Phish - Lizards guitar tab
Lizards
From: John Greene
From: David Douglas McCallum
From: Hayduke lives! (Mikey ?)
It all started a few days ago while I was noodling on the guitar while
watching the boob-tube. I was enjoying a seemingly random chord
progression and thinking I was really onto something cool. Well, a
little rational thought uncovered that while the progression was indeed
cool, it wasn't as original as I had thought...it was the middle
"Esther-and-her-doll- tumbling- and-diving-through-the-clouds" chords of
one of the first tunes that hooked me to Phish in the first place, good
ol' [dead ol'] "Esther". The cleanest version I could think of is the
lead-in to "Lizards" on "The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday". A little
careful listening revealed the correct picking pattern:
E
E|------0-------------0-------------0-------------0--------
B|----5---5---------5---5---------5---5---------5---5------
G|--4---------4---4---------4---4---------4---4---------4--
D|6---------6---6---------6---6---------6---6---------6----
A|---------------------------------------------------------
E|---------------------------------------------------------
The picking pattern stays the same, but the chords change in this pattern:
E -> Em -> F#m7 -> F# -> B -> repeat
using these chord forms:
E Em F#m F# B
E|-0--0--0---0---0--
B|-5--5--7---7---7--
G|-4--4--6---6---8--
D|-6--5--7---8---9--
A|------------------
E|------------------
This inevitably led me to the next tune on the tape, and another old
favorite, "Lizards". Now, I've tried to play this in the past, by ear
and using the two versions posted by John Greene and Michael Bruce and
contained in the CHORDS.PHISH file. But something was wrong with both
versions according to my ear, so I decided to nail it down to my
satisfaction once and for all and this is what I came up with...
MONDO ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: As you will see, I borrowed heavily from both
both John's and Michael's transcriptions, refining and adding things
here and there as I saw fit. But it was VERY NICE to have these
foundations upon which to build my transcription [particularly Michael's
elegant notation, which makes sense once you get used to it]. Thank you
both for the effort in writing this stuff down in the first place! I
hope you like my iteration...
C (repeat)
E|------------|
B|------8-8---|
G|----------9-| This picking pattern is the basis for the chords
D|10-10-------| with notes on the D, G, and B strings
A|------------|
E|------------|
E|----5-------|
B|------5-----|
G|--5---------| This picking pattern is the basis for the chords
D|4-------4---| with notes on the D, G, B, and E strings
A|------------|
E|------------|
How to read:
--chord: what I believe the chord is, in guitar notation.
--bass: what I feel is the bass note. Note: this note may not
be in the chord! It may be a passing tone to another
chord. So C/B means a C chord with a B in the bass.
--strings: just about the whole song can be played on the
E, D, G, and B strings, so I have included the frets.
INTRO:
--chord: C
--bass: C
--E str:
B str: 8
G str: 9
D str: 10
VERSE: pas...cam...lean..arm....He..way.king...
C: C G Gm F Fm Fm C C-5 G/9 G9 G6/9 E7
B: C B Bb A Ab Ab G Gb G F E E
Es: 5 5 5 5 4
Bs: 8 8 8 6 6 6 5 5 3 3 3 3
Gs: 9 7 7 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4
Ds: 10 9 8 7 6 6 5 4 5 3 2 2
| 1st ending | 2nd ending |
| Wil..Wil..Wil.....| |
C: Fdm Fdm Fdm Fdm| Edim Edim |
B: F Ab Cb Cb | E E |
Es: 4 7 10 10 | 3 3 |
Bs: 3 6 9 9 | 2 2 |
Gs: 4 7 10 10 | 3 3 |
Ds: 3 6 9 9 | 2 2 |
VERSE: led....edge..wand...sprng.kni....sto...lift...turn....sing!
C: F F G G Am Am F F F Fm C C G/9 G9 G6/9 D6 C
B: F F# G G# A A# A A A Ab G G G F E D C
Es: 5 5 5 5 0
Bs: 1 1 3 3 5 5 6 6 6 6 5 5 3 3 3 3 1
Gs: 2 2 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 0
Ds: 3 4 5 6 7 8 7 7 7 6 5 5 5 3 2 0 2
CHORUS:
dark doom boon tried died died !
