Cath Acoustic Chords & Tabs
Artist: Death Cab For Cutie/Ben Gibbard
Album: Live At BBC6
Song: Cath... (Acoustic)
Tabbed By: Jeremy Latimer (jeremydavidlatimer [at] gmail [dot] com)
Tuning: Standard, Capo 2
This was tabbed using the BBC6 Live Acoustic recording of Ben Gibbard. It captures
the majority of his embellishments, but not all. This is extremely close, and more
than likely a better source for the Narrow Stairs version than most of the other
tabs out there.
Chords used:
C G Gadd9 Gmaj7 D/G Em7 A7sus4 C#d C/B
E-0--3---3-----0-----2----0-----0------0----0---|
B-1--0---0-----3-----3----5-----3------2----1---|
G-0--0---2-----0-----2----0-----0------0----0---|
D-2--0---0-----4-----0----0-----0------2----0---|
A-3--2---2-----x-----0----7-----4------4----2---|
E-x--3---3-----3-----3----7-----5------x----x---|
Intro: C G Gadd9
E|------------|-0----------|-33-3--3333--3-3333-|
B|0-0--0--0--0|-1----------|-00-0--0000--0-0000-|
G|2/4--4--4--0|-0----------|-00-2--2222--2-2222-|
D|------------|-2-0h2-4/5--|-00-0--0000--0-0000-|
A|------------|-3----------|-22-2--2222--2-2222-|
E|------------|-----------3|-33-3--3333--3-3333-|
C G Gmaj7
E|----------------|-0----------|-33-3--0000--0-0000-|
B|0-0--0--0-0-----|-1----------|-00-3--3333--3-3333-|
G|2/4--4--4h5-4-0-|-0----------|-00-0--0000--0-0000-|
D|----------------|-2-0h2-4/5--|-00-4--4444--4-4444-|
A|----------------|-3----------|-22-x--xxxx--x-xxxx-|
E|----------------|-----------3|-33-3--3333--3-3333-|
C G D/G
E|------------|-0----------|-33-2--2222--2-2222-|
B|0-0--0--0--0|-1----------|-00-3--3333--3-3333-|
G|2/4--4--4--0|-0----------|-00-2--2222--2-2222-|
D|------------|-2-0h2-4/5--|-00-0--0000--0-0000-|
A|------------|-3----------|-22-0--0000--0-0000-|
E|------------|-----------3|-33-3--3333--3-3333-|
Em7 A7sus4 C#d
E-0-0-0-0-|-0-0-0-0-|-0-0-0-0-0-0-00-|
B-5-5-5-5-|-3-3-3-2-|-2-2-2-2-2-2-22-|
G-0-0-0-0-|-0-0-0-0-|-0-0-0-0-0-0-00-|
D-0-0-0-0-|-0-0-0-2-|-2-2-2-2-2-2-22-|
A-7-7-7-7-|-4-4-4-4-|-4-4-4-4-4-4-44-|
E-7-7-7-7-|-5-5-5-x-|----------------|
Main Riff (C* G):
C* G C G (add9) G
E-0-0-00-00-|-3--33-3--33|-0-0-00-00-|-3--33-3--33|
B-1-1-11-11-|-0--00-0--00|-1-1-11-11-|-0--00-0--00|
G-0-0-00-00-|-0--00-0--00|-0-0-00-00-|-0--02-0--00|
D-0/2-22-44-|-0--00-0--00|-0/2-22-44-|-0--00-0--00|
A-3-3-33-33-|-2--22-2--22|-3-3-33-33-|-2--22-2--22|
E-----------|-3--33-3--33|-----------|-3--33-3--33|
Intro
C* G x4
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/d/death_cab_for_cutie/cath_acoustic_tab.html ]
C* G C* G
Cath, she stands
C* G C* G
With a well-intentioned man
C* G C* G
But she can’t relax
C* G C* G
With his hands on the small of her back
C* G C* G
And as the flashbulbs burst
C* G C* G
She holds a smile
C* G C* G
Like someone would hold
C* G C* G
A crying child
Em7 A7sus4 C#d C* G C* G
And soon everybody will ask what became of you
Em7 A7s4 C#d C* G C* G
When your heart was dying fast and you didn’t know what to do
C* G x4
C* G C* G
Cath, it seems
C* G C* G
That you live in someone else’s dream
C* G C* G
In a hand-me-down wedding dress
C* G C* G
With the things that could’ve been, all repressed
C* G C* G
But you said your vows
C* G C* G
And you closed the door
C* G C* G
On so many men
C* G C* G
Who would’ve loved you more
Em7 A7sus4 C#d C* G C* G
And soon everybody will ask what became of you
Em7 A7s4 C#d C* G Gmaj7 C* G
When your heart was dying fast and you didn’t know what to do
Em7 A7sus4 C#d C C/B A7sus4
The whispers that it won’t last roll up and down the pews
Em7 A7sus4 C#d
But if their hearts were dying that fast they’d have done
C* G Gmaj7 C* G
The same as you
C* G D/G C* G
And I’d have done the same as you
Em7 A7sus4 C#d
Note: In some videos on youtube of Ben playing this live he plays
C* G(add9) C* G(add9)
E-xxxxxx-3-3333-- E-0-0-00-00-|-3--33-3--33-|
B-000000-0-0000-- instead of B-1-1-11-11-|-0--00-0--00-|
G-000000-0-2200-- G-0-0-00-00-|-0--22-0--00-|
D-999999-0-0000-- D-0/2-22-44-|-0--00-0--00-|
A-777777-2-2222-- A-3-3-33-33-|-2--22-2--22-|
E-888888-3-3333-- E-----------|-3--33-3--33-|
during the verse, but it doesn’t sound like he’s doing that in this version.
