KAREN REVISITED aka KARENOLOGY by Sonic Youth Tab by Chris Lawrence (silvercircle@shaw.ca) TUNINGS ------- Kim: DADABB Thurston: CGDGCD Lee: GGDGGA Jim: GGDEGB (outro only) LAYOUT: A - B - A - B - C - D - A - E A SECTION 00:00-00:37 Thurston: D---0--0--0-0-0-0-0-0--0-0-0--0-0-0-0--0--0--0--- C---2--2--2-2\7-7-7-7--7-7-7--7-7-7-7--7--7--7--- G---0--0--0-0-0-0-0-0--8-8-8--8-8-8-8--0--0--0--- x 2 as intro D-------------------------------------10-10-10--- G------------------------------------------------ x 6 w/ vocal C------------------------------------------------ Lee: Intro: A--------------- G--------------- G---12~~~~~~---- D--------------- G--------------- G--------------- Verse: A------------------------------------------------15-15^17--- G----------------------------------------------------------- G---12~-12~--14^12^14^12^14^12------------------------------ play variation x 4 D----------------------------------------------------------- G-------------------------------12^14^12^14^12-------------- G----------------------------------------------------------- Sometimes he doesn't go up to that last high note, he just stays at the 12th fret and picks the GGA strings. During live versions, he mostly just sticks to playing the 12th fret. Kim comes in when Lee starts singing. Light drive, keep the brightness/treble to a minimum. B----------------12-x-7--7-7-0--- B----------------12-x-7--7-7-0--- A-------------------------------- x 6 D-------------------------------- A---5-5/12-12-12----------------- D---5-5/12-12-12----------------- B SECTION 00:37-00:55 Thurston: D---------------------------------------------- C---------------------------------------------- G---12--12--12-12-12-12-12---6--6--6-6-5-5-5--- D---------------------------------------------- x 4 G---11--11--11-11-11-12-12---6--6--6-6-5-5-5--- C----0---0---0--0--0--0--0---0--0--0-0-0-0-0--- Lee: On the record, Lee is using a slide for this whole section. He begins up past the fretboard, near what would be the 24th fret, almost over the neck pickup. He picks a bit, but the key point is the long descending slide he does during the 3rd rep of the riff. He tried using the slide for live performances but changed pretty quickly to the notes below, followed by just using his hand to replicate the sliding backwards part: A----------------------- slide backwards from high up ------------ G----------------------- while strumming high strings ------------ G----------------------- ------------ D-------------------------------------------------------------------- G---5----6----5----6----------------------------------------5----6--- G---5----6----5----6----------------------------------------5----6--- Kim: B---7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5--- B---7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5--- A------------------------------------- x 4 D------------------------------------- A------------------------------------- D------------------------------------- A SECTION 00:55-01:22 Play riff 6 times. B SECTION 01:22-01:40 C SECTION 01:40-02:07 Thurston plays the main riff, but starts the first note an octave higher: D----0--0--0--0-0-0-0-0--0-0-0--0-0-0-0--0--0--0--- C---14-14-14-14\7-7-7-7--7-7-7--7-7-7-7--7--7--7--- G----0--0--0--0-0-0-0-0--8-8-8--8-8-8-8--0--0--0--- x 6 D---------------------------------------10-10-10--- G-------------------------------------------------- C-------------------------------------------------- Lee: A----------------------------------------------------- G----------------------------------------------------- G---12~-12~-10-12-12~~--10-12-12~--10-12-12b-r12-10--- play variation x 2 D----------------------------------------------------- G----------------------------------------------------- G----------------------------------------------------- When he starts singing change to: A----------------------------------------------------------------- G-------------------------------------------------------------0--- G---12~-12~-10-12-12~~--10-12-12~-----------------------------0--- play variation x 4 D----------------------------------------8^10\12/10-8^10\12~~----- G-----------------------------------8^10-------------------------- G----------------------------------------------------------------- Kim holds a G at the 5th fret of the low D string til Lee starts singing, then she plays: B-------------------------------- B-----0--------------0----------- A-------------------------------- D---7--------7-----7-----12\13--- x 2 A---------5---------------------- D-------------------------------- Live, she played something more like: B--------------------------------- B--------------------------------- A--------------------------------- D---7\9---9/7-7-----7\9---9\13---- x 2 A--------------------------------- D--------------------------------- D SECTION 02:07-02:26 Thurston keeps playing the alternate version of the riff: D----0--0--0--0-0-0-0-0--0-0-0--0-0-0-0--0--0--0--- C---14-14-14-14\7-7-7-7--7-7-7--7-7-7-7--7--7--7--- G----0--0--0--0-0-0-0-0--8-8-8--8-8-8-8--0--0--0--- x 