_____________________________
/ /
/ Antony and the Johnsons /
/ I Am a Bird Now /
/____________________________/
This tab is not only directed at guitarists!
It is supposed to be an overall scheme for the whole band.
Antony's main instrument IS the piano; and since his playing usually is very
simple and clearly chord-based, it's obvious also to notate the songs in chords.
When there is guitar involved, I'll transcribe that of course, and when it makes
good sense to arrange the piano part for guitar, I'll give it a shot as well :)
After all the tabs and chords I've gathered all the lyrics, and often a few of
my own comments and facts of the songs.
Let me note that an album like this defines what true art is about. Antony sings
courageously from the deepest parts of his soul, and here creates his own little
aesthetic universe in the music. You're not only let in the music, but into deep
into his heart. The consistent theme of general existential insecurity - often
connected with one other original theme: gender confusion – makes this original
and important. Most important of all is that it contains and transmits an
immense amount of love to us listeners.
This is what music is about!
and for questions, comments and corrections...
...just mail me at Maitinin@gmail.com!
- Jon Sebastian Frederiksen, 4th /June /10
********************************************************************************
All songs written by Antony Hegarty:
1. Hope There's Someone
2. My Lady Story
3. For Today I Am a Boy
4. Man Is the Baby
5. You Are My Sister (feat. Boy George)
6. What Can I Do? (feat. Rufus Wainwright)
7. Fistful of Love (feat. Lou Reed)
8. Spiralling (feat. Devendra Banhart)
9. Free at Last (feat. Dr. Julia Yasuda)
10. Bird Gerhl
********************************************************************************
1. _________________________
/ / I think this is the most beautiful song Antony has
/ Hope There's Someone / ever composed! I admire his way of exposing himself
/________________________/ so strongly through his singing. This is some of the
most delicate music I've ever heard!
Key: Ab major
Throughout the song, the piano gradually moves from the high register
to the low register. This can easily transcribed as simple chords
since Antony's playing very freely.
Verse:
||: Ab | Fm | Eb | Db (-maj7 -6) :||
Chorus:
||: Db | Fm | Eb | Db :||
Verse + | Gb |
Chorus
Verse
Verse
Finale:
In the finale the piano strums the chords on every 16th note,
still in standard 4/4.
Lower the tempo a little bit (from Q=83 bpm to Q=70 bpm).
Just play the repeated line as long as the frontman whishes.
Key: C# minor
| G# | A | B | C# |
||: G#m | A | B | C# :||
Ending:
| G#m | A | B ... A | G#m ...
********************************************************************************
2. __________________
/ /
/ My Lady Story /
/_________________/
This very beautiful and honest song can be boiled down to these very
simple chords.
Key: F# major.
Chorus:
||: G#m -/A# | B :||
Verse:
||: F# | D#m | G#m -/A# | B :||
Chorus
Verse
Chorus
Verse + | G#m | B | D#m | D#m |
2x Chorus
Verse + | G#m | B | D#m | D#m |
2x Chorus
Outro:
||: C# | A#m | B | F# :||
| G#m -/A# | B | G#m -/A# | B ...
...end with some different inversions of F#.
********************************************************************************
3. _________________________
/ /
/ For Today I Am a Boy /
/________________________/
A wonderful and wonderfully simple song in C major. Enjoy! :)
Verse:
||: C | C G | F | G C :||
Chorus:
||: G | Em F | G | F C :||
(before moving on, rest on the last C one bar more)
Verse
Chorus
Finale: (repeat these two lines 4 times)
Em F G
For today-ay I am a child
F F C
For today-ay I am a boy
********************************************************************************
4. ____________________
/ / Another beautiful pearl from Antony!
/ Man Is the Baby /
/___________________/
Verse:
Key: G minor
What is played here is these chords with the melody incorporated.
Play it very freely, which creates this freely expressionistic sound.
The root notes of the first Ebmaj7s are very low.
| Ebmaj7 | Ebmaj7 | Bbmaj7 | Gm9 |
| Ebmaj7 | Ebmaj7 | Bbmaj7 | Gm9 |
Chorus: (notice the bass staying on G in the first line)
| F/G | Eb/G | Dm/G | Gm |
| F | Eb | Dm | Gsus2 | Gsus2 |
Verse
Chorus:
Now the symphony is seriously playing in, and extending the chords.
