November 2, 2011 10:09 PM PDT
What's C/B on the guitar and does anybody believe that it sounds right?
November 7, 2011 12:44 AM PST
I think it's this x22010 or x20010
December 7, 2011 9:26 AM PST
i've got some slightly different chords you might want to give a try: not sure about the end.
Em I lost you a while ago.
Am Still I don't know Em why.
Em I can't say your name
Am without a crow flying Em by.
Cmaj7 Gotta watch my Bm back
E now that you turned me E7around.
Am (You) got me walkin Am7 backwards
into my home Em town.
(chorus)
G Throw me a C rope
G on the rolling C tide.
Am What did you Em7 want it to C be?
Am You said it's Em7 him or C me.
Em7 The way you Asus2 made it,
C that's the way it will G be D C.
We were Em seven years on the Burma shore
Am with Gatling Am7 guns and Em paint
Em working the lowlands door to door
Am like a Am7 Latter Day Em Saint.
Cmaj7 But then you turned me Bm out
E at the top of the E7 stairs.
Am You took all the Am7 glory
Em that you just couldn't share.
Em I've never been so disabused
Am Never Am7 been so Em mad
Em I've never been served anything
Am That Am7 tasted so Em bad
Cmaj7 You might need a Bm friend
E Any day now, any E7 day
Am Oh, my brother, be Am7 careful you are drifting a Em way
(chorus)
The Am way you Am7 made it Em7
C (stop) that's the way it will be Am7 Em9
December 7, 2011 9:30 AM PST
I think it's "seven years on the Berber Shore." There's no specific place that goes by this label, exactly, but I think it refers to Northern Africa during WWII. (Barbary Coast).
December 7, 2011 9:40 AM PST
Gatling guns were used in the american civil war.
December 7, 2011 9:56 AM PST
True, but they were also used on the North African coast in the late 19th century (during the Sudan Campaign). So my WWII estimate was too early.
December 7, 2011 10:31 AM PST
Should we be referring some of these very specific questions as to what the real lyrics are to the Acony offices? I know Gill doesn't usually like explaining the meaning of her songs, because as she said at St. Luke's, "Y'know it's kinda a funny thing, I find myself, uh, not really having too many stories to tell about a lot of these songs 'cuz it's like whatever I had to say about the song, it kinda went IN the song." I would think that she wants folks to at least know what the correct words she's singing are, unlike say Michael Stipe or Eddie Vedder. Any thoughts?
December 7, 2011 10:39 AM PST
You know, Brian, if I could interview them all night, one of the questions in my notebook (and I do keep one) would be: "With the exception of Hell Among The Yearlings," you don't publish your lyrics. Why not, and why there?" I wonder if the personal interpretation inherent in the speculation is part of the listening experience they try to cultivate.
December 7, 2011 10:46 AM PST
Your comment leads me directly to my most recent thought which is that we should gather a list of questions from amongst our members and submit them to G&D directly, either through the offices (they currently have 2, one at the Woodland Studios and one located in a residential neighborhood) and my connection there or through their management, Q Prime. Your thoughts?
December 7, 2011 1:31 PM PST
on the bob harris session they talked about writing the way it goes and the way the whole thing ends and that their radical selection of the verses leads to what had been a coherent "story" becoming hints at a narrative with a mystery contained in it.
January 18, 2012 9:38 AM PST
I am prepared to concede that it is "Burma Shore," although I don't know why. Watching the 2008 Newport performance, the enunciation is pretty clear.