Swamp Song tab by Tool

Song: Swamp Song
Artist: TOOL
Album: Undertow

Transcribed by 133MHz (w133mhz@phreaker.net)

- The song is played with the last string (E) dropped to D, as almost
all the other TOOL songs; the rest of the strings are in normal tuning
(in order: E - B - G - D - A - D).
- It is easy to get the timing if you listen to the song, otherwise I
can't guarantee it.
- The different sections are shown in the sequence they show in the song
and divided by the piece of lyric that starts with each. Riffs that
repeat through the song are numbered.

X  - mute
pm - palm mute
^  - bend
~  - let it ring

***


Intro
|-------------------------|
|-------------------------|
|-------------------------| 4x
|-------------------------|
|---5-----5-----3-----3-5-|
|-0---3-0---3-0---5-0-----|


Riff 1 - "My warning..."
|--------------------|
|--------------------|
|--------------------| 4x
|--------------------|
|----------------3-5-|
|-0--0-0-0--0--X-----|
 |- - pm - - |


"Why don't you watch..."
|----------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------|
|-0-------0-----0---------------0-----0---0----------|
|----------------------3-5-----------------------3-5-|
|---0-0-0---0-0---0-0-------0-0---0-0---0---0-0------|
 |- - - - pm - - - - |     |- - - - pm - - - - |


Riff 2 - "You're wading knee deep..."
|---------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------|
|-0-0-3-0-0-3-0---5-0-3-5---0-0-3-0-0-3-0---5-0-3-5-|
|---------------3-------------------------3---------|
|---------------------------------------------------|
 |- - - - - pm - - - - - |


"The bog is thick and..."
|----------------------------|      |----------------------------|
|----------------------------|      |----------------------------|
|----------------------------| then |----------------------------| 3x
|----------------------------|      |----------------------------|
|----------------------------|      |----------------------------|
|-5-3-5-0-3-5-0-3-5-0-3--3-5-|      |-0-3-5-0-3-5-0-3-5-0-3--3-5-|


"I hope it suck you down"
|-------------|
|-------------|
|-------------|
|-------------|
|-------------|
|-5-3-3-5-3-0-|


Repeat the Intro 3x, in the fourth do:
|-------------------|
|-------------------|
|-------------------|
|-------------------|
|---5-----5-----5^^-|
|-0---3-0---3-0-----|


Repeat Riff 1 (4x)


"Why don't you watch..."
|----------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------|
|---------0-----0-------------------0-----0----------|
|----------------------3-5-----------------------3-5-|
|-0-0-0-0---0-0---0-0-------0-0-0-0---0-0---0-0------|
 |- - - - pm - - - - |     |- - - - pm - - - - |


Repeat Riff 2


Chorus - "The bog is thick and..."
|----------------------------|
|----------------------------|
|----------------------------| 4x
|----------------------------|
|---3-5---3-5---3-5---3--3-5-|
|-0-3-5-0-3-5-0-3-5-0-3--3-5-| -> palm mute the 0's softly


"I hope it suck you down"
|-------------|
|-------------|
|-------------|
|-----------0-|
|-5-3-3-5-3-0-|
|-5-3-3-5-3-0-|


In this part he does some weird sounds before starting the next
"My warning...", I don't know how to play it but some improvisation
with guitar effects should work.


"My warning..."
|-------------------------------------|
|-3~~-----3~~-----3~~-----3~~---------|
|-2~~-----2~~-----2~~-----2~~---------|
|-0~~-----0~~-----0~~-----0~~---------|
|-0~~-----0~~-----0~~-----0~~-----3-5-|
|-0~~-----0~~-----0~~-----0~~---------|
The timing here is not very clear, hit the D's with heavy distortion and
let them ring a bit before hitting the next one; this should work fine.


"Why don't you watch..."
|----------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------3-5-----------------------3-5-|
|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-------0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0------|
 |- - - - pm - - - - |     |- - - - pm - - - - |


Repeat Riff 2 (4x)


Repeat Chorus (4x)


