Tabs
The Watchmaker
Steven Wilson
Track 5 from The Raven That Refused to Sing (and other stories).
The tab is as the version recorded live:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V4SnFE_8Ms
PLEASE READ: This tab is not 100% complete (there are some parts missing) nor 100% perfect
(there are some mistake due to the tuning of the acoustic guitar and the mix).
I wanted to learn the song and there was no tab online
so I tabbed what I could.
There are 3 guitars in this tab. One of the guitars is on a different tuning and uses a capo:
Gtr 1: Acoustic guitar in Nashville tuning with capo on the third fret.
Gtr 2: Lead Guitar on Standard tuning NO CAPO!!!!. Some flute parts are tabbed for this guitar
Gtr 3: Rhythm guitar on Standard tuning NO CAPO!!!!. Only for the heavy part of the song at the end
Gtr 1 and Gtr 2 Intro: (00:00 - 00:29)
E5/D
e||---7----5----3----2--2--3----|--------3---0----|| ||---0---0---------||
BB||---5----5----5----5--5--5----|------0---0------|| ||---5---5---------||
G+G||o--4----4----4----4--4--4----|----0-----------o|| x3 ||---4---4---------||
D MajorD||o----------------------------|--2-------------o|| ||-------0---------||
A augmentedA||-----------------------------|-----------------|| ||-----------------||
E MajorE||-----------------------------|-----------------|| ||-----------------||
|
e||-----------------------------|-----------------------------------||
BB||-----------------------------|-----------------------------------||
G+G||---7----5--------------------|-----3-----Play Fill 1 and Fill 2--||
D MajorD||--------------8----7-7-8-----|----5------------------------------||
A augmentedA||-----------------------------|-----------------------------------||
E MajorE||-----------------------------|-----------------------------------||
Fill 1 goes at the end of the second repetition in the intro.
Fill 2 is the last thing before the verse starts.
Fill 1 Fill 2
e||-------------||-----------------||
BB||--10h11~~~---||--10b(11)r10~~~--||
G+G||-------------||-----------------||
D MajorD||-------------||-----------------||
A augmentedA||-------------||-----------------||
E MajorE||-------------||-----------------||
Section 1: Clean guitar verses
Verse 1: Gtr 1 strums the chords while Gtr 2 picks the notes. Chords here
are referred to Capo for Gtr 1
Dm(sus2) 
E7E7 Am(sus2)
The watchmaker works all day and long into the night
Dm(sus2) E7E7 Am(sus2)
He pieces things together despite his failing sight
Dm(sus2) E7E7 Am(sus2)
Though all the cogs connect with such poetic grace
FF E MajorE 
Asus2Asus2
Time has left its curse upon this place
C majorC E5/D
Each hour becomes another empty space to fill
FF E MajorE
Wasted with the care and virtues of his skill
Verse 2: As verse one
Dm(sus2) E7E7 Am(sus2)
The watchmaker buries something deep within his thoughts
Dm(sus2) E7E7 Am(sus2)
A augmentedA shadow on the staircase of someone from before
Dm(sus2) E7E7 Am(sus2)
This thing is broken now and cannot be repaired
FF E MajorE Asus2Asus2
Fifty years of compromise and aging bodies shared
C majorC E5/D
Eliza dear, you know, there's something I should say
FF E MajorE
I never really loved you, but I'll miss you anyway
Flute solo: This section is not referred to the capo as it is tabbed for Gtr 2
e||--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------||
BB||--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------||
G+G||--12~~-13-12-10-12-12-----10~-12-10-7-7~/8~/10~/12~-12-12~-13-12-10-12-12-----10~~--12------------------||
D MajorD||-----------------------10--------------------------------------------------10----------13-12--10-9-9-10~||
A augmentedA||--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------||
E MajorE||--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------||
e||----------------------------------||
BB||--11~~~~~-9-8-8~~~--(8)h9\8\6/8---||
G+G||----------------------------------||
D MajorD||----------------------------------||
A augmentedA||----------------------------------||
E MajorE||----------------------------------||
Chords part after the flute solo: Gtr 1 part is missing, sorry about that
Gtr 1
e||-----------------------------------------------||
BB||-----------------------------------------------||
G+G||-----------------------------------------------||
D MajorD||-----------------------?------------------------||
A augmentedA||-----------------------------------------------||
E MajorE||-----------------------------------------------||
Gtr 2
e||-------------------------|| ||--------------------||
BB||-------------------------|| ||--------------------||
G+G||o---5~---10~---8~---~---o|| x3 ||--6~---(6)--5~~~----||
D MajorD||o-----------------------o|| ||--------------------||
