This song is off the compilation CD by Bright Eyes and the Album Leaf, along with Hungry
a Holiday. It also appears on Noise Floor. Im a very big fan of both artists and im yet
see a tab of this which sounds correct. I've never bothered to tab anything out for
people before but i reckon this sounds great for solo acoustic guitar and other people
like it. This is one of my all time favourite songs, its truly beautiful and i think its
underrated. I think with the release of noise floor its getting a bit more recognition
is good.
I kind of discovered this by accident. I've been playing a lot in open tuning in the
couple of weeks and i came across Jimmy's (the guy who is the album leaf) tab for
another great song, which uses open D tuning and im pretty sure i can hear it in a few
Anyway i heard Jimmy actually wrote the lyrics to Bad Blood and he probably did the guitar
as well.
I tried working it out in standard tuning a while ago, got the basic intro bit down but
didnt sound right, it sounded really incomplete. It sounds much much fuller in open D
the chords for the chorus really make it much more of a song. Ive checked it with the
and its about 1.5 steps out, but my guitar is a little flat i think so i play it
capo 2 for vocals.
This really isnt definitive, just some guidelines. There's heaps of extra notes and
you can throw in with open tuning without having to change much which makes it great to play.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bad Blood
Tuning: D A D F# A D
(part one)
D -----0---------------0---------------0---------------0-----------|A -9-----9-----9---7-----7-----7---0-----0-----0---0-----0-5---7---|F# ---0---------------0---------------0---------------0----(0)-(0)--|D -----------------------------------------------------------------|A -9-----------9---7-----------7---5-----------5---5-------5---7---|D -----------------------------------------------------------------|
D -----0---------------0---------------0---------------0-----------|A -9-----9-----9---7-----7-----7---0-----0-----0---0-----0-5---7---|F# ---0---------------0---------------0---------------0-------0---0-|D -----------------------------------------------------------------|A -9-----------9---7-----------7---5-----------5---5-------5---7---|D -----------------------------------------------------------------|
(part two)
D -----0-------7-------0-------7-------0-------0-------0-------------|A -9-----9-------9-7-----7-------7-5-----0-------0-------0-5---7---9-|F# ---0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------0---0---|D -------------------------------------------------------------------|A -9-------9-------7-------7-------5-------5---5---5-------5---7---9-|D -------------------------------------------------------------------|
D -----0-------7-------0-------7-------0-------0-------0-------------|A -9-----9-------9-7-----7-------7-5-----0-------0-------0-5---7---9-|F# ---0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------0---0---|D -------------------------------------------------------------------|A -9-------9-------7-------7-------5-------5---5---5-------5---7---9-|D -------------------------------------------------------------------|
lead into chorus
D -0-0-A -5-4-F# -0-0-D -0-0-A -5-4-D -X-X-
chorus - It's hard to hear what's happening hear, most likely he's
picking out these chords and theres heaps of stuff in the
background. I just strum it and it sounds fine.
D -0---------------0---------------7---------5-4---0-----------------|A -2---------------7---------------0---------------5-----------------|F# -0---------------7---------------0---------------5-----------------|D -0---------------0---------------0---------------0-----------------|A -2---------------X---------------0---------------X-----------------|D -X-----------(2/)7---------------0---------------5-----------------|
D -0---------------0---------------0---------------X-----------------|A -2---------------7---------------5---------------4h5---4-----------|F# -0---------------7---------------5---------------0-------0---------|D -0---------------0---------------0---------------0-----------------|A -2---------------X---------------X---------------X-----------------|D -X-----------(2/)7---------------5---------------5-----------------|
end on
D -0-A -2-F# -0-D -0-A -2-D -X-
it kinda alternates between part one and two. i play part one before each verse and for
first few lines of each verse then change to part two for the rest of the lines,
into the chorus.
(verse one)
no news, that's good news that someone's gonna break
see things change, i've been changing every day
it's peaceful, the pitch black when the last light on goes out
i'm stranded in my bed, so I think about
the bad luck, the bad blood that may have come between
two good souls, that's one hell of an offering
(chorus one)
so take these gifts that have been given, yes
and ended up with an alphabet but some words are too wrong to define
now the whole world is waking up, a ribbon cut for the opening
yeah we all knew that day would arrive
(verse two)
up all night, all upset, outside's growing light
no breakfast, just not much of an appetite
so be cool and believe in the things you haven't learned
because you lost and it's gone but it will return
(chorus two)
now it's all laid out in front of you and that's half murdered the mystery
are you still too shy to describe?
now the whole world is waking up, a ribbon cut for the opening
yes, finally the day has arrived
(chorus three)
so seek and rejoice, fill your hands with something tangible
and fly your love like a flag
and destroy the desire for that which is impossible
and accept what you get with a smile
enjoy :p
