e ---1---------3-3-3-3---1-1-----0---3-
B --1-1----1---0-0-0-0--1---1---1-1--3-
G -2---2--0-0--0-0-0-0-2-----2-0---0-0-
D 3------2---2-0-0-0-0--------2------0-
A ------3------2-2-2-2---------------2-
E -------------3-3-3-3---------------3-

  F      C      G                    F           C           G
G ------2------------------------------------------------------0-7~
D 3-3-3--------2---------------------------------------2-2-2-0----
A -------3-3-3--------2-------------------------------------------
E --------------3-3-3----3-3-3-3-3-3-1-0-1---1--------------------
B -----------------------------------------------1----1-----------
 
 

4/4
           D                        G
I want you to realize it's your life
          D                             G
I want you to realize it ain't paradise
           D                              G
I want you to slide with your soul and see
D
I want you
                G
To set me free
                D                          G
I'm gonna drive to the highest hill,
                         D                                G
Gonna take control, I'm gonna free my will
                                  D                                       G
I'm gonna swallow it whole like some giant, new pill
                D                G
'Cos I believe it every day
                D                G
Yeah I believe it won't go away
                D                G
And I believe it every day
            D
I want you

Etc.

4/4

Jason's favorite chords again:

G                                           C
You know I'm tired I've got a fevered brow
G                                            C
You know I'd change if I were with her now
G                                               C
You gave me drugs you said it'd cure my ills
G                                                C
They may cure yours but mine are with me still

Asus4                 F             G
You know I've felt this before
                    C        F             G
But I don't need it anymore
Asus4                     G
You         know It's true
            D
I love you

D                             G
A ----------------------------0-----------2----------
D --------------------------------------------------0
girl it's like an angel's sigh

    D
A ---------------------------2----------0
D ------------0--------------------------
when i see you walking by

     D
A------------0--------------2----------
D ------------------------------------0
     girl you know the reason why

     G
A---------------------------2---------0
D -----------0-------------------------
     girl you know the reason why

Chorus:

Rapid bursts of D, G, D, G...in 8/4 or higher time
End with a few strums of G

D                             G
A ----------------------------0-----------2----------
D -------------------------------------------------0-
girl you know i've nothing left

    D
A ---------------------------2---------0
D ------------0-------------------------
I'm just a feather on your breath

     D
A------------0--------------2----------
D ------------------------------------0
                                                 girl you know the reason why

     G
A---------------------------2---------0
D -----------0-------------------------
                                                 girl you know the reason why

Repeat chorus
End with a few strums of G

Outro
      D                              G
A ------------------0--------------2---------------1
     D
A------------0--------------2----------
D ------------------------------------0
 

Comments? Suggestions? Email me robertbobertson@yahoo.com

EX
BX
G---------0
D--2-3-2-2-3-2
A-
E -3

Solo: E -0 A - 0 E- 0 A - 0 E- 2.

etc.

G                      C
I'm waiting for a time
         G           C
when I can be without
           G                           C
these things that make me feel
G                            C
this way all of the time

Solo (in intro)

e - 3...3-5-7-8...7-9-3...

Alternate chording: G, G-A-B-C, C-B-D-G. (Same pattern as above, with barres. First chord (G) is 355433, and the chord just moves the whole mass down a whole tone (except at the end where B to C is a semitone).

3/4 push on in on a timpaniL

The the chording goes:
A                                          C                                                     A
Little Jonny's all messed up 'cos first he jumped and then he looked the tracks of time...etc

It is slightly easier, however, to play instead of Amaj and Cmaj, the following "chords":

Where A maj is required: XX2XXX
Where C maj is required: X32XXX

Possible options: E and A on 5th for A; C played as per.

Or even on the A string: XX2XXX and XX0XXX :)

Both systems are easier to play and sound ever so slightly more accurate :)

Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating In Space
one of my favorites, here are the chords:

tabbed by Chris and a_spaceman

Key of D:

In 3/4 time:

D, A, Bm, A, G, D, G, A (1 bar each)

Key of C:

C, G, Am, G, F, C, F, G

Cop Shoot Cop
Tabbed by a_Spaceman
 

EX
BX
GX
DX
A----0-3
E-0-3-

Electricity
Tabbed by A_Spaceman

Define chords:

A#    - XX3331 or 688766
C     - X32010 or 8,10,10,9,8,8
D     - XX0232 or 200232 or 10,12,12,11,10,10
F     - XX3211 or 133211
G     - 320003 or 355433

