Discussing "Silver Rocket" a few weeks back I noted that like "White Kross", a live version had been released prior to the album it was featured on. The same is true of both "Green Light" and "Expressway", with a small caveat: the band did not actually give permission to release those songs in advance of EVOL. I'm talking of course about Walls Have Ears, a double-live "bootleg" that Blast First issued, containing material recorded in London in March and October 1985 - one disc with Bob Bert, and one disc with new drummer Steve Shelley. I've talked about it previously (including some question as to its actual title), but it's suddenly relevant again since today is the day the band is finally releasing their own version! They went above and beyond, delivering a variety of limited edition packages that truly reflect how cool the original concept was, now guilt free!
"Green Light", listed on the sleeve as "Green Love", opens the set, since the October gig is featured first. Steve had been in the band for under half a year, and they'd already cooked up a few new tunes, including "Secret Girl" "Kat N Hat" and the aforementioned "Expressway". "Green Light" made its first known appearance on September 25th, 1985 at CBGB, in the opening slot where it would typically appear on the European tour that started a week later. While Thurston introduced that potential debut performance as "I Kneel Before The Green Light Of Her Singing Crayon Eyes" (and after a beat: "And Then I Kiss Her Stomach And It's Then I Realize"), it was commonly referred to as "The Green Lights".
This was not the first time Thurston would recite these particular lyrics - during the spring 1985 European tour (where the Bob Bert portion of Walls Have Ears originates) they had started playing Bad Moon Rising outtake "Satan is Boring" again, but Thurston would often eschew the established lyrics for a different text. On April 2nd in Rotterdam, he turns to "Green Light" for the first time, and again on April 26th in Aylesbury. Both of these versions of "Satan is Boring" were merged to create a unique "supermix" of the song, available on the b-side of certain versions of the Flower 12". It's an odd listen, with one version in each speaker, and rumor has it the band weren't pleased with its release (another case of Blast First, ask second?). Once Steve joined the band, "Satan is Boring" was on its way out, but appeared a couple of times in June and July, still with the "Green Light" recitation.
They wrote the rest of the EVOL material in early '86, just before the recording sessions in March. "Green Light" made the cut, closing out the first side ("hugging the label" as Watt might say). It stayed relatively popular in set lists, though it wasn't a nightly given like "Starpower" or "Tom Violence" or the freshly baked "White Kross". On occasion, they would begin "Green Light" so miserably out of tune that they'd end up abandoning it. It was written in the same GGDDD#D# tuning as "Brother James" and "Kill Yr Idols", which required a total of four strings tuned to each note between Thurston and Lee. Given the microtonal nature of the D and D#, if even one string was off it could really spell disaster. Surprisingly, though most of the EVOL material was shelved by the end of 1986, they resurrected "Green Light" on the summer 1987 European Sister tour in an attempt to pad the set per Lee's JRNLS80s. It snuck back in on June 30th in Bochum, Germany and finally hit its stop light on the first date of the North American Sister tour on September 10th in Norwalk, Connecticut.
While no trace of Sonic Youth performing the song again has ever surfaced, it did appear on a 7" they released in 2009. However, this version had no SY involvement - it was recorded entirely by Beck, whose "Pay No Mind" was covered by Sonic Youth on the flipside. Beck's take is an ethereal acoustic interpretation, allegedly part of an entire reimagining of the EVOL LP that he concocted. To the best of my knowledge this project never surfaced in its entirety (nor did Sonic Youth's extensive remodel of Mellow Gold). We have may have him to thank for the acoustic version of "Star Power", though.
So that's "Green Light". Not a lot to say, but there was a reason I wanted to cover this tune (and the Walls Have Ears timing was just a bonus). You see...I kinda hate this fucking song. Okay, that's harsh, and I want to say I'm joking, but after all these years I'm not sure that I am. For whatever reason, I had a legendary dislike of certain tracks on EVOL that persisted for years, though I've since removed my head from my ass and acknowledged it for the work of art it is. Hell, "Secret Girl" is my fucking theme song! I got EVOL the same day as Sister, for my 12th birthday. EVOL was the DGC reissue, and I can still remember flipping through the booklet and absorbing Lisa Carver's liner notes. I responded instantly to the claustrophobic xeroxed spook of Sister, but something about EVOL took a little longer to click - perhaps the dichotomy between the bright artwork and lovey lyrics that contrasted with the actual music, which was in many ways just as dissonant as the harshest parts of Sister or Daydream Nation. Take "Green Light" for example...what the hell is going on in this song? The guitars seem to all be at odds with each other, pulling in different directions and maybe even different time signatures? I'm too dumb to speak on that, but something is going on, and like "Tuff Gnarl" before it, I was determined to get to the bottom of it with this dissection of its parts.
