FEMALE MECHANIC NOW ON DUTY by Sonic Youth Tab by Chris Lawrence (silvercircle@shaw.ca) TUNINGS ------- Kim: DADGGB Thurston: EGDGED Lee: GGDGGA (w/ capo on 2nd fret during 2nd half of song) LAYOUT: A - B - C - D A SECTION 00:00-02:37 Kim starts the song: B---------0-0-0-7-8-8----------0-0-0-7-3-3--- G---------0-0-0-7-8-8----------0-0-0-7-3-3--- G---------0-0-0-7-8-8----------0-0-0-7-3-3--- x 17 D-------------------------------------------- A--5\7-7----------------5\7-7---------------- D--5\7-7----------------5\7-7---------------- She plays the riff 4 times with no vocals, 4 times with vocals, 2 times with no vocals, then 7 times with vocals. When she sings "cuz I'm supposed to dare", she turns a phaser on, leaving it on til the next section. Kill the treble so the higher strings aren't "bright". Thurston comes in halfway during Kim's opening riff. He is just pushing a slide against his strings to make plinky noise. At 0:21 he starts playing modulated harmonics (probably Hendrix Octave Fuzz?) D--------- ---*7*-------*5*--- turn on wah, hold 5th fret E--------- ------------------- as kim starts singing G--------- ------------------- D--------- ------------------- G--------- ------------------- E---*5*--- raise and return w/ bar ------------------- He sustains the high 5th fret harmonic with some Wah/Vol assistance and lets it feedback while Kim sings the start of the first verse. Around 0:47 he plays a non-harmonic: D----------- ---*19*--------*5*---- then he just kinda lets E----------- ---------------------- some feedback swell G----------- ---------------------- until he goes clean... D---17~~~--- hold w/ nasty wah ---------------------- G----------- ---------------------- E----------- ---------------------- At 1:16 he starts his main clean riff: D--------------------0-----------------------12------- E----------------------9------------------------------ G-------9-9------0---------------9-9--0---12---------- D-----------11-----11----------------11--------------- G---9--------------------12---9------------------12--- E---0-------------------------0----------------------- He plays a variation of that, usually closer to the 2nd part with the 12th fret picked out. He continues while Kim starts her second verse. At 2:01 he changes to a new riff, which you may need to listen for the timing of the strumming: D---7--7-7-5-5-5-5-7---2-2-2-2-5-7--7-7-7-7--12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-14---14-14-14-14-17-17-17-17-19--- E------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ G------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ D---7--7-7-5-5-5-5-7---2-2-2-2-5-7--7-7-7-7--12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-14---14-14-14-14-17-17-17-17-19--- G------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ E------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ At 2:10 he just holds that last chord at the 19th fret, aggressively trem picking. He starts to add in a few other notes around the 17-19th frets of the D strings, then goes wild up the fretboard with distorted wah feedback. This blends into the next section. Lee comes in after Kim has played her full riff once. A----------------- G----------------- G---0^2-2-2------- D---0^2-2-2------- x 4 on live versions, he'd add the 3rd fret sometimes G---0^2-2-2------- G---0^2-2-2------- A--------------------------------------------------------- G--------------------------------------------------------- G---0^2-2-2-------------------0^2-2-2--------------------- repeat variation x 6 D---0^2-2-2---------7--5~~~---0^2-2-2---------7----------- G---0^2-2-2-----\9------------0^2-2-2-----\9-----7b--3~~~- G---0^2-2-2-------------------0^2-2-2--------------------- A---------------- G---------------- G---0^2---------- x 2 D---0^2---------- G---0^2---------- G---0^2---------- "I wanna paint my face..." A------------------------------------------ G------------------------------------------ G-----------9~~~~----------9~~------------- D-------------------------------11~~~~~---- G---9~~~~-----------9~~~~------------------ G------------------------------------------ w/ massive phaser: A---------------------------------------- G---------------------------------------- G--------------------------9~~----------- variation x 3 D-----------------------------11~~~~~---- G---9~~~~-----------9~~~~---------------- G---------------------------------------- The phaser gets more exaggerated as he plays, to the point where it obscures the note he's actually playing. When Kim sings "make you go squish" he seems to drop off into low feedback for a bit, returning at 2:24 with his previous riff (a little sloppier than this, but same idea). A--------------------------------------------------------- G--------------------------------------------------------- G---0^2-2-2-------------------0^2-2-2--------------------- repeat variation x 2 