If you want, you can extend the chords to this:
| F6 | Ebmaj9 | Dm7 | Gm9 |
| F6 | Ebmaj9 | Dm7 | Gsus4 |
Strings interlude:
Wonderful arrangement, but it doesn't really fit into a guitar tab,
so I transcribed it into Guitar Pro instead. Just follow the link:
Chorus
Instead of Gsus4, go to an Eb:
Dm7 Eb Dm Gm9...
"Man is the ba-by, Man is the ba-by_______
********************************************************************************
5. ______________________
/ / Before I heard this song, I had no idea that
/ You Are My Sister / Boy George could sing this soulfully. This is
/_____________________/ uniquely soulful song by two unique singers!
I am always deeply touched when listening to this.
Count the 4/4 slowly.
The main key of this song is Ab major. This is not in clearly indicated in the
Intro and Verses though. Here the piano includes the note D in its right hand
melodies. The note D isn't part of Ab major, but part of the neighbouring key
C minor, so you can perceive it in either key. (To be theoretically correct,
it would be named an Ab lydian mode.) The key of regular Ab major isn't clearly
determined until the Db chord is played and flattenes the D note to Db.
Intro:
| Ab | Cm | Ab | Cm |
Verse:
| Ab | Cm | Ab | Cm |
| Db | Ab | Db | Ab |
Verse
Chorus:
| Ab | Eb | Fm | Cm |
| Db | Fm | Eb | Ab |
| Ab | Eb | Fm | Cm |
| Db | Fm | Eb |
In the choruses, there's a classical guitar playing this part:
Ab Eb Fm Cm
|-----------------|-----------------|-1^----1---------|--------3--------|
|-----------------|-8-----8---------|-1^------1-------|-4^-3-----4------|
|-------5---------|-----------8-----|-1^--------1-----|-5^---5----------|
|-----6-----------|-------------8---|-3^----------3---|-5^--------------|
|---6-----------6-|-----6-----------|-----------------|------------3----|
|-4---------------|---6-------------|-----------------|-----------------|
Db Fm Eb Ab
|-----------------|-1^----1---------|-3-----3-----3---|-4^--------------|
|-6-----6---------|-1^--------1-----|-4---------------|-4^--------------|
|---6-------------|-1^----------1---|-3---------------|-5^--------------|
|-----6-----------|-3^--3-----------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-4---------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
Ab Eb Fm Cm
|-----------------|------------8------|-----------------|---3------3-----|
|-----------------|-8----8-/11---11-8-|-----------------|/4---4------4---|
|---------5-------|-------------------|-10---10-10\--5--|-------5------5-|
|-----6-----------|-------------------|-----------------|----------------|
|---6---6-------6-|-------------------|-----------------|----------------|
|-4---------------|-------------------|-----------------|----------------|
Db Fm Eb Ab
|-----------------|-1^----1---------|-----3-----------||-4^-----:
|-6-------6-------|-1^--------1-----|---4-------------||-4^-----:
|-------6---------|-1^----------1---|-3---------------||-5^-----:
|-----6-----------|-3^--------------|-----------------||--------:
|---4-------------|-----------------|-----------------||--------:
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------||--------:
Verse
+ | Db | Ab |
Chorus
Finale:
| Ab | Cm | Db | Fm |
| Bbm Cm | Db |
||: Fm Eb | Ab :|| 5x, end on the last Ab.
********************************************************************************
6. ___________________
/ /
/ What Can I Do? /
/__________________/
I transcribed this whole piano piece in guitar pro. It wouldn't really make any
sense to notate it as chords, so here' just the link to my guitar pro tab:
www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/a/antony_and_the_johnsons/what_can_i_do_guitar_pro.htm
********************************************************************************
7. ____________________
/ /
/ Fistful of Love /
/___________________/
This song is stunningly simple! All the way through it's just
the same four chords repeated. Each repetition is one round.
The key is Eb major, and everything from there is improvisation :D
The round:
| Eb | Bb | Cm | Ab |
Song Structure:
Lou Reed intro 2 rounds
Verse 7
Chorus 4
Verse 2
Chorus ad.lib.
