(This whole song should be played on a Rickenbacker 12-string or per
“The Isle of View” on an acoustic 12-string! — LM)

The intro lick, that also continues through most of the song,
goes like this:

e|---------2-3-|-0-------2-3-|
b|-3-----------|---3---------|
G|---0---------|-----2-------|
D|-----0-------|-------------|
A|-------------|-------------|
E|-------------|-------------|

Try this instead — let the bass notes ring. Note that the timing is
triplets:

t t t t t t t t t t t t

e|--------2-3-0-------2-3-|
4 b|3-------------3---------|
- G|--0-------------0-------|
4 D|----0-------------------|
A|------------3-----0-----|
E|3-----3-----------------|

Then right before the first verse:

e|-------------|
b|-3p1-0-------|
G|-------2-0---|
D|-----------4-|
A|-------------|
E|-------------|

VERSE 1

[C(add9)] [Dsus2/A]
He’s gone

[C(add9)] [Dsus2/A]
Two thousand miles

[C(add9)] [Dsus2/A] [C(add9)] [Dsus2/A]
Is very far

The snow was falling down
It’s colder day by day
I miss you

[C(add9)] C(add9)1 D ; C(add9)1 x32030
The children were singing
C(add9) D G C(add9) Dsus2/A etc.
He’ll be back at Christmas time

VERSE 2

In these frozen silent nights
Sometimes in a dream
You appear
Outside under the purple sky
Diamonds in the snow
Sparkle
Our hearts were singing
It felt like Christmas time
(The lick at through this next part goes something like this:)

e|-----3-------|-------------|
b|---3---------|-----1-----3-|
G|-0-----------|---0-----2---|
D|---------4-0-|-2-----4-----|
A|-------------|-------------|
E|-------------|-------------|

BRIDGE

Two thousand [C(add9)]miles

Is very [C(add9)]far through the snow

[C(add9)]I’ll think of you

Wher[C(add9)]ever you go[C(add9)]

e|-------------|
b|-3p1-0-------|
G|-------2-0---|
D|-----------4-|
A|-------------|
E|-------------|

VERSE 3

He’s gone
Two thousand miles
Is very far
The snow was falling down
It’s colder day by day
I miss you
I can hear people singing
It must be Christmas time
I hear people singing
It must be Christmas time

G: 320033
C(add9): x32033
Dsus2/A: x00230

D: x00232
Dsus4: x00233
C(add9)1: x32030

Suggestions and corrections welcomed as always–

Same here!

Eric Pohl

>
>:
>

>e———0-3——3331—110—00————————————|
>B-1——1————————3—331—01————————|
>G——-0————————————————————-|
>D———————————————————————|
>A———————————————————————|
>E———————————————————————|

>
>

Well I finally sat down with the Singles CD and bashed this out. I can
play the riff at the beginning, but now that I don’t have my guitar
in hand I forget it. Agh. I can’t understand two places where Chrissy
is singing either–‘crescending’ and ‘baggle’ aren’t words that I know
of, but that sounds like what she’s saying. Corrections appreciated.

Back on the Chain Gang, the Pretenders

opening strum: D A G G D A G G

riff x2

I found a picture of you oh
What hijacked my world at nights
To a place in the past we’ve been passed out of oh
Now we’re back in the fight

We’re back on the train (ooh, ah)
Ohh
Back on the chain gang

The circumstance beyond our control oh
The fool on TV and the news of the world
Got in the house like a pigeon from hell, oh
Crescending our eyes and descended like flies

Put us back on the train, yeah
Oh
Back on the chain gang

riff x2

bridge:
Dm A Dm A and so on
The powers that be
That forces us to live like we do
Bring me to my knees
When I see what they’ve done to you

chord comping

I’ll die as I stand here today
Knowing that deep in my heart
Therefore to ruin one day
For making us part—–

I found a picture of you, oh
Those were the happiest days of my life
Like a brick in the baggle was your part, oh
In the wretched life of a lonely heart

