Compassion is another example of Todd's mastery of the pop song form. It's full of Todd's stylistic hallmarks, plus a couple of twists. It all adds up to an appealing combination of the familiar and the unexpected. The Familiar: Todd's characteristic chord voicings ("The Todd Chord" I likes to call 'em.) i.e. diatonic passing chords over a static bass note. He especially likes a major triad superimposed over a bass note a perfect 5th below (e.g. D/G) and a major triad over a bass a full step below (e.g D/C). These chords appear in most of Todd's songs. The lyrics are characteristically thoughtful, positive, outreaching and "spiritual". The melody of the chorus is simple, reassuring, and somewhat conventional. The Unexpected: The arrangement pauses dramatically, then launches into the "Lying in your bed of pain" part (the "link"). This creates a sense of mild tension as it wanders to the distant key of Bb, which is relieved as it magically leads the ear back to the prevailent key of G, just in time for the catchy chorus. The chord progression and melody here are unusual for a "rock" ballad. My ears hear it as reflecting Todd's assimilation of theater and tin-pan-alley styles. What makes this a perfect pop song for me is the juxtaposition of the comfortable, sing-along chorus with the slightly more exotic verse and the yet more far-out, almost "classical" sounding Link. The best pop songs are not so familiar or catchy that you get bored with them after a couple of listens, nor are they so weird that you can't grasp them fairly easily. I think Todd has again hit just the right balance. ================================================================= Compassion Intro: D AG A G A D D AG A G Am7 Bm7 [G bass ---> ] E----|--------|--------|--------|--------| B----|3--20---|0--2--3-|3--20---|0--1--3-| G----|2--20-2-|0--2--2-|2--20-2-|0--0--2-| D----|4--20-2-|0--2--4-|4--20-2-|0--2--4-| A----|------4-|--------|------4-|---0--2-| E----|3--33-3-|3--3--3-|3--33-3-|3-------| (*1: verse) G/C Bm7 Em7 You want more, and still more, (Same riff here as intro) | Am7 C/D D/G A/G G A/G G <----- Until you get more than you ever bargained for. Am7 Bm7 G/C Bm7 Em7 Now its plain, clear as rain, Am7 C/D Gmaj7 I've seen your symptoms many times before. (*2: the Link) Cm F9 Bbmaj7 Lying on your bed of pain Am7 D7 G Am7 Bm7 What will you have now? (*3: Chorus) G/C D/C G/C D/C D/G G D/G G Am7 Bm7 What are riches untold in a life without compassion? For there's no winter as cold as a life without compassion. (intro riff) There's no prescription that's sold that can heal you like compassion. Well you tried and you cried, And let your disappointment make you hard inside. You have doubt, you reach out, Still you're the only one you care about. Hiding in your sack of woe What do you need now? For there is nothing so sad as a life without compassion. And even love has turned bad, it was love without compassion. And you don't need what you had 'cause you did not have compassion. Dying on your bed of pain What will you have now? You'll get no judgment from me, I can only feel compassion. And if that's what you need, I will give you my compassion. Just don't forget about me 'cause we all need some compassion. Open up your heart so you can start to feel compassion. Get down on your knees, pray to heaven for compassion. Everybody needs compassion. If you want to be healed then you know you got to feel Compassion. ------------------------------------------------- Most of the chords are simple major triad fingerings, played on 3 adjacent strings and moved up and down the neck (along the length of the strings). Here are the basic chord shapes: A D G A ______ ______ ______ |||||| |||||| 3||||1| |||||| ||111| |||1|| |||2|| ||11|| |||||| ||||2| ||3||| |||||| |||||| ||3||| |||||| |4|||| (*1: verse) The tab here is very close to the voicings heard in the recorded arrangement. You can omit them and play the basic chords as indicated over the lyrics above, in order to make this arrangement easier to play. You want more, and still more... D/C G/C Bm7 Em7 C G D C C G D/G AG A G Am7 Bm7 E----|--------|- - - - - - - - |- - - - - - - - |--------|--------| B----|3--33---|3 - - 7 8 - 12- |13127 8 5 - 3 - |3--20---|0--1--3-| G----|2--44---|2 - - 7 7 - 12- |12127 9 5 - 2 - |4--20-2-|0--0--2-| D----|4--55---|4 - - 7 9 - 12- |14127 105 - 4 - |5--20-2-|0--2--4-| A----|3--33---|2 - - - 7 - - - |- - - - - - - - |------4-|---0--2-| E----|--------|- - - 7 - - - - |- - - - - - - - |3--33-3-|3-------| Now it's plain, clear as rain... C G D C C D G E----|--------|- - - - - - - - |- - - - - - - - |--------| B----| |13127 8 5 - 7 - |8-------| G----| Same as above. |12127 9 5 - 7 - |7-------| D----| |14127 105 - 7 - |9-------| A----| |- - - - - - - - |--------| E----|--------|- - - - - - - - |- - - - - - - - |--------| (*2: Link section) One of the vocal lines (I'm not sure if it's the melody or one of the background parts) sings a descending line that makes the harmony of this section be more accurately described as: Cm(maj7), Cm7, F9, Bbmaj7, Bb6.) This is the most inventive part of the song IMO. Lying on your bed of pain... Cm F9 Bbmaj7 Am7 D7 Gmaj7 Am7 Bm7 E----|--------|--------|0---0---|--------| B----|4-4-4-4-|3-3-3---|1---3---|3--5--7-| G----|4-3-3-2-|2-0-2---|0---5---|4--5--7-| D----|5-5-5-5-|3-3-3---|2---4---|4--5--7-| A----|3-3-3-3-|1-1-1---|0---5---|--------| E----|--------|--------|--------|3--5--7-| (*3: The Chorus) The listener feels a sense of relaxation coming into this part, coming after the tension of the previous section. What are riches untold... G/C D/C D/G G6 D/G G A E----|--------|--------|--------|--------| B----|7--66---|--------|3--33---|3--35-7-| G----|6--66---| Repeat |2--44---|2--45-7-| D----|8--66---|--------|4--22---|4--55-7-| A----|--------|--------|--------|---5----| E----|7--77---|--------|3--33---|3--35-7-| |--------|--------| Repeat the above bit |3--20---|0-------| two more times, but |2--20-2-|0-------| last time do this |4--20-2-|0-------| (it's the riff from |------4-|--------| the intro, again.) |3--33-3-|3-------| ------------------ About my tab style: This message should be displayed in a mono-spaced font, or the chord diagrams and tabs will look extremely ugly. The letter to the left of the slash in chord names like "A/D" refers to a triad, and the letter to the right refers to the bass note only. The horizontal dashes in the tablature diagram usually correspond to 8th notes unless otherwise indicated. In some places I've added a space between the dashes in order to indicate frets higher than the 9th. The song remains in 4/4 time throughout. If you see any mistakes, or have any corrections or alternate ways of playing any of my tabs, I'd love to hear from you. Please email me at lsprague@user1.channel1.com or l.sprague@bull.com Last revised 11:13am Thursday, February 20, 1997 -- ...Lin Sprague... lsprague@user1.channel1.com -OR- lsprague@crater.ma02.bull.com