G                   A#      G
Driving fast down a one-way street
G      A#       G
Lord of loving, you dance so sweet
G      A#       G
Gonna crash, kiss the sky
G                     A#     G
Lord of loving, don't ask me why
G
I say

D   C     A#    G
E - lec - tri - city
D      C        A#   G
Let it rain all over me
D       C        A# D    G
Let the light be forever green
G D         C    A#     D    C    A# G
I play with fire if you know what I  mean

G      F   G   F  G    F  A#      G
I need someone to help me turn it on

Repeat this once with F and C filling in the space between. Then proceed into the chorus with C and F, then Dm and G. The voicing is pretty and simple.

Transparent Radiation (transcribed by a_spaceman)
_Notes:_ This is a cover of an old Red Krayola song. It is one of the best such covers the Spacemen 3 recorded on what is arguably their best album. Lovely song. This version (which is essentially the most widely known version) is also called "Transparent Radiation (Flashback)". Anyway...

I've never seen a transcription of this song before (or of ANY Spacemen 3 songs whatsoever for that matter), which is surprising because once you get past its somewhat awkward preference for certain chord constructions, it's actually very simple.

_Effects:_ Try a good phaser pedal. Since this was really written for an organ I believe the effect of a long, pure tone is one which a phaser or a good flanger can provide. Fiddle around with delays on these.

_Tuning:_ Tune this down slightly. In fact, it works best on a mildly out-of-tune guitar. But not a whole (or even half) step. Aside from that it's basically standard EADGBe (standard) tuning.

Define chords:

G - 355433 or 320033 or XX5787 (best)
F - 133211 (best) or XX3211 or XX3565
C - 032010 (best for arpeggio) or 8,10,10,9,8,8 (for most bits) or 335553 (not recommended)

In this transcription I have said "Arp." in some places. This means arpeggio (play the strings from bottom to top).

For a C chord an arpeggio is this:

e ----------0-
B --------1---
G ------0-----
D ----2-------
A --3---------
E 0-----------

The time of this song is 4/4. The rhythm can be difficult; essentially it's made up of a three-bar progression, the first two of which are made up of pairs of half notes and the third bar is made of 4 quarter notes.

Ok:

G                   F     G
 Selfless man slips by my side

F                    G
 Uttering words about a turning tide

G       F       G
 She slowly furnishes my continuous ride

F                    G
 Towards unsanitarily bits of hide

G                    F        G
 Hair quite long and lavender dyed

F                        G
 Split nostrils green and open wide

G                           F     G
 Velvet breasts and crimson legs astride

F                    G
 Uttering words about the turning tide

G                       F       G
 She asks me if I could ever provide

arp. C                G
      Transparent radiation

C                G
 Transparent radiation

Etc.

Starship (transcribed by a_spaceman)
 

_Notes:_ A "sort of cover", if you catch my drift. I'm not <precisely>
sure which version this song is simply because the Taang! CD does not
correctly give a track length (the sleeve reads 11:26, but it's less
than half that). It was apparently written by MC5 but the lyric is by
Sun Ra (I can't hear any lyric on this version though, save for what
amounts to some heavily echo-laden, strung-out burbling by Sonic at its
inception). So I guess you could say this is an Sp3 cover of the Mc5
cover. :-) I don't have the Threebie 3 EP so I doubt this version of
the song is the same.

I've never seen a transcription of this song. Surprising since it's a
fairly "well-known" (at least the Mc5 version is) song amongst music
fans, although from what I've heard the Spacemen 3 interpretations are
quite different. The frequency of its fifth chords make it easy to
begin a transcription but mildly difficult to complete.

_Effects:_ Good distortion pedals, anything generic. The cheaper the
pedal, the dirtier (and in this case, better) the song sounds and
therefore the more Mc5-esque way of playing would be no pedals at all
but with guitars and amps up to 12. :-)

_Tuning:_ This song is played in standard tuning. (EADGBe)

Define chords:
 

E  - 022100
E3 - 0221XX
E5 - 022XXX
G3 - 3554XX
G5 - 355XXX
A5 - 577XXX

This song is played in 4/4. The strumming pattern is quite simple. The
song starts out made of up bars which can be constructed with 1 quarter
note and 1 dotted half note. Then, later, in the "chaotic" portion with
howlin' solos courtesy of J Spaceman, the chords are strummed with
normal, 4 quarter note frequency. In the rhythm section below I've
shown the drumbeat sitting below the chords strummed so you can play it
easily. As this is an instrumental a good knowledge of the song won't
hurt either :-)

Ok:

The song begins with howls of feedback (stand parallel to your amp and
fiddle with the guitar's tone controls)...to cause that jagged,
propulsive effect that fades the feedback out, rapidly switch pickups
whilst turning the volume down and up (this is a two-hand exercise and
as a result you can't play an notes like this which is alright because
there is no melody as of yet)...

