Van Halen (Balance)

Transcribed by: Mike Heasley (mheasley@hmc.edu)

I grabbed the tab for this off of ftp.nevada.edu and thought it was
close but not quite right. So here’s my rendition. I basically
just edited the version that was transcribed by Bob Brockman
(brockman@udavxb.oca.udayton.edu). Corrections, comments,
suggestions, flames, etc. welcome.

Part 1:

e|————————————————-0-2–|
B|———————————————–3——|
G|——4——-4——-4——-4———-4—2——–|
D|—-4——-2——-0——-0———-0—0———-|
A|–2—–2-0—–0——————–2—————-|
E|——————3—–3-2—–2~-0——————|

Part 2:

e|————————-|
B|——–2———3-2—-|
G|——4——-2——-2–|
D|—-4——-2—2——–|
A|–2——-0————–|
E|————————-|

Part 3: (similar to Part 1):

e|————————————————-2-0-0–|
B|———————————————–3—–0–|
G|——4——-4——-4——-4———-4—2——-2–|
D|—-4——-2——-0——-0———-0—0———2–|
A|–2—–2-0—–0——————–2—————0–|
E|——————3—–3-2—–2~-0——————–|

^

Part 4: Same as Part 1

outta touch most the time
gotta lotta things on my mind
kickin’ down, where to start

Part 5:

it’s the hardest thing oh….

e|——————–0————–|
B|——–2——-2—0———–3–|
G|——4——-4———–2—2—-|
D|—-4——-2———–2—0——|
A|–2——-0———–0————|
E|——————0—————-|

Part 6: Same as Part 3

grow it long, shave it off
life is hard, never soft
i need a change, i need it quick
before it makes me sick

Part 7:

that’s what’s on my mind

e|—————————————————7————-12–|
B|——–7—–7-8——-7—7-5————7—7-8—8–12-10-10-10–|
G|——9—–9———7———7——–9—9———-12-11-11—–|
D|—-9—–9———7—–7——-7—-9—————-0————|
A|–7—————5——————7——————————-|
E|———————————————————————|

Repeat parts 4 through 6:

pay attention, watch your back
pay your dues, stay on track
got no room to second-guess
puts me under stress oh….

if i were you, you were me
i wonder who i’d wanna be
with just one wish you can’t refuse
i wouldn’t know what to choose

Part 8:
(not exactly sure about this chord)

e|——————————————————————–|
B|—3/7–5–8–7/10–8–12–12/14-14—15—————————-|
G|————————————–0—————————–|
D|————————————–0—————————–|
A|—2/5–3–7–5/8—7–10–10/12-12—12—————————-|
E|——————————————————————–|

Chorus: I just play these as bar chords, though I’m sure Eddie does
something fancier

feelin’...no, i don’t like what [D/F#]i’ve been told i’m feelin'
feelin' what no one else will [D/F#]ever know i’m feelin' oh….

Variation on Part 4:

now black is white and white is black
got politicians smokin’ crack
and john paul’s all bullet-proofed

e|——————————————————-0-2–|
B|—————————————————–3——|
G|——4———4———4———4———-4—2——–|
D|—-4———2———0———0———-0—0———-|
A|–2—–2-2-0—–0-0———————-2—————-|
E|———————-3—–3-3-2—–2~-0——————|

Repeat Part 5:

it puts me through the roof yea….

Variation on Part 6:

i were you and you were me
i wonder who i’d rather be
if i had one wish i’d take it

e|——————————————————-2-0-0–|
B|—————————————————–3—–0–|
G|——4———4———4———4———-4—2——-2–|
D|—-4———2———0———0———-0—0———2–|
A|–2—–2-2-0—–0-0———————-2—————0–|
E|———————-3—–3-3-2—–2~-0——————–|

^

Chorus:

feelin’...oh, i don’t like what i[D/F#]’ve been told i’m feelin'
and i’m seein' what no one else will [D/F#]ever know i’m seein'
come on feelin', hey, i don’t under[D/F#]stand these things i’m feelin', no

Part 9: Lead-in to solo

e|————————————————————–|
B|————————————————————–|
G|————————————————————–|
D|———–5/7—————————-5—-7—–7/5——|
A|—5/7—–0—0-0-0-0-0—–5–5/7———5–5-5-5-5/3-3-3–|
E|—0—0-0—————5/7—-0—0-0-0———————|
e|————————————————–|
B|————————————————–|
G|————————————————–|
D|———–5/7—————————-5——-|
A|—5/7—–0—0-0-0-0-0—–5–5/7———5—–|
E|—0—0-0—————5/7—-0—0-0-0——5–|

Pick scrape/whammy bar/something like that on the last note

Solo here… ( Em – D )

Variation on Part 9:

e|————————————————————–|
B|————————————————————–|
G|————————————————————–|
D|———–5/7—————————-5—-7—–7/5——|
A|—5/7—–0—0-0-0-0-0—–5–5/7———5–5-5-5-5/3-3-3–|
E|—0—0-0—————5/7—-0—0-0-0———————|
e|———————————————————-|
B|———————————————————-|
G|———————————————————-|
D|———–5/7—————————-5—-7—–7/5–|
A|—5/7—–0—0-0-0-0-0—–5–5/7———5–5-5-5-5/3–|
E|—0—0-0—————5/7—-0—0-0-0—————–|

Variation on Part 3:

e|————————————————-0-2-0–|
B|———————————————–3—–0–|
G|——4——-4——-4——-4———-4—2——-2–|
D|—-4——-2——-0——-0———-0—0———2–|
A|–2—–2-0—–0——————–2—————0–|
E|——————3—–3-2—–2~-0——————–|

^

Repeat Part 3 as written:

outta touch most all the time
too many things on my mind
shuttin’ down, gotta stop this thing

Chorus:

feelin’...oh, i don’t like what [D/F#]i’ve been told i’m feelin'
i’m bleedin’...like no one else will [D/F#]ever know i’m bleeding
dealin'…i’m dealin’ with these things i’m feelin’
i’m dreamin’, im dreamin’, i’m dreamin’ things that show me what i’m seein
seein'…i’m seein’ things that i don’t know i’m feelin’
i’ve been feelin’, i’m feelin’, i’m feelin’ things that i don’t know
i don’t know, i don’t know what i’m seein’

(Repeat: Bm – C#dim – D – Em – F#)

hey, i don’t understand

Variation on Part 3:

e|————————————————-2-3-0–|
B|———————————————–3—–0–|
G|——4——-4——-4——-4———-4—2——-2–|
D|—-4——-2——-0——-0———-0—0———2–|
A|–2—–2-0—–0——————–2—————0–|
E|——————3—–3-2—–2~-0——————–|

^

Part 10 (the end):

e|—————–9–|
B|————–5–7–|
G|————7—-7–|
D|——-7-11——9–|
A|—4/7———–9–|
E|—————–7–|

(From Bob Brockman’s transcription):
Just in case, the more esoteric chords used herein are:

[Bm/A] [Bm/G]

e|–x—–x—–x—–0—–x—–
B|–3—–3—–3—–0—–5—–
G|–4—–4—–4—–2—–6—–
D|–4—–4—–4—–2—–5—–
A|–2—–0—–x—–0—–4—–
E|–x—–x—–3—–x—–x—–