Now we’re back on the train
Ohh
Back on the chain gang

E B E B until end
[–] Internet member since 1988

BACK ON THE CHAIN GANG- The Pretenders

D A Em7 D A Em7 (rpt over riff)

I found a picture of you o[Gmaj7/B]h
What hijacked my world that night[Gmaj7/B]
To a place in the past we’ve been cast out of [Gmaj7/B] oh
Now we’re back in the fight[Gmaj7/B]

We’re back on the train hey
Aaaah, back on the chain gang

Circumstance beyond our control oh
The phone, the TV, and the news of the world
Got in the house like a pigeon from hell, oh
Threw sand our eyes and descended like flies

Put us back on the train, yeah
Aaaaah, back on the chain gang

BRIDGE:
The powers that be that force us to live like we do
Bring me to my knees when I see what they’ve done to you
Well I’ll die as I stand here today, knowing that deep in my heart
They’ll fall to ruin one day
For making us part–—

I found a picture of you, o[Amaj7/B]h[A/B]
Those were the happiest days of my life[Amaj7/B][A/B]
Like a break in the battle was your part,[Amaj7/B] oh[A/B]
In the wretched life of a lonely heart[Amaj7/B][A/B]
Now we’re back on the train, hey
Aaaa[A/B]h, back on the chain gang

B E B E (rpt and fade)

Em7: 0 2 2 0 3 0 Gmaj7/B: 3 2 4 0 0 2
Amaj7/B: x 0 6 6 5 4 A/B: x 7 7 6 5 5

NOTE: If you find Gmaj/B too hard to finger, try Bm in its place. Not
as accurate, but a hell of a lot easier.
(from Learning to Crawl, 1983)

There are about three versions of this already in the archive, but none of
them is quite right. This one’s a little better; someone sent it to me last
fall, and I recently cleaned it up because I wanted to play it.

Unfortunately, this might still have mistakes; I can’t check because I don’t
have the album. I’ll have to see if I can get them to play it on the radio…

BACK ON THE CHAIN GANG (The Pretenders)

—————————————

(Norman Lin); I just cleaned it up a little for my own use.]

[intro; slow strum] [hard strum]
[with lead guitar]

I found a picture of you, ohh o[-]h-oh ohh ohhh
Oh, what hijacked my world that night?[-]
To a place in the past we’ve been cast out of, ohh o[-]h-oh ohh ohhh
Oh, now we’re back in the fight[-]

Em A Em – Em Asus4 – A – Asus2 – A
We’re back on the train, yeah
Oh, oh, back on the chain gang

Circumstance beyond our control, ohh oh-oh ohh ohhh
Oh, the phone, the TV, and the news of the world
Got in our house like a pigeon from hell (‘), ohh oh-oh ohh ohhh
Oh, threw sand in our eyes, and descended like flies

Em A Em – Em Asus4 – A – Asus2 – A
Put us back on the train, yeah
Em A Em – Em Asus4 – A – Asus2 – A
Ohhh, ohhhhh
Back on the chain gang

D A G G D A G G [3 beats]
[guitar solo, same as second part of intro]

The powers that be that force us to live like we[(Dm)] do
(..do) Bring me to my knees when I see what they’ve done to you
Dm AaddF Dm AaddF
[no vocals]

And will I die as I stand here today, knowing that deep in my [(Dm)]heart
(..heart) They’ll fall to ruin one day, for making us part

[no vocals][-]

I found a picture of you, ohh oh[-]-oh ohh ohhh
Oh, those were the happiest days of my life[-]
Like a break in the battle was your part, ohh oh[-]-oh ohh ohhh
Oh, in the wretched life of a lonely heart[-]

F#m B F#m – F#m Bsus4 – B – Bsus2 – B
Now we’re back on the train, yeah
Oh, oh, back on the chain gang
Chain gang [repeat and fade]

Funny chords:
Em: 022003
F#m: 244225
Dm: x00231 – x00230 – x00231
AaddF: x02220 – x02221 – x02220

