Duran Duran - Skin Divers (2007)
Tabbed by: trevgreg
Email: trevgreg1227@hotmail.com
Tuning: Standard
Here are the bass tabs for the sixth track off the band’s 2007 album “Red Carpet
And though this is primarily a dance-orientated song with a good amount of synths and very
guitar sticking out overall, it is worth pointing out the few bass lines that John
appears to be playing during the song, which form a pretty basic chord progression that some
the musicians out there can follow too.
Despite the fact that I did learn this song on bass, I hope the bass players out there
forgive me if I didn’t note this song entirely the way a bass tab should look. As a
I welcome any comments that might help the people trying to play this on bass get closer
getting the sound of the tabs to as close as possible to how John plays the song.
Here’s the bass intro that John plays before the first verse comes in during the
of the song, as well as the choruses when Timbaland is rapping. When he plays it live, John
to be playing the intro very sparingly, even replacing it with the verse part after
the intro only once at the beginning. In any case, it’s his most obvious bass part
the whole track. By the looks of it, he seems to be sticking to the D string while
it too. Repeat as many times as necessary.
G|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|--15--12----15--12----14--10----12--8-------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
For the verses (and the rest of the song for that matter), the bass line seems to be
standard, following a D-C-A#-F chord progression throughout the song. Notice how John
to be following a very standard bass run he’s been known to follow during his earlier
in the band, playing one string and then jumping two ahead from the root note. On the
version, it sounds like he's varying the notes on the G string by either playing the
once or twice, but he appears to be hitting them twice each during the times he plays it live.
It also sounds like he's doing this riff during the outro of the song on the alvum
as well, so keep your ears open for that part.
D D C A# F
G|-----------------7--7-----------------7--7-----------------5--5---------------------------|
D|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|--5--5--5--5--5--------5--5--5--5--5--------3--3--3--3--3--------1--1--1--1-----3----3----|
E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------1-----1------|
For what it’s worth, there is guitar being played here, though how its being played
remains a sort of mystery to me. During the live performances of the song, Dom Brown appears
be playing some slide work just before the verses with a steel slide that aren't as
during the song on the album. And on the album version, it sounds like there are
chords played pretty sparingly, during the intro and verses in particular. But after
Dom playing the song on a few videos, I’m still not exactly sure how he’s playing these
during those parts either. It seems pretty minimal though, so some simple bar chords
John’s bass progression might do the trick in playing it on guitar. I notice
playing a D2 (000230) instead of D5 might work out better sound-wise if you're playing
chords only on the first few frets as well.
Because of all this, I also decided to include the chords to this song along with the
so that the guitar players will be able to play along as well. Perhaps we will be seeing a
version of Skin Divers on Youtube sometime soon as a result!
D D C A# F
D
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/d/duran_duran/skin_divers_crd.html ]
D D
walking under skies, waiting for the fall
C A# F
meet me at the cornershop I show you it all
D D
free you of your mind, something you won’t find
C A# F
in the West End pages with yer Google-dirty fingers
D D C A# F
it’s a skin dive
in deep, silence, we are ... going underwater
D D C A# F
it’s a lifeline
teardrop, bullets, all night ... dip into the water
D
Baby, that's what it feels like when you come up for air
D
When you come up for air
C
You feel brand new, when you come up for air
A# F
When you come up for air
D
That's what it feels like when you come up for air
D
When you come up for air
C
You feel brand new, when you come up for air
A# F
When you come up for air
D
D D
wipe us off the face of the human race
C A# F
whichever way you look it’s indisposed or disgraced
D D
fighting on the shore, the hoi polloi want more
C A# F
howling bloody murder but it’s nothing, just a murmur
D D C A# F
in your skin dive
in deep, silence, we are ... going underwater
D D C A# F
it’s a lifeline
teardrop, bullets, all night ... slip into the water
D
Baby, that's what it feels like when you come up for air
D
When you come up for air
C
You feel brand new, when you come up for air
A# F
When you come up for air
D
That's what it feels like when you come up for air
D
When you come up for air
C
You feel brand new, when you come up for air
A# F
When you come up for air
D
D D
a blushing rose is torn from these sugar walls
C A# F
I misplaced my future, could I please borrow yours?
D D
paint it opalscene, you know what I mean
C A# F
anything you want to be, the only thing you want from me ...
D D C A# F
skin dive
in deep, silence, we are ... going underwater
D D C A# F
it’s a lifeline
teardrop, bullets, all night ... going South Dakota
D D C A# F
D D C A# F
D D
Baby girl, you swimmin' a little too deep
C A# F
So deep that I think you might hit a reef
D D
I think you're low on oxygen and your tube got a leak
C
Baby girl, swim to the top
A# F
Grab my hand and hold me and breath
D
Baby, that's what it feels like when you come up for air
D
When you come up for air
C
You feel brand new, when you come up for air
A# F
When you come up for air
D
That's what it feels like when you come up for air
D
When you come up for air
C
You feel brand new, when you come up for air
A# F
When you come up for air
D D C A# F
D D C A# F
D D C A# F
D D C A#