A augmentedA||-------------------------|| ||--------------------||
E MajorE||-------------------------|| ||--------------------||
|
Tara tara taara melody part. Gtr 2 follows the singing melody
e||---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------||
BB||---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------||
G+G||--15-17-15-17-14~~-10-10h12-10---------|15-17-15-17-14~~-10-10h12-10--12~/.15--||
D MajorD||--------------------------------12-10--|---------------------------------------||
A augmentedA||---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------||
E MajorE||---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------||
e||--------------------------------------------------||
BB||--------------------------------------------------||
G+G||--15-17-15-17-14~~-10-10h12-10-----10~~~--13-12---||
D MajorD||--------------------------------12----------------||
A augmentedA||--------------------------------------------------||
E MajorE||--------------------------------------------------||
Break: Gtr 1 strums chord loud and clear (Referred to capo 3)
e||--0-0--0--0--||
BB||--0-0--0--0--||
G+G||--2-2--0--0--||
D MajorD||--2-2-----2--|| x3
A augmentedA||--0-0-----2--||
E MajorE||----------0--||
Flute Solo (NOT TABBED). I am missing the part for Gtr 1 and Gtr 2 here.
e||-----------------------------------------------||
BB||-----------------------------------------------||
G+G||-----------------------------------------------||
D MajorD||--------------------?--------------------------||
A augmentedA||-----------------------------------------------||
E MajorE||-----------------------------------------------||
Guitar Solos: Thanks to the guy who originally tabbed it:
e||----------------------------------------------------------------------||
BB||----------------------------------------------------------------------||
G+G||----------------------------------------------------------------------||
D MajorD||----------------------------------------------------------------------||
A augmentedA||--/12------\10--/15-------13--12h13h12-----10--8----10/12---10----7---||
E MajorE||----------------------------------------------------------------------||
*use whammy, or just slide quickly for same effect
e||----------------------------------------------------------------------------||
BB||---------------------------------------------------13---13----10---10\8-----||
G+G||---------------------------------14--14\12---14--------------------------10-||
D MajorD||----------------------------------------------------------------------------||
A augmentedA||--4/5----*\4/5--------10/12/13----------------------------------------------||
E MajorE||----------------------------------------------------------------------------||
e||-----------------------------------------------------------------------||
BB||---10/13---10---10\8---------------------------------------------------||
G+G||-----------------------------10h12p9-----------------------------------||
D MajorD||-----------------------------------------10p8p7------h8p7--------------||
A augmentedA||-----------------------------------------------------------------7\5---||
E MajorE||-----------------------------------------------------------------------||
e||--------------------------------------------------------------------||
BB||-----------------------------8h10h11p10p8h10t15p10p8h10h11p10t15p10-||
G+G||-------------7h9------7h9-------------------------------------------||
D MajorD||--------7h8------7h8------------------------------------------------||
A augmentedA||---5h7--------------------------------------------------------------||
E MajorE||--------------------------------------------------------------------||
e||-----------------------------------------------------------------------------||
BB||-8h10h11p10p8h10h11p10t15p10p8h10h11p10p8-11b12p9-12b13p10-13b14p11-14b15p12-||
G+G||-----------------------------------------------------------------------------||
D MajorD||-----------------------------------------------------------------------------||
A augmentedA||-----------------------------------------------------------------------------||
E MajorE||-----------------------------------------------------------------------------||
e||---------------------------------------------17/18-----||
BB||-15b16p13-16b17p14-17b18p15-18b19p16--19-20------------||
G+G||-------------------------------------------------------||
D MajorD||-------------------------------------------------------||
A augmentedA||-------------------------------------------------------||
E MajorE||-------------------------------------------------------||
e||------------------------------------17-18------17-18-20b22----||
BB||-19---18-17-16-15-16-------16-18-19---------------------------||
