Black Snake Album chords by Robyn Hitchcock

Chords with lyrics

Today I returned from lunch to find a
"thank you" from him -- a mug with a picture of Syd screened on one side!
The other side has some guy (unrecognizable, at least to me) screaming,
with the words "The Anderson Council" circling his head... Chris (the
student aide) has no clue what this is all about -- a house he lived in in
British Columbia had a big crate of these mugs in the basement!
My guess is, a floyd cover band??? Anyone know?
@ALBUM: Black Snake Diamond Role

BLACK SNAKE DIAMOND ROLE
by
Robyn Hitchcock


@The Man Who Invented Himself

I met this man called Mr Barrett or something in the South Kensington
Subway playing this tune on an old guitar. Anyway I gave him 50p and
he showed me how to play it.

{This tune is played on the joannah on CD so it sounds natuarally
enough a little different on guitar. These are the chords but it's
worth hunting around to get those inversions right.

Lyrics from Mr Mellotron, Chords from Tin-Ear.

Intro

FF  Gmin Bb majorBb   C majorC
FF  Gmin Bb majorBb   C majorC  FF

FF    Bb majorBb       FF
He came bursting ...
Bb majorBb           FF
like a sphere ...
Bb majorBb            FF
And he cast his ...
Gmin      Bb majorBb
it was like he ...

Bb majorBb           FF
And he landed ...
Bb majorBb           FF
But the ...
Bb majorBb            FF
And it left fim ...
     Gmin       Bb majorBb
You could here the ...
Bb majorBb          C majorC        FF    G#min
He's the fellow, the man ...
Bb majorBb         C majorC        FF       FF
He's the fellow the man ...

And it continues in the same ...
Bb majorBb           FF
Nobody knows ...
Bb majorBb           FF
Nobody knows where he's ...
F2      C majorC
But he's ...

The F2 chord looks like this (it's still an FF chord, just an inversion)
(X03311)


@SONG: BRENDA'S IRON SLEDGE
Intro:
D:-----2-2-2-0---0-------0-0-0------
A:-0-3---------3-----2-3-------3-2-0

A augmentedA
We head downhill, my hands ....
The iron piston ...
D MajorD
The steaming air as ...
E MajorE      A augmentedA       E MajorE
All aboard, Brenda's iron .....
All aboard, ....
D MajorD          A augmentedA        E MajorE
Please don't call ....


@SONG: DO POLICEMEN SING?

The opening riff isn't really a chord,
but tabbed out I guess it would look like:

Bass plays low E...
Gtr. slides down from XXX9-11-X on beat 2,
Then X12XXX, and pull off on the A augmentedA string to X02XXX.

The chord would be Em, and in both cases
the two notes are E MajorE and Bb, so let's
just refer to them as Hi and Lo, shall we?

Between couplets in the verse,
the Asus2Asus2 is just X02200, picked, with the
bass going up to BB on beat 4.

  Hi    Lo      Hi     Lo
"O do policemen sing?" I ....

  Hi   Lo     Hi       Lo Asus2Asus2
"We can do anything!" I....

And so on until...the chorus:

B:   X24442
E:   X79997 (bass plays A augmentedA)
D:   X57775 (bass plays G+G)
C#:   X46664
C#maj7: X46564
F#:   244322
D#m:  X68876

Bsus2Bsus2        E MajorE       D MajorD
It's true becauzza... Never ....
D MajorD       C#C#     C#Maj7C#maj7
Never show him ...
F#F#      D#mD#m
Confidence...

The next 5 measures are picked, but if they were chords
they'd be C#: 9-11-11-10-9-9, B: 799877, and B7: 797877.
Some might choose to play these all as 7ths if they
were playing them as chords.

   C#C#        BB
'Cuz who supplies ...

   C#C#        BB
It's not your ...

B7B7
Or your best ...

...And back to E minorEm and the Hi-Lo verse part.

The end section:

--------------------
--------------------
--------------------
--------------------
---2---1---2---1----
0-----------------3-  D MajorD (XX0232)
...Our law and or-der's never-never-never-never-never gonna break down

Repeat 3 times, and on the last repeat (remember there's
an extra "never"), end (on "Down") with a chord which
might be described as E5E5 (add Bb majorBb): 022300.