Having spent a day or two with this task, I'm not sure I'm any closer to a conclusion. All of the guitars seem to be mixed very close to the center, with a heavy reverb further clouding any potential separation. I consulted live versions for additional clues and am finally happy with what I've put together, but figuring out each part individually didn't do much to help my brain understand how they all work together. But hey - that's on me! And who gives a shit if I don't like one Sonic Youth song out of hundreds? (Hell, my hit piece on "Stalker" already handled this same topic with slightly more delicacy.) You can follow Thurston's guitar for some kind of thread, and Kim's bassline is fairly clear once you tune into it (live versions demonstrate that much of her part is based on an approximate foundation, as was often the case). Lee seems to be semi-improvising around a series of notes that don't seem to work, even though they do - his part was my biggest obstacle (and I'm still not 100% sure why he'd later use "Green Light" as a reference point for similar whirring walls of noise in his charts for "Small Flowers Crack Concrete" and "NYC Ghosts & Flowers").
You know what? I just listened to it with fresh ears and I suppose it's really not that complicated. It's not my favorite sonic jam by any stretch, but perhaps this exercise did bring me slightly closer to appreciating it. It was actually one of the first Sonic Youth songs I ever tried to work out for myself when I got online and wanted to contribute tabs to evol.org - I thought I'd cracked Thurston's main riff in F#F#F#F#EB. Later I'd realize I'd picked the wrong tuning, and adjusted it to GDD#, but I could never wrap my head around what Lee was doing. Raj Paden took a stab at Lee's part a couple of years ago, and the one riff I kinda recognized is only present on live versions! It's that sleazy slidy part he plays when the drums and bass kick in, after Thurston does his intro and stops for a beat. You can hear it clearly on the Walls Have Ears version (really, any live version) so it's odd to me that he didn't include it on the album. In any case, I worked out Lee's part on the record from scratch, but thank Raj for the guidance.
Next week we'll look at one of my all-time favorite Sonic Youth songs, but hopefully a detour down Negativity Street isn't entirely unwelcome. I'd love to hear from anyone who worships this particular tune, or quite frankly anyone. I hope someone out there is reading these and finds them interesting. Let me know!
"GREEN LIGHT"
LAYOUT
A - B - C
KIM
EADG
CENTER
THURSTON
GGDDD#D#
CENTER
LEE
GGDDD#D#
CENTER
A SECTION 00:00-01:29
Thurston:
D#---5-5-5-3-5-5-5-5-8-8-8-8-5-5-5-3-5-------10/--5-5-5-3-5-5-5-5-8-8-8-8-5-5-5-5---
D#---5-5-5-3-5-5-5-5-8-8-8-8-5-5-5-3-5-------10/--5-5-5-3-5-5-5-5-8-8-8-8-5-5-5-5---
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D#---5-5-5-3-5-5-5-5-8-8-8-8-5-5-5-5--8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-10-10---
D#---5-5-5-3-5-5-5-5-8-8-8-8-5-5-5-5--8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-10-10---
D-------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-------------------------------------------------------------------------
D#---5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-8-5--8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-10-10---
D#---5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-8-5--8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-10-10---
D-------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-------------------------------------------------------------------------
D#---5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5--- stay on this note while singing
D#---5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5---
D----------------------------------------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------------------------
On the album, Lee sticks to this one chord shape for the entire vocal section:
D#---10----
D#---10----
D-----8----
D-----8----
G-----9----
G-----9----
He picks at it randomly, this is an example of him kinda playing along with the main melody:
D#-------------------10---10-----------
D#-------------------10---10-----------
D---------8-----8-------------8---8----
D---------8-----8-------------8---8----
G---9-9-9-----9---9-----9-------9------
G---9-9-9-----9---9-----9-------9------
But sometimes he emphasizes the higher notes, particularly during "I see a green light".
On live versions, he first comes in playing this riff, then switches to the choppy chord picking:
D#---------------------------------------------
D#---------------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------------
G---13/11-11--13/11-11---13\16-16--13\16-16----
G---13/11-11--13/11-11---13\16-16--13\16-16----
Kim:
G----------------------------------------
D---------------------------------------- play simile x 14
A---5-5-5-5-\9-9-9-9--5-5-5-5--7-7-7-7---
E----------------------------------------
G-------------------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------
A---5-5-5-5-\12-12-12-12--5-5-5-5--\11-11-11-11---
E-------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------
A---5-5-5-5-\9-9-9-9--5-5-5-5--7-7-7-7--- x 2
E----------------------------------------
G-------------------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------
A---5-5-5-5-\12-12-12-12--5-5-5-5--\11-11-11-11---
E-------------------------------------------------
G---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A---5-5-5-5-\9-9-9-9--5-5-5-5--7-7-7-7---5-5-5-5-\11-11-11-11--5-5-5-5--7-7-7-7---
E---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A---5-5-5-5-\9-9-9-9--5-5-5-5--\11-11-11-11---5-5-5-5-\9-9-9-9--5-5-5-5--7-7-7-7---
E----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B SECTION 01:29-02:43
Thurston strikes a few stray open strings, then comes in with a trem picked pattern
somewhat reminiscent of the main "Brother James" riff:
D#---------------------
D#---------------------
D----0------0------0---
D----0------0------0---
G----------------------
G----------------------
D#---22-----16-----19--20-----17-------
D#---22-----16-----19--20-----17------- increase intensity w/ repeats
D-----/------/------/---/------/------- x 7
D-----/------/----------/------/-------
G--------------------------------------
G--------------------------------------
Around 2:29 he drops down to this note:
D#---5----- he picks away at it but it's pretty buried under everything else
D#---5-----
D----------
D----------
G----------
G----------
Lee picks out a slow, jagged series of notes that builds to some heavy trem picked chords.