All the way through Lou Reed is playing some simple bar chords on a clean
electric guitar. There's no pattern to it or any notable parts, so I didn't
see any point in transcribing any it. At the end he does some basic Hendrixy
solo stuff, which isn't anything special either.
However, in the Choruses he plays a nice guitar layer. It's a heavily
distorted guitar, almost sounding like a saxophone, playing one note at
a time. These are the four rounds of the first Chorus.
Below [x] means to do a pinch harmonic one octave above.
Eb Bb Cm Ab
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-11--------------|11h13-13---11h13b|-13--------------|-13--------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
Eb Bb Cm Ab
|-----------------|-----------------|-11------[11]----|[11]--------[13]-|
|-11-----------13-|--------15-------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
Eb Bb Cm Ab
|[13]-------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|---------11------|-11/13/15--[15]--|-13---13-11-13---|-13-13---13-15---|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
Eb Bb Cm Ab
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-15--------------|-13--11-------13-|-----------------|-13-----------11-|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
Eb
|[13]-------\\\-:
|---------------:
|---------------:
|---------------:
|---------------:
|---------------:
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/a/antony_and_the_johnsons/i_am_a_bird_now_album_tab.html ]
********************************************************************************
8. ________________
/ /
/ Spiralling /
/_______________/
Chordwise, the playing with the 2nds of the chords is very important. There's no
pattern to it, so it makes more sense to explain it outside the chord scheme.
Key: A major. (C# major in the intro.)
When playing A, C#m, F#m and D, Antony often adds the 2nd note; respectively to
the chords those are the notes B, D#, G# and E. Adding it denominates the chord
(add2), and if also leaving out the 3rd, the chord is named sus2.
I could have painted (add2) and sus2 all over the scheme, but it's better if you
choose where to do it yourself :)
Devendra Banhart intro:
| F# | F# | C# | C# |
| F# | F# | C# | C# |
Verse:
| A | A | C#m | C#m |
| D | C#m | F#m | B D/A |
| A -sus4 | A |
Verse
Chorus:
| A | A | C#m | C#m |
| A | A | C#m |
| D | D | A | A |
| D | D | A | A |
Verse
2x Chorus (cut the last A, the first time)
Outro:
| A | A | C#m | C#m |
| A | A | C#m | C#m |
| A | A | C#m | C#m |
| A | A | C#m7 ...
********************************************************************************
9. _________________
/ /
/ Free at Last /
/________________/
Musically there's not really anything to it. It is the same F arpeggio
played over and over again. You can sort of play it on guitar like this is:
F
:---|-5-----------:
:---|-------6-----:
:-5-|-----5-------:
:---|---7---------:
:---|-8-----------:
:---|-------------:
Behind this is a symphony orchestra creating an ambient soundscape.
Here I have listed the most prominent notes of the soundscape,
then what function they have for the F chord, then when they enter.
G add9 (0:18)
D add13 (0:34)
G add2 (0:58)
E maj7 (1:02)
********************************************************************************
10._______________
/ / What a finale for an album!
/ Bird Gerhl /
/______________/
The round:
Key: C# major
This 8-bar round is repeated almost all the way through the song.
This is only what the guitar plays, so just pay attention to the chords.
C#maj9 % F# %
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|(9--8------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-------9)--------|
|-----5-----------|-----------------|-----3-----------|-----------------|
|---3-------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-4-----4---------|-----------------|---4-------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-2-----2---------|-----------------|
D#m7 G#7 A#m F#
|-----------------|-----------------|---------8-9-8---|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|------(11------9-|-9-11)-----------|
|-----6-----------|-----5-----------|-----6-----------|-----3-----------|
|---4-------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-6-----6---------|---6-------------|---8-------------|---4-------------|
|-----------------|-4-----4---------|-6-----6---------|-2-----2---------|
The round is played 1 time for the intro, then 5 times for the song.
When Antony sings "And the bird girls can fly", finish the round and play
the last two bars, |A#m|F#|, 2 times more. Then move on to the outro...
Outro:
The piano part translated okay to guitar, so here's a little guitar
arrangement of the ending part. Pianists, don't mind the tabs.