4 D---------------------------------------10-10-10--- G-------------------------------------------------- C-------------------------------------------------- Somebody is adding distorted blasts at this point in the mix, whether it's another guitar or Thurston. He's definitely strumming without the laidback rhythm of the earlier repetitions. Lee: A------------8\10-10~~---\12~~~~--12-12\13~~---13-13-13\15~~~--15-15-15\17~~-17~17~17~-- hold last note G-------0---10\12-12~~---\14~~~~--14-14\15~~---15-15-15\17~~~--17-17-17\19~~-19~19~19~-- and bend while G-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------/--- picking D---12~~----------------------------------------------------------------------------/--- furiously! G--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kim: B---13-----13--10------13-----13--10---10-10-10--- B---13-----13--10------13-----13--10---10-10-10--- play variation twice A------------------------------------------------- D------------------------------------------------- A------------------------------------------------- D------------------------------------------------- On the second time, it sounds like she adds a thicker distortion that makes it a little messier. During live versions she would focus on sliding into that 10th fret note, so don't worry too much about the precision. A SECTION 02:26-03:01 Thurston keeps playing the main riff with a faster picking style and more distortion: D----0--0--0--0-0-0-0-0--0-0-0--0-0-0-0--0--0--0--- C---14-14-14-14\7-7-7-7--7-7-7--7-7-7-7--7--7--7--- G----0--0--0--0-0-0-0-0--8-8-8--8-8-8-8--0--0--0--- x 8 D---------------------------------------10-10-10--- G-------------------------------------------------- C-------------------------------------------------- Lee: On the album he seems to just continue picking around w/ delay (possibly using a slide) but on live versions when singing "KAaAAaAAREEEN" he'd hold this chord: A---10--- moving it up to: ---17--- and then back to the first chord G---12--- ---19--- G----0--- ----0--- D----0--- ----0--- G----0--- ----0--- G----0--- ----0--- Kim: B----------------12-x-7--7-7-0--- B----------------12-x-7--7-7-0--- A-------------------------------- D-------------------------------- x 8 A---5-5/12-12-12----------------- D---5-5/12-12-12----------------- E SECTION 03:01-11:10 The outro on the album has a lot of dense studio layers before seguing into a 2-minute clip from the song's live premiere on October 7th, 2001. This was one of few times Jim actually played guitar on the outro, and if you watch the video you can see he's playing some atmospheric stuff, doubling Kim, etc. The problem is that they slowed the tape down a half step lower for this section on the record, so it's not the most pitch accurate guide unless you're specifically trying to recreate the album version. I would recommend checking out any live version, particularly the PBS Soundstage performance from May 7th, 2003. It is very easy to follow everyone's changes, and once Jim takes the bass off he just does effects processing so we can remove him from the equation for transcription purposes. Many of these parts are heard on the album version, but they're less focused or not as prominent in the mix. They do kinda blow the transition from the "song" into the "outro" but that's okay. The PBS version definitely demonstrates a road-tested song, but if you scope out the live version on the Chicago bandcamp release from the August 2002 tour, it's actually quite concise at just over 8 minutes, without the extreme noise exaggerations heard on later versions. This tab heavily follows the outro of the PBS version, and rather than breaking it up into E and F and G and H sections that are ambiguous on the record itself (whose timestamps I'm using), I will just treat it as one massive multi-step passage. Thurston: Thurston begins by hitting the low C string and letting it drone for about 20 seconds (on the record). Then they break into a hot noise free-for-all, which is basically guitar meets amp. Thurston cuts the noise by coming in with a clean pattern like this: D---12--------- ---14--------- C-------------- over and over then: -------------- repeat both riffs w/ variations G------12--0--- ------14--0--- D-------------- -------------- G-------------- -------------- C-------------- -------------- Sometimes he hits other open strings, the key is to play the fretted notes very staccato. On the album, that riff starts to be audible around 4:55 or so and continues with slight variations until just past the 7-minute mark, when he turns on distortion and starts strumming heavily. The live versions grow in intensity, as he starts scrubbing his hand over the pickups, etc. He runs his hand up and down the fretboard, tweaks his whammy bar a bit, and basically just makes a glorious racket. As he winds his way down to the nut, he starts rapidly picking the low C string, accenting it with additional bursts of skronk. However, on the October 7th 2001 version used for the final part of