The Only Time Chords & Tabs
#----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE---------------------------------#
#This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the #
#song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research. #
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------#
THE ONLY TIME
As recorded by Nine Inch Nails
(From the 1989 Album PRETTY HATE MACHINE)
Transcribed by Adam Steele
Words and Music by Trent Reznor
Arranged by Trent Reznor
Gtr I (E A D G B E) - 'Guitar'
Gtr II (E A D G B E) - 'Synth'
Gtr III (E A D G B E) - 'Synth'
Verse
Q=90
N.C. A5 D5 C5 A5 D5 C5
2/4 4/4
Gtr I
H q q H e. e. q Q. q q H e. e. q Q.
|------||-------------|---------------|------------|-----------------||
|------||o------------|---------------|------------|----------------o||
|------||-------------|---------------|------------|-----------------||
|------||--2--2-------|-7--7--5-------|-2--2-------|-7--7--5---------||
|------||o-0--0-------|-5--5--3-------|-0--0-------|-5--5--3--------o||
|------||-------------|---------------|------------|-----------------||
A5 N.C. D5 C5 A5 N.C. D5 C5
q q E E Q e. e. q Q. q q E E Q e. e. q Q.
|--------------|---------------|--------------|---------------|
|--------------|---------------|--------------|---------------|
|--------------|---------------|--------------|---------------|
|-2--2----5----|-7--7--5-------|-2--2----5----|-7--7--5-------|
|-0--0---------|-5--5--3-------|-0--0---------|-5--5--3-------|
|-------3------|---------------|-------3------|---------------|
A5 D5 C5 A5 D5 C5
q q H e. e. q Q. q q H e. e. q Q.
|------------|---------------|------------|---------------|
|------------|---------------|------------|---------------|
|------------|---------------|------------|---------------|
|-2--2-------|-7--7--5-------|-2--2-------|-7--7--5-------|
|-0--0-------|-5--5--3-------|-0--0-------|-5--5--3-------|
|------------|---------------|------------|---------------|
Chorus
N.C.
Gtr III
S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E S S E
||------------------------|---------------1-------|
||o-----------------------|-------3-5-----------3-|
||----------------------2-|-4---------------------|
||------0-2-----4-6-------|-----------------------|
||o-----------------------|-----------------------|
||--0-1-----0-1-----0-1---|---0-1-----0-1---0-1---|
S S E E S S E E S S E E S S S E S S S E S S S S
|-----------------------|-----------------------10-12---||
|-----------------------|---------------3-5------------o||
|---------------------2-|-4-----------------------------||
|-----0-2-----4-6-------|-------0-2---------------------||
|-----------------------|------------------------------o||
|-0-1-----0-1-----0-1---|---0-1-----0-1-----0-1---------||
Verse
A5 D5 C5 A5 D5 C5
Gtr I
q q H e. e. q Q. q q H e. e. q Q.
||-------------|---------------|------------|-----------------||
||o------------|---------------|------------|----------------o||
||-------------|---------------|------------|-----------------||
||--2--2-------|-7--7--5-------|-2--2-------|-7--7--5---------||
||o-0--0-------|-5--5--3-------|-0--0-------|-5--5--3--------o||
||-------------|---------------|------------|-----------------||
Breakdown
A5 D5 C5
Gtr II
E E E E E E E S S +E E E E E E S S S S
||--------------------|-------------------------8-5-|
||o---5-5-7-7-8-8-----|------/5----5-7-7-8--8-5-----|
||----------------7-5-|-(5)\------------------------|
||--------------------|-----------------------------|
||o-------------------|-----------------------------|
||--------------------|-----------------------------|
|
| Gtr I
| q q H e. e. q Q.
||--------------------|-----------------------------|
||o-------------------|-----------------------------|
||--------------------|-----------------------------|
||--2---2-------------|--7------7----5--------------|
||o-0---0-------------|--5------5----3--------------|
||--------------------|-----------------------------|
A5 D5 C5
E E E E E E E S S +E E E E E E S S S S
|-------------------|-------------------------8-5--||
|---5-5-7-7-8-8-----|------/5----5-7-7-8--8-5-----o||
|---------------7-5-|-(5)\-------------------------||
|-------------------|------------------------------||
|-------------------|-----------------------------o||
|-------------------|------------------------------||
|
| q q H e. e. q Q.