C# F#6 D#sus2 G#6
|-----------------|---------------2-|-1-----------4---|
|-6-------6--4----|-4----------2--2-|-4-------6-------|
|-6---6---6-----6-|-3-3-3-3-3--3--3-|-3---3---5-------|
|-6-6-----6-------|-4-------4--4----|-1---------------|
|-4-----4---------|-----------------|---------6-------|
|-----------------|-2---------------|---------4-------|
A#m A+5 C#/G# Gø F#maj7 Fm7 C#
|--------------------|-------:-1------:----11---11-11-11-:-----4---:
|-2---2-2-2-2----2---|-2-----:-2------:---13-------------:----6----:
|-3---3-3-3-2----1---|-0-----:-3------:--13--------------:---6-----:
|-3---3-3-3-3----3---|-3-----:-4------:-15---------------:--6------:
|-1---1-1-1-0--------|-------:--------:------------------:-4-------:
|----------------4---|-3-----:--------:------------------:---------:
********************************************************************************
LYRICS
********************************************************************************
1. _________________________
/ /
/ Hope There's Someone /
/________________________/
Hope there's someone, who'll take care of me
When I die, will I go?
Hope there's someone, who'll set my heart free
Nice to hold when I'm tired
There's a ghost on the horizon
When I go to bed
How can I fall asleep at night?
How will I rest my head?
Oh, I'm scared of the middle place
Between light and nowhere
I don't want to be the one
Left in there, left in there
There's a man on the horizon
Wish that I'd go to bed
If I fall to his feet tonight
Will allow rest my head
So here's hoping I will not drown
Or paralyze in light
And godsend, I don't want to go
To the seal's watershed
Hope there's someone, who'll take care of me
When I die, will I go?
Hope there's someone, who'll set my heart free
Nice to hold when I'm tired
2. __________________
/ /
/ My Lady Story /
/_________________/
My lady story, my lady story
My lady story is one of annihilation
My lady story is one of breast amputation
My lady story, my lady story
I'm a hole in love
I'm a bride on fire
I'm a twisted tube
In a starve of wire
My lady story, my lady story
I'm lying the road for you
And I've been your slave
My womb's an ocean full
of grief and rage
My lady story, my lady story
My lady story, my lady story
Still you're coaxing me
To come on out and live
Well, I'm a crippled dog
I've got nothing to give
My lady story, my lady story
My lady story, my lady story
I'm so broken, babe
But I wanna see
Some shining eye
Some of my beauty
Lostest beauty
Lostest beauty
3. _________________________
/ /
/ For Today I Am a Boy /
/________________________/
One day I'll grow up, I'll be a beautiful woman
One day I'll grow up, I'll be a beautiful girl
One day I'll grow up, I'll be a beautiful woman
One day I'll grow up, I'll be a beautiful girl
But for today I am a child – for today I am a boy
For today I am a child – for today I am a boy
One day I'll grow up, I'll feel the power in me
One day I'll grow up, of this I'm sure
One day I'll grow up, I know whom within me
One day I'll grow up, feel it full and pure
But for today I am a child – for today I am a boy
For today I am a child – for today I am a boy
For today I am a child
For today I am a boy
4. ____________________
/ /
/ Man Is the Baby /
/___________________/
Yearning for more than a blue day
I enter your new life for me
Burning for the true day
I welcome your new life for me
Forgive me
Let live me
Set my spirit free
Losing, it comes in a cold wave
of guilt and shame all over me
Child has arrived in the darkness
The hollow triumph of a tree
Forgive me
Let live me
Kiss my falling knee
Forgive me
Let live me
Bless my destiny
Forgive me
Let live me
Set my spirit free
Weakness sown
Overgrown
Man is the baby
5. ______________________
/ /
/ You Are My Sister /
/_____________________/
You are my sister, we were born
So innocent, so full of need
There were times we were friends, but times I was so cruel
Each night I'd ask for you to watch me as I sleep
I was so afraid of the night
You seemed to move through the places that I feared
You lived inside my world so softly
Protected only by the kindness of your nature
You are my sister and I love you
May all of your dreams come true
You are my sister and I, I love you
May all of your, all of your dreams come true
We felt so differently then
So similar over the years
The way we laugh, the way we experience pain
So many memories, there's nothing left to gain from remembering
Faces and worlds that no one else will ever know
You are my sister and I love you
May all of your dreams come true
You are my sister and I, I love you
May all of your, all of your dreams come true
All of your dreams, all of your dreams come true
I want this for you
They're gonna come (gonna come true)
I see them come (I see them come true)
6. ___________________
/ /
/ What Can I Do? /
/__________________/
What can I do, when the bird's got to die?