Drums come in >here<

Play this over the feedback:

e 0-0------3-3------5-5-3-3-0-0
B -----------------------------
G -----------------------------
D -----------------------------
A -----------------------------
E 0-0------3-3------5-5-3-3-0-0

(if you like you can form the chords, and I strongly suggest you play
this bit with a forefinger barre)

This bit is almost inaudible amidst the feedback, drums and bass
rumblings. After this the rhythm guitars kick in. Play them like this:
 

       E-E3 G3-G5 A5   G5   E5
       1234 12-34 1234 1234 1234
                         ^
Drum beat goes like this |
 
 

Because the rhythm guitars on this song are barely audible anyway,
keeping in time is more important than playing the right chords! :-)

May The Circle Be Unbroken
Tabbed by a_spaceman

Lovely old country gospel tune covered by Jason on the Revolution 12".

F
i was standin' by my window
     Bb              F
on a cold and cloudy day
F
when i saw the hearse come rollin
           C7     F
to take my mother away

F
may the circle be unbroken
    Bb
bye bye lord, lord bye bye

*c7=X32310

Song: Revolution
Performers: Spacemen 3
Album: Playing With Fire
Writer: Peter Kember

Transcribed by Aaron Heisler (gravitygrave_resident@yahoo.com)

_Notes:_ Fifth track on Playing With Fire - an incendiary song very much in the MC5 vein, and one of the harshest Spacemen 3 songs ever. This is essentially a solo composition by Sonic that shows up on the Spacemen 3 album. Ironically, this is one of the most widely known Sp3 songs even though it is wildly uncharacteristic - it was their most popular single, and was bastardized by Mudhoney (a move which caused Sonic to retaliate, vastly improving "When Tommorrow Hits" on Recurring). Still a brilliant song, and the only overtly political song the Spacemen ever recorded.

_Effects:_ This is heavily distorted. Any generic fuzz pedal will do the trick. This song is essentially all power chords.

_Tuning:_ Sounds standard (EADGBe) to me...

Define chords:

E5 - X799XX or 022XX0
D5 - X577XX or X00X3X or 10,12,12,X,X,X
G5 - X,10,12,12,X,X or 355XXX
A5 - X,12,14,14,X,X or 577XXX

*For D5 (alternate): form a Dsus/F# chord, but leave Es, G muted

_Rhythm:_ The song is played in 4/4. After the intro (see below), the only chords used are E5 and D5. Play E5 for 1 3/4 bars, strum D5 once, and repeat.

All the solos are essentially variations on this:

e - 0-0-3h5h6p5p3p0

ok:

Intro:

/ = Slide up
\ = slide down

E5 (strum twice, pause, strum once) /
G5 (strum twice, pause, strum once) /
A5 (strum once) \
  x3

Verse:

E5 (1 bar)
E5 (3 strums)
D5 (1 strum)
 x(many)

Then just play that verse sequence through the whole song.

You can visit my Spiritualized site at https://www.angelfire.com/ok3/electricity/index.html for more information about this band. There is also a guitar tabs section where things like this are exchanged but as this is a Spacemen 3 tab it does not fit...

Comments or questions should go to gravitygrave_resident@yahoo.com

Thanks again...

Song: Come Together (Abbey Road version)
Performer: Spiritualized
Album: The Abbey Road EP
Writer: Jason Pierce

Transcribed by Aaron Heisler (gravitygrave_resident@yahoo.com)

_Notes:_ This is a >very< different version of the song from the
one that appears on Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space,
and as such it is played >quite< differently. Here the rhythm guitar
is quite prominent, and the chording is slightly more complex (includes
one extra chord and a different solo). It is also harsher and more
aggressive than the LAGWAFIS version, and is closer in spirit to the
live version on Royal Albert Hall Live. Both of those other versions
are arguably better, but this is the easiest to play. Even though it
is the lesser of the three, it is still a spectacular recording.

There is a fine transcription (by Sam Wander) available in the old
OLGA archive of the Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
version, but that version unfortunately names the chords incorrectly
so it can be confusing. As this is a different version with a different
set of chords and solos, a new transcription was in order.