D#-------------------11-----------------------11-------------------------------------------------7--------
D#-------------------11-----------------------11-------------------------------------------------7--------
D----9---8-----------------9-8---------9---9------9---8-----------------8--------------5--4---4-----5-4---
D----9---8-----------------9-8---------9---9------9---8-----------------8--------------5--4---4-----5-4---
G------------9---8-------------9---8--------------------9-8---7---9---7-----7--9--5--4--------------------
G------------9---8-------------9---8--------------------9-8---7---9---7-----7--9--5--4--------------------
1:44
D#---6----------------------------------11--------------10--------------10------12----------12---
D#---6----------------------------------11--------------10--------------10------12----------12---
D--------5---4-------------------9---8------9----9-9-8-------------9--8-----9--------11--10------
D--------5---4-------------------9---8------9----9-9-8-------------9--8-----9--------11--10------
G----------------5---4--5\9--8------------------------------9---8--------------------------------
G----------------5---4--5\9--8------------------------------9---8--------------------------------
1:59
D#---------------------------------12---
D#---------------------------------12---
D----11--10---9----11--10---11--11------
D----11--10---9----11--10---11--11------
G---------------------------------------
G---------------------------------------
2:04
D#---12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12---------------------------------------------------
D#---12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12---------------------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12---
D-------------------------------------------------12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12---
G---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2:11
D#------------12--------------12--------------12--------------12--------------12------
D#------------12--------------12--------------12--------------12--------------12------
D----12-12-12----12--12-12-12----12--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--12-12-12----12--12-12-12----12---
G-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Around 2:16 it gets pretty messy - I think he starts trem picking this shape which continues
into the next section:
2:22 2:25 2:29 2:36
D#---14------12------13-----12-----11----
D#---12------12------13-----11-----11----
D----12------11------11-----11-----10---- he mostly keeps picking the middle strings @ 10th fret
D----12------11------11-----11-----10----
G----------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------
Kim starts this section by playing A while tossing in a high G#:
G---13---
D-------- keep playing...
A---12---
E--------
At 1:48 she starts playing the open D string while fretting notes on the G string.
This isn't a fully accurate tab, you can hear when she switches notes but she doesn't play each one
for the same amount of time, and as she starts strumming harder she starts including more of the
note on the G string (so it's not just played once as shown). The key is to keep hitting the D
string steadily while climbing notes on the G string.
G-------13---------12----13-----6----7----6----7----8----7----8----9----10----9----10---9----10---
D---0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---
A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-------11----10----11----10----11----12----13----12----13----12----13----12----13--------
D---0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Around 2:31 Kim frets the D string at the 12th fret and holds this shape:
G---13--- she strums that heavily until the big release at 2:43
D---12---
A--------
E--------
C SECTION 02:43-03:41
Thurston starts his final riff:
D#-------------------------------------------------------
D#-------------------------------------------------------
D--------------------------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------------- x 3
G----5---5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-7---7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7---
G----5---5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-7---7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7---
D#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G----7-7-5--------5-5-5-7------7-7-7-5-------5-5-5-7-------7-7-7-5-----5--7------
G----7-7-5--------5-5-5-7------7-7-7-5-------5-5-5-7-------7-7-7-5-----5--7------
Lee switches to picking out the chord shape:
D#------------11-----------------11---
D#------------11-----------------11---
D----10-10-10-----10-10-10-10-10------ repeat variation a few times
D----10-10-10-----10-10-10-10-10------
G-------------------------------------
G-------------------------------------
then at 2:59 change to:
D#---10----
D#---10----
D-----9---- w/ a similar picking pattern
D-----9----
G----------
G----------
at 3:11 down to:
D#---9---- sometimes add: ---10---
D#---9---- ----9---
D----8---- ----8--- pick this last chord til end
D----8---- ----8---
G--------- --------
G--------- --------
Kim holds the same shape from the end of the previous section, but picks out the notes
instead of strumming it as a chord:
G------13-----13-----13-----13--- etc etc etc
D---12-----12-----12-----12------
A--------------------------------
E--------------------------------
Sometimes she lifts off the D string to play it open.
text + tab by Chris Lawrence
w/ special thanx to Raj Paden!
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