What can I do, when she's too weak to fly?
What can I do, when she's calling my name?
She's crying:
Mama! Help me to live!
Mama! Help me to live!
Mama! Help me to live, to live, to live, to live.
What can I do?
What can I do?
What can I do?
7. ____________________
/ / Does anyone else sense a slight
/ Fistful of Love / flirt with sadomasochism?
/___________________/
I was lying in my bed last night
Staring at a ceiling full of stars
When it suddenly hit me
I just have to let you know how I feel
We live together in a photograph of time
I look into your eyes
And the seas open up to me
I tell you I love you
And I always will
I know that you can't tell me
I know that you can't tell me
So I'm left to pick up the hints, the little symbols of your devotion
So I'm left to pick up the hints, the little symbols of your devotion
I feel your fists
And I know it's out of love
I feel the whip
And I know it's out of love
I feel your burning eyes
Burning holes straight through my heart
It's out of love
I accept and I collect upon my body
The memories of your devotion
Give me a little fistful of love
8. ________________
/ / This song is absolutely mystical and fascinating. You don't
/ Spiralling / really understand the lyrics and still it feels like, it's
/_______________/ about Antony mourning how hard it is to be him. The blurry
lyrics just intensifies the feeling of him being an outsider
in a particular bizarre way.
Well, and I can and I die
I can, I die
Well, and I'm freezing
I'm freezing
Well, it's a sly curse
A sly curse
Well, and I'm spiralling
I'm spiralling
In my broken heart it gain
I got all my files
I got all my ones to choose from
My gave waiting for you
Waiting for you
I'm ravaged like a dog in need
I am gone, gone
And cartoosan rev again cuddle on (???)
I am, I am undone
I am undone
Where go
Where now
Can't stand
And if I can
Can't die
I'm freezing
Sly curse
I'm spiralling
In my cruel life God poisoned
I was born worn
Not a girl and not a jewel
I am, I am some son
I am some bum
Where go
Where now
Can't stand
And if I can
Can't die
I'm freezing
Sly curse
I'm spiralling
Spiralling
Held rave rogue
9. _________________
/ /
/ Free at Last /
/________________/
Speaking on this track is Dr. Julia Yasuda, a Japanese renowned mathematician,
who is also transgender; I have also read that he was even born hermaphrodite.
He is reading aloud from an old African-American slave-related poem. The poem
is originally by an anonymous author, but was used as spiritual chant among
slaves in America.
Dr. Julia Yasuda frequently opens Antony and the Johnsons shows with a telegraph.
Below all this is the mystical Morse code. I can't decipher Morse codes myself,
but I have read two things. Either that it is the poem, simply in Morse code;
or that is is the lines "relentlessly craving wanderlust", which I doubt it is.
It is a line from the Björk's song "Wanderlust" from her 2007 album "Volta".
If anyone knows any more stuff, I'd love to hear it! Just mail me! :D
Way down yonder in the graveyard walk
I thank God I'm free at last
Me and my Jesus gonna meet and talk
I thank God I'm free at last
On my knees when the light passed by
I thank God I'm free at last
Thought my soul would rise and fly
I thank God I'm free at last
Some of these mornings, bright and fair
I thank God I'm free at last
Gonna meet my Jesus in the middle of the air
I thank God I'm free at last
Ladies and gentlemen
Antony & The Johnsons
10._______________
/ / What a finale for an album!
/ Bird Gerhl /
/______________/
I am a bird girl
I am a bird girl
I am a bird girl
I am a bird girl now
I've got my heart here in my hands
I've got my heart here in my hands now
I've been searching for my wings
I've been searching for my wings some time
I'm gonna be born
I'm gonna be born into soon the sky
I'm gonna be born into soon the sky
'Cause I'm a bird girl
And the bird girls go to heaven
I'm a bird girl
And the bird girls can fly
Bird girls can fly
Bird girls can fly
Bird girls can fly
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Jon Sebastian Frederiksen - 4th /June /10
Just mail me at Maitinin@gmail.com with questions, comments and corrections!
