This is all my own work, transcribed by myself on 1/30/06 with a Fender Strat in hand. "When the Morning Comes" Daryl Hall & John Oates >From the album "Abandoned Luncheonette" (1973) Considering how popular H&O were, there's barely any tabs for them online. Well, I know the basic chords for a lot of their earlier songs "in my head", so I might as well start fleshing some out, and getting them on the net for those who care. I'm almost positive that Daryl Hall wrote this song on a mandolin, but since I don't have one, I'm gonna have to transcribe it for guitar only. Sorry mandolin players.
The trick with this song is that the main chords in the verse have a constant, droning G bass behind them. That's simple if you have a bass player backing you (or if you're playing this song on a keyboard), but if not, try this: Put a Capo on Fret 3, and now the Low E is a Low G, and you can use that as your droning bass. First, here's the chords, just named. If you're playing this on a piano, this is the only part you need. Guitar transcription is after this. Intro: G D/G C/G C C/D G Verse: G I went.. D/G She.. C/G It'll be.. C C/D G ..morning comes (x2) Chorus: Am Just in.. Bm Bm Bbm Am <--quickly Be anyone Am When you.. C/D D So much better.. That's it. Rinse and repeat throughout the whole song. Unfortunately, due to all the "slash chords", it's not as simple as it may look. Though it's not terribly difficult either: Remember, Capo on Fret 3. All chord shapes are relative to the capo. So the typical "E" chord (022100) is technically a "G". So now I'm spelling out the chords as if the song is in the key of E, instead of the actual G. Intro/Verse: E------0--------2----------0---------0---------x----------0----------------- -- B------0--------4----------2---------2---------2----------0----------------- ---- G------1--------4----------2---------2---------2----------1----------------- ---- D------2--------4----------2---------2---------2----------2----------------- ---- A------2--------x----------0---------0---------2----------2----------------- --- E------0--------0----------0---------x---------x----------0----------------- ---- E B/E A/E A A/B E ^To mute the "A" String, just use the tip of your index finger to touch it. This will prevent it from ringing out. Chorus: E----2---------4---------------4---3----2---------------------------------- B----2---------4---------------4---3----2---------------------------------- G----2---------4---------------4---3----2---------------------------------- D----4---------6---------------6---5----4---------------------------------- A----4---------6---------------6---5----4---------------------------------- E----2---------4---------------4---3----2---------------------------------- F#m G#m G#m Gm F#m "Just in.." ^Play those quickly, like "1, 2, 3" E----2---------x--------x------------------------------------------- B----2---------2--------4------------------------------------------- G----2---------2--------4------------------------------------------- D----4---------2--------4------------------------------------------- A----4---------2--------2------------------------------------------- E----2---------x--------x------------------------------------------- F#m A/B B "When you.. so much.. two...." Anyway, that's how I play it. You can certainly do it without the capo, I just like using the low E for my bass note. Actually, it might even be easier like this: No capo, play a regular G (320033). For D/G, play a regular open position D and use your thumb to fret the low E on the third fret (so, 3x0232). And for C/G, 332010. And for that C/D chord, just do: xx0100. Etc. I think the capo version just makes it more complicated, actually. Oh well. Use whichever one you like best. Questions/Comments: dontpoll@aol.com
Alternative guitar chords and tabs for When The Morning Comes by Hall And Oates