Shoulda been a hit. It has a bit of an 80's commercial rock feel, not unlike Crybaby (which I've heard said took a cue from Def Leppard.) It's got everything a good pop/rock hit should: killer riff, catchy singalong chorus, hot guitar solo. It's also got intriguing lyrics that seem to speak of the choices that confront one when they stand at one of life's many crossroads, and how human or divine influences affect those choices. Maybe that's why Pour Some Sugar On Me was a hit and this wasn't. The song really has only 4 chords: A, E, D, and B. Todd gets a lot of variety out of them by playing the basic triads over various bass notes. The chords indicated above the lyrics in the first part of this tab are only guides - you should refer to the diagrams in the footnotes for specific fingerings that I think approximate Todd's original guitar part and capture some of the background vocal harmony. There's a lot of syncopation going on here. Much of the melody, the main riff, and harmonic attacks anticipate the beat by an 8th note. This gives the song it's strong driving quality. The liner notes in the Rhino reissue mention that Todd played the Fool Gibson SG for much of the POV album, and I think this is a good example. It's hard to tell if it's one track guitar in stereo or two separately recorded guitars, but you can approximate the twin guitar effect by using a 70ms delay and panning hard left and right. I love the point in the song at the line "We only think we're wearing chains", where Todd's voice breaks free (of the chains?) and soars... to be taken even further by his wonderfully greasy guitar solo. This tab has been a fun international feel between Miles Newman and me. I had never been able to get the chords to sound the way they do on the record. Miles gave me a much needed clue (the intro) and coached me through the rest. Thank you very much for the ear conditioning - it's been phulphilling. ------------------------ Play This Game (*1: Intro [a condensed version - another view is in the footnotes]) E--|0--0---0|---0---0|---0---0|---0----|- B--|7--5---5|---4---7|---5---4|---3----|- G--|7--4---4|---4---7|---4---4|---2----|- D--|7--6---6|---4---7|---6---4|---2----|- A--|--------|--------|--------|--------|- E--|-00--00-|-00--00-|-00--00-|-00-----|- (*2) Asus4 A I could be jealous and grasping with greed Asus4 A E/A A Esus4 E I could pretend that I want something I don't need Esus4 E B/E E B/E These are the things that go through my head, but then - Asus4 A I could be an angel disguised as a man Asus4 A E/A A Esus4 E I could be the sun that shines in the midnight land (*3) D A If you would only stand in my corner B Give that advantage to me G#m7 Don't you feel something? A You know what I'm thinking but A B/A A Amaj7 I can't set it free - We must... (*4: Chorus - play intro riff over next 2 lines) Play this game, take the prize But not before you realize E/G# B/A F#m7 B That win or lose, it's all the same A B/A A Amaj7 Then maybe we can play this game [intro riff once] I can't remember the reason I'm here Sometimes it seems like it's all out of habit or fear Sometimes I wish I could just go to sleep But then, I'll have a dream with a beautiful end I'll wake up and feel alive, then I'm off again If I could only keep your connection Give me whatever remains Then I might win you total liberation But I can't break these chains - We must... Play this game Let's pretend that we could never reach the end For it would be a crying shame If we can't learn to play this game [repeat chorus #1] (*5) A B Stand in my corner (give that advantage to me) A B Stand in my corner (pull down a message with me) A B The answer that evades our brains A B/A A Amaj7 We only think we're wearing chains [guitar solo against intro riff] (*6) Asus9 Stand in my corner Won't you stand in my corner B A Stand in my corner [Chorus, repeat into fade] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- (*1) Intro - First Riff x 3. Pedal the bottom E from third time 'round. D E (x2) B xx o xx oo xx o 5|||||| 4|||1|| 4||111| |||||| ||||2| |||||| ||234| ||3||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| Intro - second Riff x 1 - keep hammering on that low E D/E E B/E Asus4/E ox o ox oo ox o oo___o 5|||||| 4|||1|| 4||111| |||||| |||||| ||||2| |||||| ||111| ||234| ||3||| |||||| ||||2| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| (*2) Verse: I could be jealous and grasping with greed... Asus4 A xo oo xo oo 5|||||| 5|||||| |||||| |||2|| ||34|| ||3||| |||||| |||||| I could pretend that I want something I don't need... Asus4 A E/A A(?) E/A Esus4 E xo oo xo oo xo oo xo oo x x o___oo o___oo 5|||||| 5|||||| 4|||1|| 2|||1|| 4|||1|| 1|||||| 1|||1|| |||||| |||2|| |||||| |||||| |||||| |234|| |23||| ||34|| ||3||| ||3||| ||3||| ||3||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| These are the things that go through my head Esus4 E E B/E E o___oo o___oo o oo o oo o oo 1|||||| 1|||1|| 6|||||| 6|||||| 6|||||| |234|| |23||| |1|||| |1|||| |1|||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||2|| |||||| |||||| |||||| ||34|| ||3||| ||34|| (*3) If you would only stand in my cor - ner, D A A A A xxo___ xo___o xo___o xo___o xo__xo |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||1|3 ||111| ||111| ||111| ||11|| ||||2| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| ||||3| |||||| |||3|| ||||4| |||||| E--|--------|- B--|5-4-1---|- <---- This is another view of the G--|1-1-12--|- "A" riff above. It is played again D--|1-1-11--|- where the "A" chord is shown in A--|0-0-00--|- the next line below. E--|--------|- Give that advantage to me... Don't you feel something? A B B/G# xo___o x____x _x___x |||||| |||||| |||||| ||111| 2|1|||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| ||444| 2|444| I can't set it free - We must... A B/A A E/A xo___o xo____ xo o xo o |||||| |||||| 5||||1| 7||1||| ||111| |||||| |||2|| |||||| |||||| |||||| ||3||| |||34| |||||| ||111| |||||| |||||| (*4: Chorus. First 2 lines use same riff as last 2 repatitions of intro.) ...win or lose, it's all the same E/G# B/A F#m7 B x x x o _x____ x____x |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| 22|333| 2|2|||| 2|333| ||111| |||||| |||||| 5||||4| 52||||| |||||| ||444| Then maybe we can play this game A B/A A Amaj7 xo___o xo___o xo o xo o |||||| |||||| 5||||2| 9||1||| ||111| |||||| |||3|| |||||| |||||| |||||| ||4||| |||34| |||||| ||111| |||||| |||||| (*5: Use your favorite barre cords for A and B in the first 3 lines. The chord sequence in the last line is like the last line of the chorus [see above].) (*6: the Asus9 chord is played thusly:) xo__oo |||||| ||12|| |||||| |||||| -------------------------------------------------------- About my tab style: This message should be displayed in a mono-spaced font (e.g. courier,) or the chord diagrams and tablatures will look unaligned. 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 number directly to the left of the chord diagram is the position on the guitar neck (or closest fret). "x" along the top means mute or deaden that string, "o" means let it ring open. The horizontal dashes in the tablature diagram correspond to 8th notes unless otherwise indicated. 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@channel1.com or l.sprague@bull.com Last revised 11:18pm Tuesday, November 11, 1997 -- ...Lin Sprague... lsprague@channel1.com -OR- lsprague@cass.ma02.bull.com