#----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE---------------------------------#
#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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AMERICAN LIFE
As recorded by Primus
(From the 2003 Album SAILING THE SEAS OF CHEESE)
Transcribed by Jeff Jacobson
Words by Les Claypool Music by Primus
Gtr I (E A D G B E) - 'Larry Lalonde'
Intro Moderately Slow Q=92 4/4 Gtr I Wx4|--------||--------||--------||--------||--------||--------|
1st, 3rd Verses $ Wx6|--------||--------||--------||--------||--------||--------|
To Coda Eb 2/4 4/4 < W E. S +H. Q +Q +Q Q|------|---------------|------------------------------||------|----8-(8)------|--(8)----(8)----(8)----(8)\---||------|----8-(8)------|--(8)----(8)----(8)----(8)\---||------|----8-(8)------|--(8)----(8)----(8)----(8)\---||------|----6-(6)------|-([6])--([6])--([6])--([6])\--||------|---------------|------------------------------|
Gm < E E Q H H +Q. E E E Q H E E Q H|-------------|--------------------|-------------|-------------||-------------|--------------------|-------------|-------------||-------------|--------------------|-------------|-------------||-------------|--------------------|-------------|-------------||-4-----------|-10----(10)---(10)\-|-4-----------|-4-----------||-3-----------|--------------------|-3-----------|-3-----------|
\1/ E S S E S S E E Q Q. E E S S E E|-------------------------|------------------------||-----------------11-/14--|-13----13-12------------||-0---0-0-0-0-0-0---------|------------------12\-0-||------------------8-/11--|-10----10--9----9-------||-------------------------|-------------10---------||-------------------------|------------------------|
Q. S S S E. Q Q. E E S S E E|---------------------|-------------------------|||----------8s11--/14--|-13----13-12-------------|||-0----0-0------------|------------------12\-0--|||----------5s=8--/11--|-10----10--9----9--------|||---------------------|-------------10----------|||---------------------|-------------------------||
2nd Verse Gm W +W +W W|----------|------------|------------|------||----------|------------|------------|------||-0--------|-(0)--------|-(0)--------|------||----------|------------|------------|------||----------|------------|------------|------||----------|------------|------------|------|
> E E E E +H +H H|----------------|-------------||---3---6-(6)----|-(6)---------||---3---6-(6)----|-(6)---------||----------------|-------------||----------------|-------------||----------------|-------------|
Eb 2/4 4/4 < W E. S +H. Q +Q +Q Q|------|---------------|----------------------------||------|----8-(8)------|--(8)----(8)----(8)---(8)\--||------|----8-(8)------|--(8)----(8)----(8)---(8)\--||------|----8-(8)------|--(8)----(8)----(8)---(8)\--||------|----6-(6)------|-([6])--([6])--([6])--(6)\--||------|---------------|----------------------------|
Gm E S S E S S +E Q. +H E S S +S E.|-----------------------------|---------------------------||---------15----15-(15)-------|-----------------------17--||------16----18---------18----|-(18)----15-15-15-(15)-----||---17------------------------|---------------------------||-----------------------------|---------------------------||-----------------------------|---------------------------|
Gm < \1.5 +E S S E S S +E Q. +Q +Q Q E +E|--------------------------------|-------------------------|||-(17)-------15----15-(15)-------|-------------------------|||---------16----18---------18----|-(18)-(18)------0----(0)-|||------17------------------------|-------------------------|||--------------------------------|-------------------------|||--------------------------------|-------------------------||
Guitar Solo H +Q. E +Q. E E E Q|-------------------|-------------------||-------------------|---------5s6-6-6s==||-------------------|---------------6s==||-/5----(5)---([5])-|-([5])-------------||-/5----(5)---([5])-|-([5])-------------||-------------------|-------------------|
H. E E Q. E S S Q E|---------------|--------------------||-3-------------|--------------------||-3-------3-(3)-|-(3)s==5-5-5-5--15s=||------------3--|-(3)s==5--------15s=||---------------|--------------------||---------------|--------------------|
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ Q Q +E E S E. +Q +E E S S Q.|--------------17--------|-----------------------------||--------------------17--|-(17)--(17)\-/17-17----------||-17--17--(17)----17-----|--------------------17s15----||-17---------------------|-----------------------------||------------------------|-----------------------------||------------------------|-----------------------------|
~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ T T E. +H E E +E E E E E E E E|-------------------------|-------------------------||-------------------------|-------------------------||-15-15s14--(14)----14s15-|-(15)-15-15s17-18-17s0---||----15s14--(14)----------|------15-----------------||-------------------------|-------------------------||-------------------------|-------------------------|
|------6-------| |---------6---------| |------6-------| |------6-------|
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S|------------------------------------------------------------------------------||-15----15----15----15---------15----15----15----15----15----15----15----15----||----18----18----18----18pb19=====18----18----18----18----18----18----18----18-||------------------------------------------------------------------------------||------------------------------------------------------------------------------||------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------6-------| |------6-------| |------6-------| |-------6-------|
