ON THE STRIP by Sonic Youth Tab by Chris Lawrence (silvercircle@shaw.ca) w/ thanks to FDSwayze! TUNINGS ------- Thurston: ACCGG#C Lee: AAEEAA Kim: DEGDBB LAYOUT: A - B - A - B - A - B - A - C - D - E - D - E - F - G - H A SECTION 00:00-00:29 Thurston initially starts his riff with a quick strum of the G chord before going into the main riff, which does end with the same chord: C------------------4-----------------------------4------------------------ G#-------------------4-----------------------------4---------------------- G---7-7-7-7----4-------4------4---4-7-7-7----4-------4------4---4-7-7-7--- C---7-7-7-7-4----4-------4--4---4---7-7-7-4----4-------4--4---4---7-7-7--- C---7-7-7-7-4-----------------------7-7-7-4-----------------------7-7-7--- A-----------0-----------------------------0------------------------------- Then Kim starts singing over the same riff. Each further A section is just the 4 reps with the vocal. C-----------4------------------------ G#------------4---------------------- G-------4-------4------4---4-7-7-7--- C----4----4-------4--4---4---7-7-7--- x 4 C----4-----------------------7-7-7--- A----0------------------------------- Lee: A---0--- A---0--- E---0--- sustain w/ massive wah rockin' // this is basically all he does in the verses E---0--- A---0--- A---0--- Kim comes in after Thurston plays his riff once, playing once instrumentally and four times under her vocal. Future A sections are just four times with vocal. B---------------------------- B---------------------------- D---10------------12-12-10--- G------9-9--9-9-9-11-11--9--- E---------------------------- D---------------------------- B SECTION 00:29-00:37 Thurston: C-------------------------------- G#------------------------------- G---9-9-9--9-9-9---------7-7-7--- C---9-9-9--9-9-9------7------7--- C---9-9-9--9-9-9----7------------ A---0-0-0--0-0-0--7-------------- Lee: A-------7--7-7--7-7-7---5---5-5-5\7-7-7--- A-------7--7-7--7-7-7---5---5-5-5\7-7-7--- E-------5--5-5--5-5-5---3---3-3----------- E-------5--5-5--5-5-5---3---3-3----------- A---0------------------------------------- A---0------------------------------------- Kim: B--------------------------------------------- B-----------------------------------0-0-0----- D--------------------------------------------- G---7--9-9--9-9-9----7\9-9--9-9-9---------0--- E--------------------------------------------- D--------------------------------------------- A SECTION 00:37-00:53 B SECTION 00:53-01:01 Lee: A-------5\7--7-7--7-7-7---5---5-5-5\7-7-7--- A-------5\7--7-7--7-7-7---5---5-5-5\7-7-7--- E-------3\5--5-5--5-5-5---3---3-3----------- E-------3\5--5-5--5-5-5---3---3-3----------- A---0--------------------------------------- A---0--------------------------------------- A SECTION 01:01-01:17 B SECTION 01:17-01:25 Lee: A------7--7--7-7-7---5---5-3-2--- ring last note through next part A------7--7--7-7-7---5---5-3-2--- E------5--5--5-5-5---3----------- E---0--5--5--5-5-5---3----------- A---0---------------------------- A---0---------------------------- A SECTION 01:26-01:41 Lee rings B from previous section, then hits big A when Kim sings "left from RIGHT". C SECTION 01:41-01:53 Thurston starts droning the lower notes of this chord, then starts palm muting at 1:50, adding the note on the G string: C------- G#------ G--(4)-- C---4--- end w/ a big slide C---4--- A---0--- Lee holds the open strings then trem picks two notes: 1:46 1:50 A------------------------ A------------------------ E---0------3-------7----- E---0------3-------7----- A---0------/-------/----- A---0------/-------/----- Kim picks these notes, changing at the times specified: 1:47 1:50 B------------------------ B------------------------ D------------------------ G---9------4------\16---- E------------------------ D------------------------ D SECTION 01:53-02:09 Thurston plays a nice heavy riff with some really biting trebley distortion. This is a pretty good transcription but it's one of those things you'll wanna get the feel for and then just play it your own way, as loose as Thurston. C--------------------0-2b-------------------------2-4-4------- G#-----------------3-----3--------------------3-3------------- G-----------4-0--0---------0-----------4-0--0---------4/2/0--- play variation x 2 C-----------4-0------------------------4-0-------------------- C-------4-0------------------------4-0------------------------ A---0-0------------------------0-0---------------------------- Lee plays something like this: A--------------------------------12-10-12-10-------------------------------12\14-14--- A--------------------------------12-10-12-10-------------------------------12\14-14--- E-----------12-----12---10-12-10----------------------12-----12---10-12-10------------ E------8\10-----10-------------------------------8\10-----10-------------------------- x 2 A---0-----------------------------------------0--------------------------------------- A---0-----------------------------------------0--------------------------------------- Kim: B------------------------- B------------------------- D------------------------- G---9-9-9-9-9---7-7-7-9--- x 4 E------------------------- D------------------------- E SECTION 02:09-02:18 Thurston: C---7br-4-----4br------- G#------4---------3~~~-- G------(4)-------------- big slides C------(0)-------------- C----------------------- A----------------------- Lee: