YOU'RE A MEAN ONE, MR. GRINCH
from the TV show "How The Grinch Stole Christmas"
Written by Theodore "Dr." Seuss Geisel and Albert Hague
almost as performed by Whirling Dervishes on "Wish It Would Snow"
Transcribed by Dan Amrich (DanAmrich@aol.com)
**Formatted for Courier 10**
I'm taking my cues for this Dr. Seuss transcription from a great hard-
rock version by a little-known band named Whirling Dervishes.
Back in 1992 they released a four-song EP of holiday tunes called "Wish
It Would Snow" on WM Records (PO Box 732, Cranford NJ, 07016). I scored
a promo copy from the college radio station I worked for at the time it
came out. Why this didn't become a huge alternarock hit at the time, I
don't know, but my band used to rip it up 12 months out of the year.
Here are the complete lyrics to the original song; Whirling
Dervishes leave out the fourth, fifth and most of the sixth verse. They
did it with power chords and so will I. Enjoy.
--Dan
CHORDS USED IN THIS ARRANGEMENT:
G C F Bb A D Eb
E -----------------------------------------------
B -----------------------------------------------
G ----------5-----------3-----7-----7-----8------
D ----5-----5-----3-----3-----7-----7-----8------
A ----5-----3-----3-----1-----5-----5-----6------
E ----3-----------1------------------------------
<><>
G C F Bb
You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch,
G A D
You really are a heel.
G C F Bb Eb
You're as cuddly as a cactus, you're as charming as an eel, Mr. Grinch.
(N.C.) D G C G C G C G D
You're a bad banana with a greasy black peel!
You're a monster, Mr. Grinch,
Your heart's an empty hole.
Your brain is full of spiders, you have garlic in your soul, Mr. Grinch.
I wouldn't touch you with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole!
You're a foul one, Mr. Grinch,
You have termites in your smile.
You have all the tender sweetness of a seasick crocodile, Mr. Grinch,
Given a choice between the two of you I'd take the seasick crocodile!
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/m/misc_christmas/youre_a_mean_one_mr_grinch_tab.html ]
You're a rotter, Mr. Grinch,
You're the king of sinful sots.
Your heart's a dead tomato splotched with moldy purple spots, Mr.
Grinch,
You're a three decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich with arsenic
sauce!
You nauseate me, Mr. Grinch,
With a nauseous super "naus!"
You're a crooked dirty jockey and you drive a crooked hoss, Mr. Grinch.
[spoken until the rhyme kicks in]
Your soul is an appalling dump heap overflowing with the most
disgraceful assortment of rubbish imaginable mangled up in
tangled up knots!
You're a foul one, Mr. Grinch,
You're a nasty wasty skunk.
Your heart is full of unwashed socks, your soul is full of gunk, Mr.
Grinch,
[spoken]
G C G C G C
The three words that best describe you are as follows, and I quote,
Eb D G
"Stink, stank, stunk!"
<><>
Here's a few of the licks I've been able to figure out:
G C F Bb G A
E --------------------------------------------------------------
B --------------------------------------------------------------
G ------------------------------2-1-0---------------------------
D ------------------------------------3-------------------------
A --------------------------------------------------------------
E --------------------------------------------------------------
You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch You really are
D
E --------------------------------------------------------------
B -----------7--------------------------------------------------
G -------------7------------------------------------------------
D ---------7-----7----------------------------------------------
A -------5---------5--------------------------------------------
E --------------------------------------------------------------
A heel
(you're picking the full barre chord here)
The lick on the opening and refrains:
E ---------8--------------8-------------8-------------8-10------
B -8-11-10----8---8-11-10---8---8-11-10---8---8-11-10-----------
G --------------------------------------------------------------
D --------------------------------------------------------------
A --------------------------------------------------------------
E --------------------------------------------------------------
Hopefully that's enough to go on. Good luck and happy holidays. :)
Dan Amrich <> DanAmrich@aol.com <> http://members.aol.com/danamrich
--
Dan Amrich, Geek | DanAmrich@aol.com | http://members.aol.com/danamrich
"I look at Van Halen's music as a cross between religion and hockey."
- David Lee Roth