|-------------------|------------------------------||
|-------------------|-----------------------------o||
|-------------------|------------------------------||
|-2---2-------------|--7------7----5---------------||
|-0---0-------------|--5------5----3--------------o||
|-------------------|------------------------------||
Verse
A5 D5 C5 A5 D5 C5
Gtr I
q q H e. e. q Q. q q H e. e. q Q.
||-------------|---------------|------------|-----------------||
||o------------|---------------|------------|----------------o||
||-------------|---------------|------------|-----------------||
||--2--2-------|-7--7--5-------|-2--2-------|-7--7--5---------||
||o-0--0-------|-5--5--3-------|-0--0-------|-5--5--3--------o||
||-------------|---------------|------------|-----------------||
A5 N.C. D5 C5 A5 N.C. D5 C5
q q E E Q e. e. q Q. q q E E Q e. e. q Q.
|--------------|---------------|--------------|---------------|
|--------------|---------------|--------------|---------------|
|--------------|---------------|--------------|---------------|
|-2--2----5----|-7--7--5-------|-2--2----5----|-7--7--5-------|
|-0--0---------|-5--5--3-------|-0--0---------|-5--5--3-------|
|-------3------|---------------|-------3------|---------------|
A5 D5 C5 A5 D5 C5
q q H e. e. q Q. q q H e. e. q Q.
|------------|---------------|------------|---------------|
|------------|---------------|------------|---------------|
|------------|---------------|------------|---------------|
|-2--2-------|-7--7--5-------|-2--2-------|-7--7--5-------|
|-0--0-------|-5--5--3-------|-0--0-------|-5--5--3-------|
|------------|---------------|------------|---------------|
Chorus
N.C.
Gtr III
S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E S S E
||------------------------|---------------1-------|
||o-----------------------|-------3-5-----------3-|
||----------------------2-|-4---------------------|
||------0-2-----4-6-------|-----------------------|
||o-----------------------|-----------------------|
||--0-1-----0-1-----0-1---|---0-1-----0-1---0-1---|
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/n/nine_inch_nails/the_only_time_tab_ver_3.html ]
S S E E S S E E S S E E S S S E S S S E S S S S
|-----------------------|-----------------------10-12---||
|-----------------------|---------------3-5------------o||
|---------------------2-|-4-----------------------------||
|-----0-2-----4-6-------|-------0-2---------------------||
|-----------------------|------------------------------o||
|-0-1-----0-1-----0-1---|---0-1-----0-1-----0-1---------||
Breakdown
N.C.
Gtr II
E E E E E E E S S +E E E E E E S S S S
|-------------------|---------------------8-5-|
|---5-5-7-7-8-8-----|------/5-5-7-7-8-8-5-----|
|---------------7-5-|-(5)\--------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------------|
E E E E E E E S S +E E E E E E S S S S
|-------------------|---------------------8-5-|
|---5-5-7-7-8-8-----|------/5-5-7-7-8-8-5-----|
|---------------7-5-|-(5)\--------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------------|
Gtr I
<
E E E E E E E S S +E E E E E E S S S S E E E E E E E S S W
|-------------------|---------------------8-5-|-------------------|------|
|---5-5-7-7-8-8-----|------/5-5-7-7-8-8-5-----|---5-5-7-7-8-8-----|------|
|---------------7-5-|-(5)\--------------------|---------------7-5-|------|
|-------------------|-------------------------|-------------------|------|
|-------------------|-------------------------|-------------------|------|
|-------------------|-------------------------|-------------------|-0----|
Interlude
N.C.
Gtr III
S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E S S E
||------------------------|---------------1-------|
||o-----------------------|-------3-5-----------3-|
||----------------------2-|-4---------------------|
||------0-2-----4-6-------|-----------------------|
||o-----------------------|-----------------------|
||--0-1-----0-1-----0-1---|---0-1-----0-1---0-1---|
S S E E S S E E S S E E S S S E S S S E S S S S 3x
|-----------------------|-----------------------10-12---||
|-----------------------|---------------3-5------------o||
|---------------------2-|-4-----------------------------||
|-----0-2-----4-6-------|-------0-2---------------------||
|-----------------------|------------------------------o||
|-0-1-----0-1-----0-1---|---0-1-----0-1-----0-1---------||
N.C.
