mean i can't flame on in my head"
B-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
F#---20-17-19-17-20-17-19---------20-17-19-17-20-17-19---15-12--15-12---
F#---20-17-19-17-20-17-19---------20-17-19-17-20-17-19---15-12--15-12---
F#----------------------------------------------------------------------
F#----------------------------------------------------------------------
"my best friend sucked his wife's blood and shriveled up, he was mistaken for sane"
B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F#---20-17-19-17-20-17-19---15-12--15-12----20-17-19-17-20-17-19---15-12--15-12---
F#---20-17-19-17-20-17-19---15-12--15-12----20-17-19-17-20-17-19---15-12--15-12---
F#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"we move and groove and cut loose from fear, we should kill time we'll shut it down"
B-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F#---20-17-19-17-20-17-19---19-19--17-17-17-19-17-----20-17-19-17-20-17-19---15-12--15-12---
F#---20-17-19-17-20-17-19---19-19--17-17-17-19-17-----20-17-19-17-20-17-19---15-12--15-12---
F#------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F#------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"i've got a pipeline straight to the heart of you opening in my head"
B----------------------------------------------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------------------------------------------
F#---20-17-19-17-20-17-19---19-19------20-17-19-17-20-17-19---12-12--15-12---
F#---20-17-19-17-20-17-19---19-19------20-17-19-17-20-17-19---12-12--15-12---
F#---------------------------------------------------------------------------
F#---------------------------------------------------------------------------
C SECTION 01:29-02:13
Thurston starts with this riff:
B---2--2-2-2-0--0-0-0-2--2-2-2-0--0-0-0--- ---2---
E---2--2-2-2-0--0-0-0-2--2-2-2-0--0-0-0--- then just ---2---
F#--0--0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0--0-0-0--- ---0---
F#--0--0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0--0-0-0--- ---0---
F#---------------------------------------- -------
F#---------------------------------------- -------
When Lee sings "endless revolt" it sounds like Thurston switches to:
B-----------
E-----------
F#---2--0---
F#---2--0--- x 4
F#---2--0---
F#---2--0---
Then:
B----------------------
E----------------------
F#---2---4-----2---3--- x 2
F#---2---4-----2---3---
F#---2---0-----2---0---
F#---2---0-----2---0---
Then:
B-----------
E-----------
F#---2--0---
F#---2--0--- x 5
F#---2--0---
F#---2--0---
Lee keeps strumming at the same chord:
B-------
E------- on live versions this is where he starts w/ the wah
F#--19--
F#------
F#--19--
F#---0--
At "endless revolt" he switches to:
B----0---3---
E----0---3---
F#---0---0--- which he repeats until the end of this section
F#---2---0---
F#---2---0---
F#---2---0---
Kim holds this figure:
G---13--(*12*)-- strike the first chord then release pressure,
D---12--(*12*)-- with your finger falling onto the 12th fret
A--------------- to mute it, creating a natural harmonic
E---------------
D SECTION 02:13-04:33
Thurston starts slowly strumming:
B---2--2-2-2-0--0-0-0-2--2-2-2-0--0-0-0---
E---2--2-2-2-0--0-0-0-2--2-2-2-0--0-0-0---
F#--2--2-2-2-0--0-0-0-2--2-2-2-0--0-0-0---
F#--0--0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0--0-0-0---
F#----------------------------------------
F#----------------------------------------
I think that's about all he does, though on live versions he did seem to go up and octave
if he felt like it:
B----14--14-14-14-12--12-12-12---
E----14--14-14-14-12--12-12-12---
F#---14--14-14-14-12--12-12-12---
F#---12--12-12-12-12--12-12-12---
F#---(0)-------------------------
F#---(0)-------------------------
Lee starts with this chord:
B---0---
E---0---
F#--2---
F#--2---
F#--2---
F#--2---
Then I think he switches to:
B---2-2-2-2-0--0-0-0---
E---2-2-2-2-0--0-0-0--- repeat
F#--2-2-2-2-2--2-2-2---
F#--2-2-2-2-2--2-2-2--- use your thumb for the F# strings
F#--2-2-2-2-2--2-2-2---
F#--2-2-2-2-2--2-2-2---
Around 2:25, an overdubbed Lee guitar enters with feedback, it sounds like he's using
his "watery" effect (I believe some sort of Ibanez 9 series pedal) possibly in conjunction
with his wah for really trebly, wobbly sound. At the same time, the Moog noise enters lightly
in the right speaker, but Lee's noise guitar is loudly dominant.
