Tabs
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The Dead Flag Blues - Godspeed You! Black Emperor
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E-mail: [email protected]
Notice: this song (and most Godspeed songs, for that matter) is NOT played in standard
tuning. Rather, on this track the band alternates between two different tunings during
the entire song.
The whole song has a hall reverb at maximum setting, any pedal model will do.
The Dead Flag Blues (Intro):
Tuning: 
F#F# 
A#A# 
C#C# F#F# A#A# C#C#
The song obviously opens with strings, but there is also a guitar melody that comes up.
C#C#|------------------------|
A#A#|------------------------|
F#F#|------------------------|
C#C#|-------------7----------|
A#A#|-------7-------7--------|
F#F#|-4---7------------7-7-7-|
There are two guitars playing at once in this section, this is the second guitar
C#C#|------------------------|
A#A#|------------------------|
F#F#|------------------------|
C#C#|-------7----------------|
A#A#|-------------7----------|
F#F#|-4---7------------7-7-7-|
The guitars sometimes modify the melody slightly, here are some of the variations they play.
Guitar 1:
C#C#|------------------------|
A#A#|------------------------|
F#F#|------------------------|
C#C#|-------------7----------|
A#A#|-------7-------7--------|
F#F#|-4-4-7------------7-7-7-|
C#C#|------------------------|
A#A#|------------------------|
F#F#|------------------------|
C#C#|-------------7----------|
A#A#|-------7-------7--------|
F#F#|-4---7------------7-7-2-|
Guitar 2:
C#C#|------------------------|
A#A#|------------------------|
F#F#|------------------------|
C#C#|-------7----------------|
A#A#|-------------7----------|
F#F#|-4-4-7------------7-7-7-|
C#C#|------------------------|
A#A#|------------------------|
F#F#|------------------------|
C#C#|-------7----------------|
A#A#|-------------7----------|
F#F#|-4---7------------7-7-2-|
These parts can be combined and used to your liking.
After this a third guitar comes in, soloing over the two guitars.
Improvise accordingly.
Then the chamber orchestra comes in, just keep playing until the monologue returns and
ends the section of the song.
Slow Moving Trains:
Tuning: F#F# A#A# C#C# 
FF A#A# C#C#
This section is pretty impossible to tab, it's all improvised.
Here's what you do.
Use a screwdriver as a bow/slide, this technique is quite difficult to describe but
searching up "gybe screwdriver" should bring up several videos showing how it's done. Also
use the tremolo bar to add on to the unsettling effect.
At around the 9:27 mark rest your screwdriver at the 12th fret. Sustain/freeze pedal in
this part before "The Cowboy..." fades in is optional but recommended
The Cowboy...:
Tuning: F#F# A#A# C#C# F#F# A#A# C#C#
Main chords:
C#C#|---------7-------------4-------------0-------------4-|
A#A#|---------7-------------3-------------0-------------3-|
F#F#|---------7-------------4-------------0-------------4-|
C#C#|---------7-------------4-------------0-------------4-|
A#A#|---------7-------------3-------------0-------------3-|
F#F#|---------7-------------4-------------0-------------4-|
Bass guitar:
F#F#|-----------------------------------------------------|
C#C#|-----------------------------------------------------|
A#A#|-----------------------------------------------------|
F#F#|-4-6-7---------7-6-4---------4-2-0---------0-2-4-----|
Every once in a while play the C#C# major chords with a 7th fret harmonic, and optionally
follow that up with a 5th fret harmonic. Also, during the first two repeats, use the
tremolo bar to tune down the chords.
Now here's the hard part. To get the technique and feel of the solos on this song, you
have to play the lowest note in that specific phrase and bend up and down accordingly.
This will give you the slide guitar sound that the band has.
To make things easier to read I will not be writing which notes are bending to which
notes, only the notes that are being played. It should be relatively simple figuring out
how to play the solo based off of this and the original recording.
First solo:
This is the second guitar playing the solos, the first guitar continues playing the chords
C#C#|--------------------------------------|
A#A#|--------------------------------------|
F#F#|-16-14---11---11-9-7---7-9-11---12-11-|
C#C#|--------------------------------------|
A#A#|--------------------------------------|
F#F#|--------------------------------------|
C#C#|----------------------------------------------|
A#A#|----------------------------------------------|
F#F#|-16-14---14-16-14---11-12-11---11-9-7---7-6-4-|
C#C#|----------------------------------------------|
A#A#|----------------------------------------------|
F#F#|----------------------------------------------|
Then the second guitar plays this
C#C#|---------7-------------4-------------0-------------4-|
A#A#|---------7-------------3-------------0-------------3-|
F#F#|---------7-------------4-------------0-------------4-|
C#C#|---------7-------------4-------------0-------------4-|
A#A#|---------7-------------3-------------0-------------3-|
F#F#|-4-6-7---7-----7-6-4---4-----4-2-0---0-----0-2-4---4-|
Second solo:
C#C#|-------------------------------------|----------------------------|
A#A#|----12----12----12----12-12-12-13-12-|-12-12----12----12----12-10-|
F#F#|-11----11----11----11----------------|-------11----11----11-------|
C#C#|-------------------------------------|----------------------------|
A#A#|-------------------------------------|----------------------------|
F#F#|-------------------------------------|----------------------------|
C#C#|-------------------------------------------|----------------------------|
A#A#|----14----12----12----12----12-12-12-13-12-|-12-12----12----12----12-10-|
F#F#|-12----11----11----11----11----------------|-------11----11----11-------|
C#C#|-------------------------------------------|----------------------------|
A#A#|-------------------------------------------|----------------------------|
F#F#|-------------------------------------------|----------------------------|
After this, improvise a solo based off of the same feel that was in the previous solos
for one bar, then the song slows down and ends.
Use the tremolo bar to create the same downtuning effect for the last chord of this
section only.
The final section, titled "The Dead Flag Blues (Outro)" has no guitar parts, and as such
I will not be tabbing it.