G+G||--------------------------------------------------------------||
D MajorD||--------------------------------------------------------------||
A augmentedA||--------------------------------------------------------------||
E MajorE||--------------------------------------------------------------||
e||--20-18-17------------------------------------------------||
BB||-----------19-18-16---------------------------------------||
G+G||--------------------19-17-15---19-------------------------||
D MajorD||----------------------------------16p15\13-15p13----------||
A augmentedA||-------------------------------------------------17-15-13-||
E MajorE||----------------------------------------------------------||
e||---------------------------------------------------||
BB||---------------------------------------------------||
G+G||---------------------------------------------------||
D MajorD||---------15--15----17b18r17---15---14-----------12-||
A augmentedA||--(13)------------------------------------15-------||
E MajorE||---------------------------------------------------||
e||-10h11h12h13p12p11p10/13h14h15h16p15p14p13\11h12h13h14p13p12p11\8h-||
BB||-------------------------------------------------------------------||
G+G||-------------------------------------------------------------------||
D MajorD||-------------------------------------------------------------------||
A augmentedA||-------------------------------------------------------------------||
E MajorE||-------------------------------------------------------------------||
e||-9h10h11p10p9p8\6h7h8h9p8p7p6\5--------------------------------------||
BB||---------------------------------------------------------------------||
G+G||------------------------------------9p5h7----------------------------||
D MajorD||-----------------------------------------------7p5h7-----------------||
A augmentedA||------------------------------------------------------------7p3h5----||
E MajorE||---------------------------------------------------------------------||
e||------------------------------------------------------------------------------||
BB||------------------------------------------------------------------------------||
G+G||--------------------------------------------------9---------------------------||
D MajorD||---------------------------5---------/12------------------10--------12--------||
A augmentedA||-(0)-------------5------------------------------------------------------------||
E MajorE||---------3--------------------------------------------------------------------||
SECTION 2:
Piano begins (No Guitar for a while)
You were just meant to be temporary while I waited for gold
We filled up the years and I found that
I liked having someone to hold
But for you I had to wait
Until one day it was too late
AH!!!!!
TU TU TU!
Gtr 2 enter after the drum section around minute 9:00
after the firts part of the bass solo. The guitar doubles
the bass
Gtr 2
e||-----------------------------|------------|------------||
BB||-----------------------------|------------|------------||
G+G||--10-9----9------9--10-9-----|--9h10~~~~--|------------||
D MajorD||-------12-----12---------12--|------------|--12h13~~~--||
A augmentedA||-----------------------------|------------|------------||
E MajorE||-----------------------------|------------|------------||
e||-----------------------------------------------||
BB||-----------------------------------------------||
G+G||--10-12-8-10-7-8-8-10-7-8-5-7-8p7p5h7/15~~~~---||
D MajorD||-----------------------------------------------||
A augmentedA||-----------------------------------------------||
E MajorE||-----------------------------------------------||
Groovy bass part, and then:
e||----------------||
BB||----------------||
G+G||----------------||
D MajorD||----------------||
A augmentedA||--3-3-3--3-3-3--||
E MajorE||--1-1-1--1-1-1--||
Enter vocals and guitar make weird noises with the whammy bar.
Play a 
G5G5 and use the whammy bar to get the sound
Vocals enters again, first without guitars, then with the guitars
Cogs and levers mesh
We are bound in death
Melt the silver down
I'm still inside you
Gtr2 and Gtr 3 enter with power chords following the vocal melody
Gtr 2 & Gtr 3 (No capo)
e||--------------------|-----------------||
BB||--------------------|-----------------||
G+G||--------------------|-----------------||
D MajorD||--8-----------------|--5-----4-----3--||
A augmentedA||--6---9---5--7--3---|--3--6--2--5--1--||
E MajorE||------7---3--5--1---|-----4-----3-----||
Song ends in 
F5F5
e||-----||
BB||-----||
G+G||-----||
D MajorD||--3--||
A augmentedA||--3--||
E MajorE||--1--||
Other versions of The Watchmaker
Alternative guitar chords and tabs for The Watchmaker by Steven Wilson
