MARY-CHRIST by SONIC YOUTH Tab by Chris Lawrence (silvercircle@shaw.ca) w/ thanx to alan coughlan TUNINGS ------- Thurston: F#F#F#F#EB Lee: FFCCAA LAYOUT: A - B - C - B - C - B - C - A - D - E - F - G - A - B - C - B - C - A A SECTION 00:00-00:08 This first part repeats a few times during the song but it's not always necessary to play the exact same note, just a wildly bent/barred note around E. Thurston: B------------------- E------------------- the open E string works too F#------------------ F#------------------ hit that first note w/ crazy whammy bar embellishment F#--v10~~~~----14/-- (or extreme finger vibrato) F#------------------ Lee: A----------- A----------- C----------- C----------- F---v0~~~--- drop w/ bar + feedback F---v0~~~--- B SECTION 00:09-00:25 Thurston: B----------------- E----------------- F#---------------- F#------X-X-X-X--- mutes/harmonics @ 4th fret F#---4--X-X-X-X--- F#---4--X-X-X-X--- When he sings "skatin' light on ice" he plays: B------------------------------------------ E------------------------------------------ F#----------------------------------------- F#------X-X-X--------X-X-X-------X-X-X-X--- F#---4--X-X-X-9-11/--X-X-X-9/-4--X-X-X-X--- F#---4--X-X-X-9-11/--X-X-X-9/-4--X-X-X-X--- Lee: A---------------- A---------------- C---5--X-X-X-X--- C---5--X-X-X-X--- mutes/harmonics @ 5th fret F---5--X-X-X-X--- F---5--X-X-X-X--- C SECTION 00:25-00:30 Thurston: B------------------------------------- E------------------------------------- F#------------------------------------ F#---11-11-11-X-X-X-X--16--11--9--7--- x 2 F#---11-11-11-X-X-X-X--16--11--9--7--- F#---11-11-11-X-X-X-X--16--11--9--7--- Lee: A---0--- A---0--- C---0--- drop w/ bar + return C---0--- F---0--- x 2 F---0--- On live versions he hits 12th fret harmonics after dropping the open strings but I don't hear that on the record. B SECTION 00:31-00:42 C SECTION 00:43-00:47 B SECTION 00:47-00:58 Lee overdubs a guitar over the "angel in a devil skirt" line: A---\17/--- A---\17/--- C---\17/--- C---\17/--- F---\17/--- F---\17/--- C SECTION 00:47-01:03 A SECTION 01:04-01:09 D SECTION 01:10-01:21 Thurston: B---------------------- E---------------------- F#--------------------- x 4 F#---4-4-4-4--7-7-9\--- F#---4-4-4-4--7-7-9\--- F#---4-4-4-4--7-7-9\--- Lee: A------------------ A------------------ C-----------1--3--- C-----------1--3--- x 4 F---5--5-5--------- F---5--5-5--------- E SECTION 01:21-01:38 Thurston: B------------------------v21~~~~~~~~~------------- E--------------v18~~~~~~~~------------------------ this is approximate at best... F#--v20~~~~~~~-----------------------v20~~~~~~~--- he just attacks 4 really high notes F#------------------------------------------------ while bending the strings wildly F#------------------------------------------------ and yankin' on the trem bar F#------------------------------------------------ Then pick a pattern like this w/ whammy bar: B---v22-22-----22-22------ etc --22-- E---------v22--------22--- --22-- basically just attacking this chord F#------------------------ --20-- F#------------------------ ------ F#------------------------ ------ F#------------------------ ------ then: B------------------------- E---------------v0-0~~~~-- w/ bar F#--v11~~11~~11~~--------- F#------------------------ F#------------------------ F#------------------------ It's not super critical to hit all the exact notes, just the spirit of the whammy bar attack Lee: A------------------------------------20----------------------------------\16--18--20--20-18-20~~~-- A---------------------20-20-18-20-18-20b--------11^12-------16~~16~~~----\16--18--20--20-18-20~~~-- C------------------------------------------------------12------------------------------------------ C---20b--r20-17------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ F---------------18~~------------------------------------------------------------------------------- F-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A-----------------13---------------------------- A-----------12-------12-----------16-16b~~-15--- C---\\\12~-----12-------12~~-------------------- C------------------------0---------------------- F------------------------0---------------------- F------------------------0---------------------- Like Thurston's part, this is an approximation of a mostly improvised attack on the higher notes. Lee's part is very choppy and almost like he's trying to choke the notes rather than playing fluidly. The trem bar is your friend! (I think this section is supposed to sound like animal noises, but I could be wrong.) F SECTION 01:38-01:44 Thurston: B--------------------- E---(4)---------(4)--- i don't know if he means to hit the E string F#---4-----X-X-X-4---- F#---4-----X-X-X-4---- F#---4-----X-X-X-4---- F#---4-----X-X-X-4---- Lee: A------- A------- C---5--- x 2 C---5--- F---5--- F---5--- G SECTION 01:44-01:56 Thurston: B-------------------------------------------------- E-------------------------------------------------- F#------------------------------------------------- F#------------------------------------------------- x 4 F#---11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-16-16-11-11-9-9-7-7--- F#---11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-16-16-11-11-9-9-7-7--- Lee: A---0--- A---0--- drop w/ bar + return C---0--- C---0--- x 4 F---0--- F---0--- A SECTION 01:56-01:59 B SECTION 01:59-02:09 C SECTION 02:10-02:15 B SECTION 02:16-02:26 C SECTION 02:26-02:35 Thurston and Kim play the last 4 notes of the chorus at half speed. A SECTION 02:34-03:11 Thurston: B------------------------- E------------------------- for the last chord, basically drop the bar, F#------------------------ strike the strings, then raise it back up to F#... F#----------------v0~~~--- F#---v10~~~~~~~~--v0~~~--- begin palm muted segue to "kool thing" F#----------------v0~~~--- Lee just shakes the open strings w/ bar + makes animal noises as the "Kool Thing" segue fades out. Live he would switch guitars during this part to F#F#F#F#EB. Last updated: 11/03/22 ------------------------------------------------ THE SONIC YOUTH GUITAR/BASS TABLATURE ARCHIVE: http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/tab/index.html ------------------------------------------------