A---2^3-2~~~~-------0------------------- A---2^3-2~~~~-------0------------------- E--------------3--0--------------------- E--------------------------------------- A--------------------------\12/---\12/-- A--------------------------------------- Kim: B-------------------- B-------------------- D-------------------- G---9-9-9----4-4-4--- E-------------------- D-------------------- D SECTION 02:18-02:33 Thurston plays a slightly heavier version of the previous riff, but it's basically the same thing. Just heavy and sloppy with sick distortion. Lee plays a more loose and vigorous version of the previous riff: A------------12-----------------10-12-10-----------------12-----12-------12-12-12\14-14--- A------------12-----------------10-12-10-----------------12-----12-------12-12-12\14-14--- E------10^12----12-10-12--10-12----------12-10-----10^12-----12-12----12------------------ E------10^12----12-10-12--10-12----------12-10-----10^12-----12-12----12------------------ A---0-------------------------------------------0----------------------------------------- A---0-------------------------------------------0----------------------------------------- That's just a rough idea, if you watch that Dallas video you can see how he just kinda improvises this section. E SECTION 02:34-02:41 This time there is no one-two count kicking back into the riff, everyone just holds the last note. F SECTION 02:41-04:23 Thurston starts this section by basically just getting shrieking feedback from his guitar. Around 3:04 he starts trem picking these notes: C------- G#------ G------- C---9--- C---9--- A---0--- At 3:20 when the snare starts, Thurston starts adding "skronk" notes to his shape, just whatever ugly notes you want, and starts moving the shape up and down the neck while picking furiously. It's basically just a wall of noise until he kicks into his final chord at 4:11 - C-------- G#------- G---11--- C---11--- C---11--- A-------- Lee starts the section by shaking open feedback with his whammy bar, and then completely pressing it all the way to slack. Then he goes back to some light open string wah action. Around 3:07 he starts just trem picking the low A string while rocking his Crybaby wah. Around 3:23 he starts trem picking the open E string too, then begins a series of trem picked notes around the fretboard: 3:44 A-----------9---10--------------------9---8---9-----10--------------------------9---7--------------8--- A-----------9---10--------------------9---8---9-----10-----------------/-/-/----9---7------/-------8--- E---7---8---/----/------------8---9---9---8---/--8---8-----------------8-7-8----9---7------7---6---6--- E---7---8------------/---/----8---9---9---8------8---8----/---/-----/--8-7-8----9---7---/--7---6---6--- A---/---/------------7---8----/---/---/---/------/---/----7---8---7-8--7-7-7----/---/---6------/---/--- A--------------------7---8--------------------------------7---8---7-8--7-7-7------------6-------------- That gets you about 4 minutes in. He basically just moves around at half step increments while trem picking. It's not unlike "Green Light". Then he starts bashing out an open A chord before settling on the last chord he strums til the next section: A---9--- A---9--- E---7--- E---7--- A------- A------- To start with, Kim just hits the open strings with heavy fuzz. Around 3 minutes you can hear her start to fret notes on the low string, slowly climbing fret by fret throughout this section. She reaches the highest point around 3:38 and starts going back down, then basically does a quick speed run through what she just played (open string noise transitioning to a climbing note on the low string). G SECTION 04:23-05:16 Thurston: C------------------------------------------------- G#------------4---------------------4------------- G-------7-----4--------------7----4---4-------7--- etc repeat simile C---4\7----------4--4-4--4\7--------------4\7----- C------------------------------------------------- A---------0--------------------0------------------ At 5:08 he hits the open A string and pauses til the next section. Lee holds this shape and plays clean arpeggios: A------------------- A--------------12--- E-----------12------ E--------10--------- A---\12------------- A------------------- Kim: B------------------------------------------------ B------------------------------------------------ D---10---------------------10-------------------- x 5 G------9-9---9-9-11-11-9------9-9--9-9-\11/7-9--- E------------------------------------------------ B------------------------------------------------ H SECTION 05:16-05:42 Thurston: C-------------------------------------- G#------------------------------------- G-------------------------------------- C---------12--------12-------7-----7--- C------12--------12--------7-----7----- A---12--------12---------7-----7------- end on: C-------- G#------- G-------- C--*12*-- C--*12*-- A--*12*-- Lee: A--------- A---12---- i think he lightly strums the chord shape he's holding, perhaps with the open E E---12---- instead of the 10th fret - he very softly trem picks w/ focus on the E string E---(0)--- A--------- A--------- Kim just strums behind the bridge for the outro. Last updated: 04/14/24 ------------------------------------------------ THE SONIC YOUTH GUITAR/BASS TABLATURE ARCHIVE: http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/tab/index.html ------------------------------------------------