This is my favourite song of the absolutely brilliant Gregory Alan Isakov. Unfortunately
there are no very good tabs around. I have been working on the song for a long time and
actually used it to learn some basic picking techniques. I could have tabbed the whole
thing but it would not be worth the effort because you only need to know the correct
chords and then learn the picking pattern yourself. I don't know it 100% correctly, Greg
plays it very differently live, so there is no 100% correct version. Make up your
little mix of hammers and pulls, just like I have. I will post a little part of the
intro to get you going. Once you have your thumb moving irrespective of your other fingers,
a whole new
world of guitar playing will open up. That's what this song has done for me. It takes
some time, but it is well worth it.
Capo 3rd
--------------------------------------------------------
(First part of Intro, exemplary picking pattern tabbed. âtâ marks notes played by
thumb, 0/2 marks hammer on from open string to 2nd for example. When a note is put right
beneath a hammered on note, play that note simultaneously with the hammering)
e|----------3----1----------1-------------------------------------------------|
B|--------1---1------------------0â-1-----------1-----------------1-----------|
G|------0------------0---------------------0/2------2--------0/2-----2--------|
D|----2------------0t---------0t--------2t--------2t------2t------------------|
A|--3t------------------------------0t-------0t---------0t-----0t-------------|
E|---------------3t------3t---------------------------------------------------|
C2 G2 Am
e|-----------------------------1â0--------------------------------------------|
B|--1-----------1---------------------1---1-------3-----1----0----------------|
G|--------0/2---------2----------------------------------------------0--------|
D|-----3t---------3t-------3t-----3t----------0t----------0t-------0t---------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|--1t------1t----------1t-----1t---------3t---------3t--------3t-------3t----|
F1 G3
----- end of picking example ---------------------------------
Chords used:
e|--0---0---0-------0--------3---1---0---0------5---3----1--------------|
B|--1---1---1---1---1--------1---0---3---1------0---1----3--------------|
G|--0---0---2---0---2--------0---0---0---0------0---0----2--------------|
D|--2---0---2---2---3--------0---0---0---0(2)---3---2----0--------------|
A|--3---2---0---x---3--------2---2---2---2----------3-------------------|
E|------3-------3---1--------3---3---3---3------------------------------|
C1 G3 Am* Am/G F1** G1 G2 G4 G5*** F2 C2 Dm
*always hammer on 0/1 on B-sting when switching to this chord
**use left hand thumb for bass F!
***hammer on 0/2 and pull off again on D-string
(Intro)
C2 G2 Am Am F1 F1 G1 G2
C2 G2 Am Am F2 C2 G1 C2
G1 G2 G3 G4
C G3 Am Am7/G F
Well, it's 3 a.m. again, like it always seems to be
G1 G2 Am Am/G F
Driving northbound, driving homeward, driving wind is driving me.
G1 G2 Am Am7/G F
It just seems so funny how I always end up here
G1 G2 Am Am/G F
walking outside in a storm while looking way up past the treeline.
G1 G2 G3 G4
It's been some time.
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/g/gregory_alan_isakov/3am_crd.html ]
Am F G5 G5
Give me darkness when I'm dreaming, give me moonlight when I'm leaving,
Am F G5 G5
Give me shoes that weren't made for standing.
Am F G5 G5
Give me treeline, give me big sky, give me snowbound, give me rainclouds,
Am G1 G2 G3 G4
give me bedtime just sometimes.
C G3 Am Am7/G F
Now you're talking in my room, there ain't nobody here,
G1 G2 Am Am/G F
Cause I've been driving like a trucker, I've been wearing through the gears
G1 G2 Am Am/G F
I've been training like a soldier, I've been burning through this sorrow
G1 G2 Am Am/G F G1 G2 G3 G4
The only talking lately is a background radio
Dm F G5 G5
You are my friend and I was a saint
Dm F G5 G5
And riding that hope was like catching some train
Dm F G5 G5
Now I just walk, but I don't mind the rain
Dm F G5 G5
Singing so much softer than I did back then
(Interlude)
C2 G2 Am Am F2 C2 G1 C2
G1 G2 G3 G4
C G Am Am7/G F
Well the night I think is darker, than we can really say,
G1 G2 Am Am/G F
God's been living in that ocean, sending us all the big waves
Am F G5 G5
And I wish I was a sailor so I could know just how to trust
Am F G5 G5
Maybe I could bring some grace back home to dry land for each of us
Dm F G5 G5
Say what you see, you say it so well
Dm F G5 G5
Just say you will wait like snow on the rail
Dm F G5 G5
Combing that train yard for some kind of saint
Dm F G5 G5
Even my own self, it just don't seem mine
Am F G5 G5
Give me darkness when I'm dreaming, give me moonlight when I'm leaving
Am F G5 G5
Give me mustang horse and muscle, oh, I won't be going gentle
Am F G5 G5
Give me slandered looks when I'm lying, give me fingers when I'm crying
Am F G5 G5
I ain't out there to cheat you, see I killed that damn coyote in me
(Outro)
Am Am F F
G5 G5 G5 G5