Gtr II
E E E E E E E S S +E E E E E E S S S S
|-------------------------|-------------------------8-5-|
|-----5-5-7---7-8-8-------|------/5---5-7-7---8-8-5-----|
|---------------------7-5-|-(5)\------------------------|
|-------------------------|-----------------------------|
|-------------------------|-----------------------------|
|-------------------------|-----------------------------|
|
| Gtr III
| S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E S S E
|-------------------------|-------------------1---------|
|-------------------------|-----------3-5-----------3---|
|---------------------2---|--4--------------------------|
|-----0-2-----4-6---------|-----------------------------|
|-------------------------|-----------------------------|
|-0-1-----0-1-----0-1-----|-------0-1-----0-1---0-1-----|
E E E E E E E S S
|--------------------------|
|-----5-5-7---7-8-8--------|
|---------------------7-5--|
|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|
|
| S S E E S S E E S S E
|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|
|---------------------2----|
|-----0-2-----4-6----------|
|--------------------------|
|-0-1-----0-1-----0-1------|
Wx8
|--------|
|--------|
|--------|
|--------|
|--------|
|--------|
N.C.
E E E E E E E S S +E E E E E E S S S S
||--------------------|---------------------8-5-|
||o---5-5-7-7-8-8-----|------/5-5-7-7-8-8-5-----|
||----------------7-5-|-(5)\--------------------|
||--------------------|-------------------------|
||o-------------------|-------------------------|
||--------------------|-------------------------|
E E E E E E E S S +E E E E E E S S S S
|-------------------|---------------------8-5----||
|---5-5-7-7-8-8-----|------/5-5-7-7-8-8-5-------o||
|---------------7-5-|-(5)\-----------------------||
|-------------------|----------------------------||
|-------------------|---------------------------o||
|-------------------|----------------------------||
Outro
N.C.
Gtr III
S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E S S E
|-----------------------|---------------1-------|
|-----------------------|-------3-5-----------3-|
|---------------------2-|-4---------------------|
|-----0-2-----4-6-------|-----------------------|
|-----------------------|-----------------------|
|-0-1-----0-1-----0-1---|---0-1-----0-1---0-1---|
S S E E S S E E S S E E S S S E S S S E S S S S
|-----------------------|-----------------------10-12--|
|-----------------------|---------------3-5------------|
|---------------------2-|-4----------------------------|
|-----0-2-----4-6-------|-------0-2--------------------|
|-----------------------|------------------------------|
|-0-1-----0-1-----0-1---|---0-1-----0-1-----0-1--------|
N.C.
S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E S S E
|-----------------------|---------------1-------|
|-----------------------|-------3-5-----------3-|
|---------------------2-|-4---------------------|
|-----0-2-----4-6-------|-----------------------|
|-----------------------|-----------------------|
|-0-1-----0-1-----0-1---|---0-1-----0-1---0-1---|
S S E E S S E E S S E E S S S E S S S E Q
|-----------------------|----------------------*|
|-----------------------|---------------3-5----*|
|---------------------2-|-4--------------------*|
|-----0-2-----4-6-------|-------0-2------------*|
|-----------------------|----------------------*|
|-0-1-----0-1-----0-1---|---0-1-----0-1--------*|
Duration Legend
---------------
W - whole; H - half; Q - quarter; E - 8th; S - 16th; T - 32nd; X - 64th; a - acciaccatura
+ - note tied to previous; . - note dotted; .. - note double dotted
Uncapitalized letters represent notes that are staccato (1/2 duration)
Irregular groupings are notated above the duration line
Duration letters will always appear directly above the note/fret number it represents the
duration for. Duration letters with no fret number below them represent rests. Multi-
bar rests are notated in the form Wxn, where n is the number of bars to rest for. Low
melody durations appear below the staff
Tablature Legend
----------------
h - hammer-on
p - pull-off
b - bend
pb - pre-bend
r - bend release (if no number after the r, then release immediately)
/\ - slide into or out of (from/to "nowhere")
s - legato slide
S - shift slide
- natural harmonic
[n] - artificial harmonic
n(n) - tapped harmonic
~ - vibrato
tr - trill
T - tap
TP - trem. picking
PM - palm muting
\n/ - tremolo bar dip; n = amount to dip
\n - tremolo bar down
n/ - tremolo bar up
/n\ - tremolo bar inverted dip
= - hold bend; also acts as connecting device for hammers/pulls
<> - volume swell (louder/softer)
x - on rhythm slash represents muted slash
o - on rhythm slash represents single note slash
Misc Legend
-----------
| - bar
|| - double bar
||o - repeat start
o|| - repeat end
*| - double bar (ending)
: - bar (freetime)
$ - Segno
& - Coda
Tempo markers - = BPM(8/16=s8/s16), where s8 = swing 8ths, s16 = swing 16ths