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S|---------------------------------------------------------------------------||-15----15----15----15----15----15----18----18----19----19----18-----18p15--||----18----18----18----18----18----18----18----18----18----18----18r--------||---------------------------------------------------------------------------||---------------------------------------------------------------------------||---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
~~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~ Q +E. S S S Q S S S E. S S S S S S S S E E|---------------------------|--------------------------------------||---------------------------|--------------------------------------||-18--(18)-15-x-x--------15-|-17-----------------------------------||----------15-x-x-15--17----|--------------15----------------------||---------------------------|----15--16-17----17-16p15-16p15----15-||---------------------------|--------------------------------18----|
< ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ E Q. E S S E E +H +Q. +E S S S S Q Q E E|-----------------------------|----------------------|---------------------||-----------------------------|----------------------|---------------------||-----------------------------|----------------------|---7-----------------||-----------------------------|----------------------|-x---x-x-------------||-16p15----17-15p13-----------|----------------------|-x---x-x---------10--||-------------------15b18==15r|=(15)----(15)---(15)\-|-x---x-x-------------|
D.S. al Coda +H +Q. +E E E Q H Wx3 W|----------------------|-------------|------------|-------|||----------------------|-x-----------|------------|-------|||----------------------|-x-----------|------------|-------|||----------------------|-x-----------|------------|-------|||-(10)----(10)---(10)\-|-------------|------------|-------|||----------------------|-------------|------------|-------||
& Gm E S S E S S +E Q. +H E S S +S S E|-----------------------------|---------------18-(18)-------||---------15----15-(15)-------|------------17---------17----||------18----18---------18----|-(18)----15---------------15-||---17------------------------|-----------------------------||-----------------------------|-----------------------------||-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
E S S E S S E Q. +H E S S +S S E|----------------------------|---------------18-(18)-------||----------15----15-15-------|------------17---------17----||-15----18----18-------18----|-(18)----15---------------15-||----17----------------------|-----------------------------||----------------------------|-----------------------------||----------------------------|-----------------------------|
+E S S E S S +E Q. +H E S S +S S E|--------------------------------|---------------18-(18)-------||------------15----15-(15)-------|------------17---------17----||-(15)----18----18---------18----|-(18)----15---------------15-||------17------------------------|-----------------------------||--------------------------------|-----------------------------||--------------------------------|-----------------------------|
E S S E S S +E Q. +H E E E E|------------------------------|-----------------|||----------15----15-(15)-------|-----------------|||-15----18----18---------18----|-(18)------------|||----17------------------------|-----------------|||------------------------------|-------------1-3-|||------------------------------|-----------3-----||
Outro Solo Gm E E E E +E E E E H +E E E E E E E E +E E E E|-------------------|----------------|-------------------||-------------------|----------------|-------------------||-------------------|----------------|-------------------||-------------------|----------------|-------------------||-4-5-4-3-(3)-1-----|------------1-3-|-4-5-4-3-(3)-1-----||---------------3-1-|-3----(3)-3-----|---------------3-1-|
H +E E E E E E E E E E E E H +E E E E|--------------------|-----------------------|--------------------||--------------------|-----------------------|--------------------||--------------------|-----------------------|--------------------||-/5----(5)-----8-10-|-11-12-11-10-10-8------|---------------8-10-||-----------/10------|------------------10-8-|-10----(10)-10------||--------------------|-----------------------|--------------------|
E E E E +E E E E Q Q E E E E E E E E +E E E E|-------------------------|----------------------|---------------------------||-------------------------|----------------------|----15---------------------||-------------------------|----------------15-17-|-18----18-17-(17)-15-------||-11-12-11-10-(10)-8------|-/17--17--17-17-------|---------------------17-15-||--------------------10-8-|----------------------|---------------------------||-------------------------|----------------------|---------------------------|
~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~ H +E E E E E E E E +E E E E E E E E +E E Q|---------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------||---------------------|----15---------------------|-/20-20-20-20-(20)-20-20\--||---------------15-17-|-18----18-17-(17)-15-------|---------------------------||-17----(17)-17-------|---------------------17-15-|---------------------------||---------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------||---------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------|
Eb5 D5 Eb5 F5 G5 E S S E S S +Q E E Q E S S +Q E E|-5-5-5-5--------------|-5--5--------------||-8-8-8-8-8----------8-|------8-8-(8)----8-||-8-8-8-8---8-(8)--8---|------8-8-(8)--8---||----------------------|-------------------||----------------------|-------------------||----------------------|-------------------|
Eb5 D5 Eb5 F5 S S S S +S S S S +S S S S +S S E E E E S S +S S S S +S S E|-5-----5-(5)-----5-(5)-----5-(5)-----|-5-5-5-5-5-(5)-----5-(5)-----||-----8---------8---------8---------8-|-8-8-8-8-8-(8)---8-------8---||---8---------8---------8---------8---|-8-8-8-8-8-(8)-8-----------8-||-------------------------------------|-----------------------------||-------------------------------------|-----------------------------||-------------------------------------|-----------------------------|