Around 2:37, the mix starts to change, with Lee's main rhythm guitar moving from the left
side to more of the right/center, with the Moog coming from the right and going to the left.
The Moog keeps moving throughout the outro.
Around 2:45, Lee's lead/noise guitar starts picking at the 19th fret of the middle F#s, bending
away then moving down an octave. On live versions, he would start this section with the open F#
strings (or 000022 chord) rather than the 222200 chord, turn on his watery pedal, and just
let feedback ring. He did usually play this specific little riff:
B----16--------16----14----
E--------17-------17-------
F#-------------------------
F#-------------------------
F#-------------------------
F#-------------------------
It doesn't help that Kim's bass sounds like a guitar in this section (and on much of Sister!).
By 3:30, it's not clear who's doing what, but nothing is really critical to work out. Just kill time!
Kim starts with a high note, then plays a similar shape to the previous section:
G---13--- play for a while, then switch to: ---13--(11)--- like the previous section,
D-------- ---12--(11)--- you can just pull off to the
A-------- ---11--(11)--- 11th fret w/out picking
E-------- --------------
text + tab by Chris Lawrence
w/ thanx to madsun
"TUFF GNARL"
LAYOUT
A - B - A - B - C - D - E
KIM
EADG
CENTER
THURSTON
F#F#F#F#EB
RIGHT
LEE
DDDDAA
LEFT
A SECTION 00:00-00:28 Thurston starts with: B---------0----0------0---------0-------------------1-1-1-1-0------- E-------0----0----------0-----0---------0----0---0--------------0--- F#----2-----------2\5-------5-----5\3-3----3---3--------------3----- x 4 F#--2-------------2\5-------------5\3-3----------------------------- F#------------------------------------------------------------------ F#------------------------------------------------------------------ Lee plays two notes during the intro: A-------------- A---------21--- D-----19------- D-------------- D-------------- D-------------- When Thurston starts singing, he begins with a high skronky chord: "running on a tuff.." "..really smart..." "..in his past.." "saints.." "saving grace..." A---22----------------------22--------------------22-------------22--22--22---22--22---22--22--22--- A---22----------------------22--------------------22-------------22--22--22---22--22---22--22--22--- D--(19)--------------------(19)------------------(19)-------------------------21--21---------------- D--(18)--------------------(18)--------------------------------------------------------------------- D--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kim plays the same riff for the entire vocal section (A & B): G------------------------------------------------------------- D-----------------9--9-9--9-9-9-7--7-7--7-7-7-7--7-7--7-7-7--- x 9 A---7--7-7--7-7-7--------------------------------------------- E------------------------------------------------------------- B SECTION 00:29-00:43 Thurston: "amazing grazing.." "flies are flaring..." B-----0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0----0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--- E-----0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0----0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--- F#---10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10----5-5-5-7--7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7--- x 2 F#---10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10----5-5-5-7--7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7--- F#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- F#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lee plays: "amazing grazing.." A----------------------------------------------------16----14------14----14-16--- A----------------------------------------------------16----14------14----14-16--- D---14-16-18-19-18-16---14-16-18-19-18-16---16/14-14----14------14----14--------- D-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "spastic flailing.." A----------------------------------------------------16----14------14----12-12-12--- A----------------------------------------------------16----14------14----12-12-12--- D---14-16-18-19-18-16---14-16-18-19-18-16---16/14-14----14------14-------12-12-12--- D---------------------------------------------------------------------11------------ D----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A SECTION 00:43-00:58 Lee plays: "an adrenal mental..." A---14--16-16-16-16-14---16--16-16--16-16-16-14----12--12-14--14-14-12--12-12-12---12--12-12--- A---14--16-16-16-16-14---16--16-16--16-16-16-14----12--12-14--14-14-12--12-12-12---12--12-12--- D--------------------------------------------------12--12-12--12-12-12--12-12-12---11--11-11--- D--------------------------------------------------12--12-12--12-12-12--12-12-12---11--11-11--- D---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "you gnarl..." A---14--16-16-16-16-14---16--16-16--16-16-16-14----12--12-14--14-14-12--12-12-12---12--12-12--- A---14--16-16-16-16-14---16--16-16--16-16-16-14----12--12-14--14-14-12--12-12-12---12--12-12--- D--------------------------------------------------12--12-12--12-12-12--12-12-12---12--12-12--- D--------------------------------------------------12--12-12--12-12-12--12-12-12---12--12-12--- D---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B SECTION 00:58-01:12 Lee plays: "flesh dirt forcefield..." A---16----------16-----------16----------16-----------16---------16----------16------------ A---16----------16-----------16----------16-----------16---------16----------16------------ D---16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16--16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16--14--14-11--11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11--- D---16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16--16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16--14--14-11--11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11--- D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "set our sights.." A---16-16-16-16-14-14-16-16-16--16-16-16-16-14-14-16-16-16---16-16-16-16--16---16-16-16-14--12-12-12--- A---16-16-16-16-14-14-16-16-16--16-16-16-16-14-14-16-16-16---16-16-16-16--16---16-16-16-14--12-12-12--- D---14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14--14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14---14-14-14-14--11---11-11-11-11--11-11-11--- D---14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14--14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14---14-14-14-14--11---11-11-11-11--11-11-11--- D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ C SECTION 01:12-01:43 Thurston: B------------------------------------- E----------------10--10-10-10-10-10--- F#----------------9b--9--9--9--9--9r-- bend this string up and back down while picking F#------------------------------------ F#---7---7-7-7\----------------------- x 8 F#---7---7-7-7\----------------------- Lee plays: A----------------16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16--- A----------------15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15--- i don't know if this is the exact "chord"... D----------------14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14--- x 5 D----------------13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13--- D---0-0-0-0-------------------------------- D---0-0-0-0-------------------------------- Lee switches the timing of his distorted skronky chord, first playing it over Thurston's 7th fret note, then playing it over the bendy riff. Thurston plays his riff 8 times, this is how Lee alternates over it: T1 - Lee plays droning D string T2 - Lee plays skronk chord over 7th fret T3 - Lee plays skronk chord over bendy riff T4 - Lee plays droning D string T5 - Lee plays skronk chord over 7th fret T6 - Lee plays skronk chord over bendy riff T7 - Lee plays droning D string T8 - Lee plays skronk chord over 7th fret When Thurston changes riffs in section D, Lee continues this same part. Kim goes back and forth between 12th and 9th fret harmonics, but also lets the open D ring out sometimes...her attack is very percussive: G------------------- D------------------- she doesn't always hit every harmonic together, and some strings can be muted A-------------*9*--- E---*12*------*9*--- x 8 (then 4 more times to start the D section) D SECTION 01:44-02:12 Thurston: B------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ E------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ F#----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- F#---10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10--5--5-5-5-5-5-5-5-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7--- x 4 F#---10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10--5--5-5-5-5-5-5-5-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7--- F#---10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10--5--5-5-5-5-5-5-5-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7--- Lee plays: A----------------16-16-16-16-16-16-16-16--- A----------------15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15--- D----------------14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14--- x 5 D----------------13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13--- D---0-0-0-0-------------------------------- D---0-0-0-0-------------------------------- Over Thurston's new progression (10 / 5 / 7) Lee's timing is as follows: T1 - skronk chord halfway through 10th fret T2 - skronk chord at start of 10th fret / skronk chord over 7th fret T3 - skronk chord over 5th fret T4 - skronk chord halfway through 10th fret Kim plays her C section riff 4 times after Thurston changes, then she switches around 2 minutes in to an open D but may also be playing the high G# she sticks to on live versions: G--------- D---0----- A--------- E--(16)--- E SECTION 02:12-03:15 Thurston: B---------------------------------------- E---------------------------------------- F#--------------------------------------- x 19 F#---2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--3-3-3-3--5-5-5-5--- F#---2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--3-3-3-3--5-5-5-5--- play w/ increased intensity - he may go up an octave F#---2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--3-3-3-3--5-5-5-5--- halfway thru, or just starts emphasizing the middle strings This is where it gets really fuzzy. Lee starts trem picking around the 18th fret on the lower strings (Ds), then locks into something like this around 2:20: A---16-16-16------ A---16-16-16------ trem pick quickly over and over D------------19--- D------------18--- D----------------- D----------------- At 2:47 things go really wild, I think there may even be an overdub or two, just playing super dissonant trem picked fuzzed out chords really high up the neck. I'll just show you what he does on the live versions, which is basically doubling Thurston's guitar... A----------------- A----------------- D---18---19--21--- trem picked heavily D----------------- D---18---19--21--- D----/----/---/--- Kim holds this note, playing in rhythm w/ Steve, but does sometimes let the open D ring thru: G-------- D---(0)-- A-------- E---16--- text + tab by Chris Lawrence w/ thanx to Larsen
Return to the Sonic Youth Guitar/Bass Tab Archive