D---0^2-2-2---------7--5~~~---0^2-2-2---------7----------- G---0^2-2-2-----\9------------0^2-2-2-----\9-----7b--3~~~- G---0^2-2-2-------------------0^2-2-2--------------------- B SECTION 02:37-04:58 Kim strikes one chord over and over, flicking her pickup switch back and forth each time. B---2--- G---2--- G---2--- D---2--- A------- D------- Thurston begins this section with aggressive distorted wah noise randomly attacking the highest notes, but quickly settles into a loooooong pulsating feedback wail. This is pretty much a free for all, he lets his guitar feedback while slightly adjusting his Wah/Vol to change the way it tremolos or whatever. This ringing is held for nearly 2 minutes. Lee: A---------------------------------------- G---------------------------------------- G---0^2-2-2------------------------------ it sounds like he might be toggling pickups D---0^2-2-2---------7-------------------- while feeding back.. at this point he puts G---0^2-2-2-----\9-----7b--3~~~----0~~~~- a capo on the 2nd fret G---0^2-2-2------------------------0~~~~- After getting the capo on the 2nd fret, he hits the open strings and just lets the feedback ring for a looooong time. C SECTION 04:58-06:16 Kim holds one chord, coming in after Thurston has played his riff twice. At first she just strikes it a few times, then builds into the steady rhythm: B----------------------------------------------------- G---9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9--- G---9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9--- D---9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9--- etc A----------------------------------------------------- D----------------------------------------------------- Thurston cuts the wall of noise with a clean riff: D------------------------0-------- E--------------------------9------ G---------9-9--------0------------ D-----9-9-9-9-11--11---11--------- G--9--9-9----------9---------12--- E--0------------------------------ At 5:36 he changes it slightly: D----------------12----------- E---------------------12------ G------9---0------------------ D---------11--0-----0--------- G---9------------------------- E---0------------------------- Then he goes back to the previous riff. At the very end of this section he just builds on: D------- E------- G------- D------- G---9--- E---0--- Lee turns on his ring modulator and delay and keeps playing a G note with varying degrees of octave/pitch manipulation (still with capo at 2nd fret). There's a couple other notes you can add for variety: A--------------------- G--------------------- G---10--------9------- D-----------------8--- G--------------------- G--------------------- At 5:44 he starts with this clean riff: A-------------------------------------------------- G-----------------5\4-2^0-------------------------- G---7\4-4---4-4-4----------5\7--7\4-4--4-4\5-5\7--- D-------------------------------------------------- G---7\4-4---4-4-4----------5\7--7\4-4--4-4\5-5\7--- G-------------------------------------------------- D SECTION 06:16-07:43 This is where the PBS version kicks in. Kim keeps at the same chord: B----------------------------------------------------- G---9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9--- G---9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9--- D---9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9--- etc A----------------------------------------------------- D----------------------------------------------------- End on: B------- G------- G---0--- D------- A------- D------- Thurston: D-------------------------------*12*-- E-----------------------*12*---------- G---------------*12*--------*12*------ step on BLUE BOX D-------*12*-------------------------- G-----------*12*---------------------- E---*12*------------------------------ He ends by playing a steady chord at the 12th fret, with more emphasis on the higher notes. Sometimes the high G and low D bleed in but the high E and high D strings are clearer. D---12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12--- etc 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--- G----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- He does not play the final note (but if you wanted to, it's a G). Lee barres the 7th fret and picks out notes softly: A----------7------ G-------------7--- G-------7--------- repeat variation D-----7----------- G---7------------- G----------------- Sometimes he adds extra notes to the arpeggiation: A---7--- G---10-- G---9--- D---7--- G---7--- G---7--- At 6:52 or so he just starts playing the full 7th fret chord until 7:31, or you can play the chord above with the dissonant notes. You can also play it as a barre with an extra note on the A string: A--(8)-- G---7--- G---7--- D---7--- G---7--- G---7--- He does not play the final note with Kim. Last updated: 02/14/24 ------------------------------------------------ THE SONIC YOUTH GUITAR/BASS TABLATURE ARCHIVE: http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/tab/index.html ------------------------------------------------