Double Time! Eb5 D5 Eb5 F5 G5 E S S E S S E S S E S S E S S E S S E S S E S S|-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-|-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-||--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8-|--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8-||--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8-|--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8--8-||-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------||-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------||-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
Eb5 D5 E S S +S S S S E S S +S S S S|-11-11-11-(11)-11-11-11-11-11-11-(11)-11-11-11-||--8--8--8--(8)--8--8--8--8--8--8--(8)--8--8--8-||--8--8--8--(8)--8--8--8--8--8--8--(8)--8--8--8-||-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------||-----------------------------------------------|
Eb5 F5 G5 E S S +S S S S E S S +S S S S|-11-11-11-(11)-11-11-11-11-11-11-(11)-11-11-11--||--8--8--8--(8)--8--8--8--8--8--8--(8)--8--8--8--||--8--8--8--(8)--8--8--8--8--8--8--(8)--8--8--8--||------------------------------------------------||------------------------------------------------||------------------------------------------------|
Eb5 D5 Eb5 D5 E S S S S S S S S S S S S S S|-11---17-------17----------17----------17----||--8---------16----16----16----16----16----16-||--8------14----------14----------16----------||---------------------------------------------||---------------------------------------------||---------------------------------------------|
Eb5 F5 G5 S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S|-------17----------17----------17----------17-----||----16----16----16----16----16----16----16----16--||-14----------14----------14----------14-----------||--------------------------------------------------||--------------------------------------------------||--------------------------------------------------|
Eb5 D5 Eb5 D5 S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S|-------17----------17----------17----------17----||----16----16----16----16----16----16----16----16-||-14----------14----------14----------14----------||-------------------------------------------------||-------------------------------------------------||-------------------------------------------------|
Eb5 F5 G5 S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S|-------17----------17----------17----------17----||----16----16----16----16----16----16----16----16-||-14----------14----------14----------14----------||-------------------------------------------------||-------------------------------------------------||-------------------------------------------------|
Eb5 D5 Eb5 D5 Eb5 F5 G5 TP TP TP S S S S S S S S S S S S e S S H Q Q|-17----------16-------17-------17----16-9-9-|-9S===17--/20--||-------16-------16-------16-------16----8-8-|-8S===16--/19--||----14----14-------14-------14--------------|---------------||--------------------------------------------|---------------||--------------------------------------------|---------------||--------------------------------------------|---------------|
Eb5 DEb5 D5 S S Q. E S S S S S S|-17-17-----------17-12-------------||-------16----/16-------16-16-16-13-||-----------------------------------||-----------------------------------||-----------------------------------||-----------------------------------|
Eb5 F5 G5 a S E S S T T S S S S S S S S S S|-------------------------------12---10-------------||----------------------------11------------------13-||-11h12----14p11-16p13-15-10------------12-11-12----||-------13------------------------------------------||---------------------------------------------------||---------------------------------------------------|
Eb5 D5 Eb5 D5 Eb5 F5 G5 S S S S S S E E. S S S S S E S S Q H|-15-------------------------------------|------------------*||----13----11----------------------------|-16-16------------*||-------11----11----12----16----14-------|-------14---------*||----------------10----------15----15-13-|------------------*||----------------------------------------|------------------*||----------------------------------------|------------------*|
Duration Legend
---------------
W - whole; H - half; Q - quarter; E - 8th; S - 16th; T - 32nd; X - 64th; a - acciaccatura
+ - note tied to previous; . - note dotted; .. - note double dotted
Uncapitalized letters represent notes that are staccato (1/2 duration)
Irregular groupings are notated above the duration line
Duration letters will always appear directly above the note/fret number it represents the
duration for. Duration letters with no fret number below them represent rests. Multi-
bar rests are notated in the form Wxn, where n is the number of bars to rest for. Low
melody durations appear below the staff
Tablature Legend
----------------
h - hammer-on
p - pull-off
b - bend
pb - pre-bend
r - bend release (if no number after the r, then release immediately)
/\ - slide into or out of (from/to "nowhere")
s - legato slide
S - shift slide
- natural harmonic
[n] - artificial harmonic
n(n) - tapped harmonic
~ - vibrato
tr - trill
T - tap
TP - trem. picking
PM - palm muting
\n/ - tremolo bar dip; n = amount to dip
\n - tremolo bar down
n/ - tremolo bar up
/n\ - tremolo bar inverted dip
= - hold bend; also acts as connecting device for hammers/pulls
<> - volume swell (louder/softer)
x - on rhythm slash represents muted slash
o - on rhythm slash represents single note slash
Misc Legend
-----------
| - bar
|| - double bar
||o - repeat start
o|| - repeat end
*| - double bar (ending)
: - bar (freetime)
$ - Segno
& - Coda
Tempo markers - = BPM(8/16=s8/s16), where s8 = swing 8ths, s16 = swing 16ths