"I hope it suck..."
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------0-|
|-5-3-3-5--5-3-3-5--5-3-3-5--3--3-5--5-3-3-5--5-3-3-5--5-3-3-5-3-0-|
|-5-3-3-5--5-3-3-5--5-3-3-5--3--3-5--5-3-3-5--5-3-3-5--5-3-3-5-3-0-|


|-------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------|
|-7-----5-5---------------------------|
|-7-----5-5-----------------------0~~-|
|-5-0-0-3-3-0--0-0-0--2--2-2-3-5--0~~-|
|---0-0-----0--0-0-0--2--2-2-3-5--0~~-|
              |-pm -|


|-------------|
|---0---------|
|---------0---| 8x - In the eighth time, play the last two notes without
|-----2-----2-| palm-muting and change to the next riff
|-0-----0-----|
|-------------|
 |- - pm - - |


|-------------|
|-------------|
|---2-----0---| 8x then go to Heavy riff
|-----0-----2-|
|-0-----0-----|
|-------------|
 |- - pm - - |


Heavy riff
|---------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------0-------------0-------2------0---|
|-0~---0-----2--0~---0-----2--0~---0-----2--0~---0------2-|
|-0~-0---0------0~-0---0------0~-0---0------0~-----0------|
|-0~-------0----0~------------0~------------0~------------|

I'm not sure if this is correct, the solo notes sound sharper in the song.
You can play it in an easier way by only hitting the D's and letting them
ring, but in the song you can hear the other notes in the background.


Riff 3 - "Wandering..."
|-------------|
|-------------|
|---2-----0---| 8x
|-----0-2---2-| In the eighth time, play them without palm-muting
|-0-----------|
|-------------|
 |- - pm - - |


"Why don't you geeeet... away"
|-----------------------|
|-----------------------|
|-----------------------|
|-0~~---0~~---0~~---0~~-|
|-0~~---0~~---0~~---0~~-|
|-0~~---0~~---0~~---0~~-|
Again the timing is not very clear, listen to the song to get it.


Repeat Riff 3 (8x)


"Why don't you get out..."
|---------------|
|---------------|
|-----2-----0---| 4x
|-0~~---0-2---2-|
|-0~~-----------|
|-0~~-----------|


"While you can"
|--------------------|
|--------------------|
|-2---2-2---2-2-2-2--| jump right to the solo
|-0---0-0---0-0-0-0--|
|--------------------|
|--------------------|


Solo
|-----------10^^-10^^--13-10-13-10--10^^-10^^-------------------|
|-10^^-10^^-----------------------------------10^^-10^^---------|
|-------------------------------------------------------9^^-9^^-|
|---------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------------|

*start*
|---------10^^^^-|
|----------------|
|-7^^-7^^--------|
|----------------|
|----------------|
|----------------|

I don't know exactly how to play this solo; I've added some of the notes
I figured out (without timing) and if you add some guitar effects and
improvisation on these notes you might get a good result (listen to
the song).

The next part starts while the solo is being played (the *start* mark).


*start* "No... one..."
|------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------|
|----0-3-0-3-0-----0-3-0-3-0-----0-3-0-3-0---0-3-0-3-0-|
|------------------------------------------------------|
|-0-------------0-------------0------------0-----------|
    |- -pm - -|   |- -pm - -|


"To cooome"
|-------------------------|         |-------------------------|
|-------------------------|         |-------------------------|
|-------------------------| 3x then |-------------------------|
|-----3-----3-----3---5-5-|         |-----3-----3-----3-------|
|---5-----5-----5-----3-3-|         |---5-----5-----5---------|
|-0-----0-----0-----0-----|         |-0-----0-----0-----0-5^^-|


Repeat the Intro (4x), playing it a bit heavier than before


"Why don't you watch..."
|-------------------------|
|-------------------------|
|-------------------------| 2x
|---0-3---0-3-----5-------|
|---------------3-----3-5-|
|-0-----0-----0-----0-----|
 |- - - - - pm - - - - - |


"You're wading knee deep..."
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|---0-3---0-3-----5-0-3-5----0-3-0-0-3-0---5-0-3-5-|
|---------------3------------------------3---------|
|-0-----0-----0------------0-----------------------|
 |- - - - - pm - - - - - |


Repeat Chorus (4x)


"I hope it suck..."
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-5-3-3-5--5-3-3-5--5-3-3-5--3--3-5--5-3-3-5--5-3-3-5--5-3-3-5--3~~-|
|-5-3-3-5--5-3-3-5--5-3-3-5--3--3-5--5-3-3-5--5-3-3-5--5-3-3-5--3~~-|


***

That's it. Since I figured it all out myself, there are probably a lot
of mistakes, but it's okay for starters. I'd really appreciate some
help on the solo, the weird sounds (01:45 - 01:53) and the heavy riff
(03:10 - 03:16), but every correction is welcome.

- 133MHz (w133mhz@phreaker.net) -