SHE'S IN A BAD MOOD by Sonic Youth Tab by Chris Lawrence (silvercircle@shaw.ca) TUNINGS ------- Thurston: "anything" (see notes) Lee: EBDGBE Thurston uses an "anything" tuning, and while the open strings in late 1982 definitely did not sound exactly like the open strings in late 1983, there was a general range of notes that he seemed to keep the Knox tuned to. The problem is that the beauty in this tuning is the imprecise nature of the intonation: rather than getting the strings exactly to a particular pitch, they are deliberately tuned "off" so they sound even uglier when played. Just a rough starting point would be something like: E tune down to C-ish A tune down to D#-ish D tune up to D#-ish - not an exact octave above the previous string G tune down a bit to somewhere in between F# and G B tune down a bit to somewhere in between F# and G but not exactly the same as the previous string E tune down to just above G (nearly G#) It's really that cluster in the middle that's key, a dissonant mixture of D# through G. LAYOUT: INTRO 00:00-00:30 The song begins with Thurston aggressively strumming the open strings for about 30 seconds. A SECTION 00:30-01:14 Thurston continues attacking the open strings once the band kicks in. He tends to focus more on the center strings, that cluster of roughly D# through G. At 0:45 it almost sounds like he starts strumming behind the bridge until 0:53 when he strikes the open strings again. He drops out of the mix around 1:00 when Lee starts his whirry riff. Lee kicks in with a distorted E chord: E------------ B------------ G------------ play twice D------------ B---0-------- E---0-------- I'm honestly not sure if this next riff is Lee or Kim's weird bass, and they're mixed so closely together. Lee can play it: E--------------------------- B--------------------------- G--------------------------- then hit the distorted E chord a couple more times D-------2-------3-------2--- it sustains during the next riff B-----0-------0-------0----- E---0-------0-------0------- At 1:00 plays this riff while trem picking the string behind the bridge: E---------------------------------------------12-------------- B---13--------12-14-13--------12-14-13-----12--/-------------- G----/---------/--/--/---------/--/--/------/--/-------------- D----/---------------/---------------/---------/-------------- B------------------------------------------------------------- E------------------------------------------------------------- B SECTION 01:14-01:43 Thurston doesn't play while he sings. Lee: Lee strikes some low E chords with distortion, occasionally letting some of the other open strings ring. A SECTION 01:43-02:15 Thurston strikes the open strings four times, once at the start of each bar. Then he strums behind the bridge. Then he strikes the open strings one more time, and I think quickly runs the slide up past the end of the fretboard. Then he's silent when Lee starts his whirry riff. Lee starts with a droning trem picked figure: 1:43 1:47 1:50 1:54 E-------------------------------- B-------------------------------- G---------------------------0---- D---0------0--------------4-/-4-- B---7------3------0-----5-/---/-- E---/------/------/-----/-------- The last bit is played as more of a quick flurry, he's kinda just trem picking through this shape: E------- B------- G---0--- D---4--- B---5--- E---0--- Then he repeats this part from earlier: E---------------------------------------------12-------------- all trem picked behind the bridge B---13--------12-14-13--------12-14-13-----12--/-------------- G----/---------/--/--/---------/--/--/------/--/-------------- D----/---------------/---------------/---------/-------------- B------------------------------------------------------------- E------------------------------------------------------------- B SECTION 02:16-02:44 Thurston doesn't play while he sings. Lee: Lee strikes some low E chords with distortion, occasionally letting some of the other open strings ring. A SECTION 02:44-03:44 Thurston strikes the open strings like before, then starts aggressively trem picking the middle strings along with Lee. At 3:05, Thurston starts his ascending slide riff that continues til the end of the song. He starts at the first fret and slowly climbs a fret at a time while strumming steadily. Lee repeats the same droning trem picked figure: E-------------------------------- B-------------------------------- G---------------------------0---- D---0------0------------/-4-/-4-- this time he focuses a bit more on the E notes in the final chord B---7------3------0-----5-/---/-- E---/------/------/-----0-------- Drone those E notes til around 3:05 then just start hitting random skronk chords. It sounds like mostly open strings with a percussive attack, you could even just smack the strings with your hand. Then he gets a little crazier trem picking skronky notes high up the fretboard. C SECTION 03:44-05:36 Thurston continues going fret by fret with his slide. He's at about the 9th fret when Kim and Bob start their thumping accents. By the time Kim and Bob play their final chords, Thurston is past the frets and is just climbing up to the bridge with the slide, until he runs out of room to pick. Lee keeps playing strangled skronk chords, just choking them out. Around 4:05 he starts back with his behind-the-bridge riff, but he moves his left hand around more while just picking quickly behind the bridge (not playing the same exact motif). At 4:33 he hits the distorted open E chord again, repeating it a few times as Kim and Bob wind down and Thurston reaches the end of his fretboard. It sounds like Lee starts hitting the strings with a drumstick or something at the very end, and then his EB strings drone out to finish. Last updated: 08/31/23 ------------------------------------------------ THE SONIC YOUTH GUITAR/BASS TABLATURE ARCHIVE: http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/tab/index.html ------------------------------------------------