As for the outro, it starts with the same E5E5 (addBb) chord,
then switches to XX4442, and up to XXX775, XXX997, XXX9-12-10,
and XXX-9-11-9, as the song fades out.

--------------------------------------


@SONG: THE LIZARD
A augmentedA      E minorEm         D7D7       C majorC   G+G
You wear the lizard's shoes and afterwards ....


@SONG: MEAT

E MajorE is played as [listen for rhythm] a sort of switch between E MajorE and A.
or as just a plain E, if you're into simplifying things.

E MajorE
It don't feel much like a ...
It don't feel much like a ...
A augmentedA                     E MajorE
It don't feel much like a ...
A augmentedA                    BB
It don't feel much like a girl .....
It don't feel much like a ....
BB                      E MajorE
Oh come on baby (doo-doo-doot) .....


@SONG: ACID BIRD
Intro:
D:-0--0-0-0----------------------------
A:---0-0-0-0---------------------------

D MajorD
Sucking on a tap ...
                   A augmentedA
Could you take it ....
G+G       D MajorD
Bending blood, ...
A augmentedA
The father stood, the ...
D MajorD         A augmentedA       D MajorD       A augmentedA
Like shadow on an acid bird that ....
D MajorD E MajorE  A augmentedA
So long ...

G+G
Fun in the sun, ...
A augmentedA               G+G
Shallow bodies ....
G+G
Fun in the sun, hair ...
A augmentedA                 G+G
Tadpoles shooting ....

@SONG: I WATCH THE CARS
* E:-0-0h3-0-3-5-3----------

E MajorE                 *
I watch the ....
I watch the cars ...
I watch the cars ....
A(5)
Sometimes south ....
E MajorE                 *
I watch the cars....

I hear the ....
A(5)
I wonder who ....
E MajorE                 *
I'm getting ...
I see the men ...
I see the ....
A(5)
They go to ....
Who never mind ....
E MajorE                 *
The prostitutes ....
Alright!
I hear you're gonna try that too

I hear you're gonna ....
A(5)
I wouldn't pay to ....

I watch the cars go ...
A(5)
Sometimes south ....
E MajorE                 *
I watch ....


@SONG: OUT OF THE PICTURE
[I'm a bit unsure about the verse]
A augmentedA       D MajorD        E MajorE
Don't you ever ....
Don't you feel sad...
D MajorD      A augmentedA         E MajorE
There is no escaping ....
A augmentedA         D MajorD      E MajorE
She's never really ...
D MajorD
And I'm walking out of ....
E MajorE          A augmentedA E MajorE      D MajorD
Leaving everything behind .....

D MajorD
She's not just a ...
      E MajorE
She's a big black ....
A augmentedA              D MajorD
She swallows everything .....


@SONG: CITY OF SHAME

E MajorE           D MajorD
It was in the ...
E MajorE            D MajorD
That I found I ....
A(5)        B(7)
I was looking for a ....
A(5)         B(7)
I discovered that .....


D MajorD      A augmentedA
La, la, la...
E MajorE      A augmentedA
La, la, la, ...
A augmentedA      E MajorE
La, la, la...
A augmentedA          D MajorD
La, la, la....

It was in the ....
.......by several men
E MajorE      A augmentedA
La, la, la....a
E MajorE      D MajorD
La, la, la....
[repeat as needed]

@SONG: LOVE

D MajorD             G+G
The sun is shining ...
C majorC             D MajorD
I see that nothing ...
D MajorD          C majorC
I move ...
G+G              D MajorD
And choose the ...
D MajorD    C majorC           D MajorD
Ah, ah, ah - I'm ...


Dancing On God's Thumb (3:40)
----------------------

Intro: [Soft Boys version]
e:-0----0-1-2-3----0-1-2-7-5-??-3-0-
[the ?? is either a 5 or a 3. Kimberly plays it very fast and
very distorted, so I can't properly tell. If you can, let me
know]


B(7)               A(5)
I don't mind walking ....
I don't mind waiting where ...
But when I don't have ...
    E MajorE         D MajorD
I hate everything ....

I don't mind waiting 'til the .....
You know the first to ....

B(7)         A(5)     G(3)   B(7)
We are all dancing ....
We are all dancing .....


Terry "The Human Mellotron" Marks
[email protected]