_Effects:_ Distortion. Later in the song Jason uses what sounds like
a phaser for that shifting, uneasy bit. Regardless this song probably
benefits more from the Spacemen 3 trick of over-amplification.

_Tuning:_ This song is played in standard tuning. (EADGBe), but you
may or may not want to tune it down a bit (the rumor that this is tuned
down seems to unsubstantiated).

Define chords:

A  - 002220 or XX222X or 577655
A# - XX333X or 688766
B  - XX444X or 799877
C  - XX555X or 8,10,10,9,8,8

>>I STRONGLY recommend that you play this with ONLY
the D,G, and B strings<<

_Rhythm:_
This song is played in 3/4 time. The rhythm is a bit
difficult to explain but easy to do: simply, in the song,
play A for 3 bars, then strum A, A#, and B once each, then
play C for 3 bars, then strum B, A#, and A once each again,
in that order. Then just repeat this through the whole song.

Intro:

Push in, 3/4 on timpanis...
then:
A...A#, B, C...B, A#, A...

Then (lead guitar):

e 0-------0------0----5
B ---3-1----3-1---3-1--

then:

e 0-------0------0-----
B ---3-1----3-1---3-1--
G --------------------2

...(this is also the solo that is played later in the song)

Then play the chords as follows (see _Rhythm_ section above for
timing):

A...(little Jonny's...)
A#, B...
C...(first he jumped...)

then for the chorus:

A...(come on...)
A#, B...
C...(come on...)

etc.

This is the shortest version of the song so it doesn't have the
lengthy section at the end of the live version which sounds like it
>may< be in a different key.
 

You can visit my Spiritualized site at https://www.angelfire.com/ok3/electricity/index.html for more information about this band. There is also a guitar tabs section where things like this are exchanged but as this is a Spacemen 3 tab it does not fit...

Comments or questions should go to gravitygrave_resident@yahoo.com

Thanks again...

Song: Lord Can You Hear Me?
Performer: Spacemen 3
Album: Playing With Fire
Writers: Jason Pierce

Transcribed by Aaron Heisler (gravitygrave_resident@yahoo.com)

_Notes:_ In my Shine a Light transcription, I called that song "awe inspiringly beautiful". I wouldn't think twice to apply that same description to this song, hands down my favorite Spacemen 3 song ever and quite possibly my favorite song of all time. It's a bit of a stretch to call this a Spacemen 3 song - Playing With Fire was really a split effort, with the three (who were actually two) collaborating on only one song - "Suicide". This song follows "Suicide", concluding the dreamlike cycle of Playing With Fire.

I've never seen a transcription of this song before (or of ANY Spacemen 3 songs whatsoever for that matter, aside from my own), which is surprising because as Sonic and Jason pursued minimalistic songforms, the chord constructions are quite simple, relying on the beauty of the pure tone (example: according to Jason, the later Spiritualized song Cop Shoot Cop is based on one note - A)

_Effects:_ The rhythm guitar which is played in arpeggio is always clean, but Jason later adds various combinations of fuzz to the chorus. The arpeggio rhythm continues throughout though. Traditional this song is also played with a phaser.

_Tuning:_ Sounds standard (EADGBe) to me...

Define chords:

D    - XX0232 or 10,12,12,11,10,10
D/F# - 200232
A    - 002220 or 577655
G    - 320033 or 355433

_Rhythm:_ This song is played in 3/4 time. All chords are apparently played in arpeggio (that is, starting on the D string and playing each successive higher string until high E, then playing B, G, and starting a new arpeggio), except in the chorus when a new guitar comes in, played in standard strumming.

Remember: 2 bars = 1 arpeggio

Ok:

Verse:

D - 2 bars
A - 2 bars
D - 6 bars
A - 2 bars
D - 4 bars
G - 4 bars
D - 4 bars
A - 2 bars
G - 2 bars
D - 4 bars

Chorus:

D - 2 bars
A - 2 bars
D - 4 bars
    x4

Then go back to the verse once more...
 

You can visit my Spiritualized site at https://www.angelfire.com/ok3/electricity/index.html for more information about this band. There is also a guitar tabs section where things like this are exchanged but as this is a Spacemen 3 tab it does not fit...

Comments or questions should go to gravitygrave_resident@yahoo.com

Thanks again...

If you would like a text file of this tablature, or some Verve tabs, send email here

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