the album version, he is actually strumming the D note at the 2nd fret of the low C string, only on the record it sounds like a C#. The live version enters at around 8:58 and he picks the D note until just past the 10-minute mark. Then as the song is almost over, he starts doubling Kim's notes just slightly offbeat from her: D---11-----7----- C---------------- play clean, distorted, shake w/ bar, etc til end G---------------- D---------------- G---------------- C---------------- For the live version used on the album, the second note was an A# instead of an A (but it's slowed to C and A). Lee: A------- G---5--- G---5--- D---5--- hold then dissolve into extreme noise G---5--- G---5--- After the first phase of noise calms down and Thurston begins his clean plinky riff, Lee just does random picking w/ delay, slowly increasing with intensity. On the record it sounds like he's sticking around the 12th fret, occasionally adding the 15th fret on the A string. For live versions he moved up and down from 7 to 9 to 12 to 15, etc. When Thurston's clean riff starts to get hectic, Lee starts this arpeggiated chord riff: A----------------------------------------------- G------------------------------0---------------- G---------0----------0-------0--------------0--- repeat w/ slight variation D-------7----------4--------(10)---------12----- G-----5----------2---------8----------10-------- G---5----------2---------7----------9----------- On the record this starts around 6:06 and stops at 6:50. During live versions he would sometimes strum the full chords rather than arpeggiating. He would stop this riff when Kim began her 2-note outro. When Kim starts her outro, Lee would play chords like these with heavy distortion and delay, running them slowly down the neck while strumming quickly. A--------------------- G---9-\--------17-\--- G---8-\--------16-\--- D---7-\--------15-\--- G--------------------- G--------------------- At the very end he'd settle into a chord like: A---12--- G---10--- pick individual notes softly w/ delay G----9--- D-------- G-------- G-------- Kim: Kim doesn't hit a proper C, she just strikes open strings with heavy fuzz. When the first drop happens, she just stays with the boiling noise. Sometimes she'd rub her fretboard against the mic stand while working her various pedals. When Thurston cuts the noise and starts playing his plinky riff, she'd turn off the distortion and just start strumming clean open strings. This part isn't really audible on the album version, but is clear on live versions. She didn't seem to follow a specific direction, but on the PBS version she switches to this chord at one point: B---0--- -------- B---0--- ---13--- A---0--- play for a while then switch to: ---12--- D---5--- ----0--- A---5--- ----0--- D---5--- ----0--- She frets the bottom 3 strings with her thumb and leaves the top three open, strumming various chords at the 5th, 3rd, and 7th fret then back to the open string chord pictured above...building... Eventually she moves up to her final shape, strumming away at it before slowing to the outro riff, where she picks out each note, repeating until the very end: B---14------------ B----------------- A----------12----- D----------------- A----------------- D----------------- On the live version used for the album, she was playing these notes instead: B---14------------ B----------------- A----------13----- D----------------- A----------------- D----------------- However, they slowed this section down on the record, which means it sounds a half step lower. Jim starts the section on C like everyone else. When the free noise starts, he would typically take off his bass and start playing with his effects, sometimes holding a contact mic up to his amp and processing that feedback. During initial live versions, including the one captured at the tail end of the album version, he was playing guitar in GGDEGB. If I were to try to clarify the album version, I'd break it down as follows: 3:00 everyone drones C note, Steve plays cymbals 3:22 free noise starts, Steve on snare, D drone fades in around 3:45 (Kim?) 4:38 Lee picking w/ delay, T clean figure starts @ 4:55, snare winds down at 5:09, D drone fades by 5:30 6:06 Lee arpeggiated riff enters til 6:50, T figure continues, tom beat enters, noise wall builds 7:05 T stops clean riff, starts strumming w/ C drone, toms build giving way to heavy beat @ 7:27 8:38 beat stops, all guitars still building wall of noise 8:58 segue to live version, Thurston is picking low D, Kim is playing 2-note figure til end, Lee and Jim playing spatters of notes w/ delay, Steve doing light hat/snare/rim accents 10:07 T stops droning D, eventually starts doubling Kim, Jim playing light wah notes similar to K/T, Lee running chords down the neck with heavy delay Last updated: 02/24/24 ------------------------------------------------ THE SONIC YOUTH GUITAR/BASS TABLATURE ARCHIVE: http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/tab/index.html ------------------------------------------------