Intro & Solo:

e ——————-|————————|————————|
B ———-7–10-7-/|10~————/10–10–|10~————/10–10–|
G ——-7———–|————————|————————|
D (7)-7————–|————————|————————|
A ——————-|————————|————————|
E ——————-|————————|————————|

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

e |————————|————————|——-|
B |10-p8—8—8–s7—7—|7———————–|——-|
G |————————|—-9—9–7b9–7—6–/|7——|
D |————————|————————|——-|
A |————————|————————|——-|
E |————————|————————|——-|

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
(/slide, ppull off, bbend, ~vibrato)

For the ending two chords, arpeggiate as follows:

e———————————————————————-|
B—————–0———————-4—————————–|
G————–1—–1—————-4—–4————————–|
D———2————–2———4———–4———————–|
A——–2———————-2————————————–|
E–0——————————————————————-|
————————————————————–

If you want guitar chords for Mary Chapin Carpenter, Indigo Girls,
Mary Karlzen, Lucinda Williams, etc., mail me or check my home page:

————————————————————–

1. Show Me Chords (ver 3) by Pretenders

+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- +

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+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- +

Artist: Pretenders
Song: Show Me

TITLE : Show Me
WRITTEN BY : Chrissie Hynde
PERFORMED BY : The Pretenders
ALBUM : Learning to Crawl
GUITAR CHORDS : Cmaj7332000, E022100, Am7002130, Am002210
Dmxx0231, Dm7xx0211, E022100, Em7022030
C332010, G320001 Play Gxx5433, Fxx3211, Fxx3011

ENHANCED BY : Monsty – (INTRO + Additonal chords + Info )
: Christian … Good Tab !-)
Dated : Munich 2009_03_07
Enhanched again by:
: Patrick M. Ryan, pmryan@acm.org
added arpeggio, fixed lyrics, fixed Cmaj7
Dated : 4 April 2013

[…] Optional chords

ORIGINAL by : Christian Korbanka, Cologne, Germany – date: 95/10/15
e-mail: Christian_Korbanka@msn.com

INTRO :

E|--------------------------0-----0--------|
B|----1-3---1-3---1-3-----1----------0--------|
G|--0-----1-----2-------2------------0--------|
D|--------------------3--------------2--------|
A|-----------------------------------3--------|
E|-----------------------------------3--------|

Cmaj7 E Am Dm
Show me the meaning of the word
Cmaj7 E Am Dm
Show me the meaning of the word
Cmaj7 E Am Dm
‘Cause I’ve heard so much about it
They say you can’t live without it

Pick out these notes when playing the sequence C,G,F …

E|-------------------------------------------|
B|------1-----3-----1------------------------|
G|-----0-----4-----2-------------------------|
D|----2-----5-----3--------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------|

Here?s the jangly riff that follows some of the F chords.
Keep your fingers in the F position as above

e|-------------------------------------------|
B|--------------3----------------------------|
G|--0-2---0-2---2-0------------------------|
D|--------3----------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------|

^— pull off

N.B. When playing the Chord of F the 3rd string can be
pulled off, then put on in time with the beat.

Welcome to the human race
With it’s wars, disease and brutality
You with your innocence and grace
With still some pride and dignity
To a world in decline

Welcome to the special place
In a heart of stone it’s cold and grey
You with your angelface
Keep the despair at bay and send it away

Show me the meaning of the world
Show me the meaning of the world
’Cause I’ve heard so much about it
Now, I don’t wanna live without it
Now, I don’t wanna live without it

Oh, I want love
Oh, I want love
Oh, I want love
 

Welcome here from outer space
The milky way’s still in your eyes
You find yourself a hopeless case
When you’re seeking perfection on earth
As some kind of rebirth

Show me the meaning of the word
Show me the meaning of the word
’Cause I’ve heard so much about it
Don’t make me live without it

Oh, I want love
Oh, I want love
Oh, I want love

END

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+

| This file is the author’s own work and represents their interpretation |
| of the song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, |
| or research. |

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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