C: G F C G F C G F C G F G F G F C
Piano solo: |1.-- |2.---
C: C C Dm Dm7 G7 G7|C C |G7 G7
B: C C# D C D D |E E |D D
Es: | |
Bs: 8 8 10 10 12 12 |13 13|12 12
Gs: 9 9 10 10 10 10 |12 12|10 10
Ds: 10 11 12 10 12 12 |14 14|12 12
Full lyrics:
Passing through the corridor I came upon an aging knight
Who leaned against the wall in gnarly armor
He was on his way to see the king
Wilson
Wilson
Wilson
He led me through the streets of Prussia talking
As he tried to crush a bug that scurried underneath his bootheel
He said there was a place where we should go
So he lead me through the forest to the edge of a lagoon by which
We wandered 'til we reached a bubbly spring
The knight grew very quiet as we stood there
Then he lifted up his visor and he turned to me and he began to sing
chorus:
He said I come from the land of darkness
I said I come from the land of doom
He said I come from the land of Gamehendge
From the land of the big baboon
But I'm never never going back there
And I couldn't if I tried
'Cause I come from the land of Lizards
And the Lizards they have died
And the Lizards they have died
And the Lizards they have died
And the Lizards they have ...
He told me that the Lizards were a race of people practically extinct
From doing things smart people don't do
He said that he was once a Lizard too
His name was Rutherford the Brave and he was on a quest to save
His people from the fate that lay before them.
Their clumsy end was perilously near
The Lizards would be saved, he said, if they could be enlightened
By the writings of the Helping Friendly Book
In all of Prussia only one existed
And Wilson had declared that any person who possessed it was a crook
[chorus]
The Helping Friendly Book, it seemed, possessed the ancient secrets
Of eternal joy and never-ending splendor
The trick was to surrender to the flow
We walked along beneath the moon
He lead us through the bush 'till soon
We saw before our eyes a raging river
He said that we could swim it if we tried
And saying this the knight dove in forgetting that his suit of arms
Would surely weigh him down and so he sunk
And as his body disappeared before me
I bowed my head in silence and remembered all thoughts that he had thunk
[chorus]
Repeat Verse and chorus twice more, ending the chorus the second time with the
following passage in place of the "died!" in the first
"and the lizards they have died!" lyric
CHORUS III: Whoa whoa whoa...
C: G F G F G F...
Piano solo II: (this part comes after the chorus, but instead of playing that
final C, play the first chord of the part below and continue)
PIANO SOLO: WHOAAA
C: G F G F Abmaj7 Gm7 Bbmaj7 Am7
B: G F G F Ab G Bb A
This is what Trey plays towards the last half of Page's piano solo, right into the
last "whoa, whoa, whoa, etc."
Chris Temeles
From 5/27/94
The whole thing is played moderately fast, like any other Trey arpeggios.
B Sometimes he pulls off, and sometimes he doesn't
e----------------------------------------------------------------------
b----------------------------------------------------------------------
g---------8----11--8------------11--8---------11--8--------11--8-------
d------9---------------9---------------9-------------9------------9----
a----------------------------------------------------------------------
e----------------------------------------------------------------------
A#m7
e----------------------------------------------------------------------
b----------------------------------------------------------------------
g---------10--13--10-----------13--10---------13--10--------13--10-----
d-----11--------------11---------------11-------------11------------11-
a----------------------------------------------------------------------
e----------------------------------------------------------------------
Amaj7
e----------------------------------------------------------------------
b----------------------------------------------------------------------
g---------9--13--9----------13--9----------13--9----------13--9--------
d-----11------------11-------------11-------------11-------------11----
a----------------------------------------------------------------------
e----------------------------------------------------------------------
G#m7
e----------------------------------------------------------------------
b----------------------------------------------------------------------
g---------8----11--8------------11--8---------11--8--------11--8-------
d------9---------------9---------------9-------------9------------9----
a----------------------------------------------------------------------
e----------------------------------------------------------------------
e-------------------------------------------------
b-------------------------------------------------
g----13--10----------13--10----------13--10-------
d------------11--------------11--------------11---
a-------------------------------------------------
e-------------------------------------------------
e----------------------------------------------------------------------
b----------------------------------------------------------------------
g---14--11--------14--11-------------16--12---------16--12-------------
d-----------12------------12-----------------14-------------14---------
a----------------------------------------------------------------------
e----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bmaj7 This phrase until the end is played fast!!
e----------------------------------------------------------------------
b----------------------------------------------------------------------
g---15-15--11-----------15-15--11----------15-15--11-------------------
d--------------13------------------13-----------------13---------------
a----------------------------------------------------------------------
e----------------------------------------------------------------------
A#m7
e----------------------------------------------------------------------
b----------------------------------------------------------------------
g---17-17--13-----------17-17--13-----------17-17--13------------------
d--------------15------------------15------------------15--------------
a----------------------------------------------------------------------
e----------------------------------------------------------------------
Amaj7
e----------------------------------------------------------------------
b----------------------------------------------------------------------
g---16-16--13-----------16-16--13-----------16-16--13------------------
d--------------14------------------14------------------14--------------
a----------------------------------------------------------------------
e----------------------------------------------------------------------
e----------------------------------------------------------------------
b----------------------------------------------------------------------
g---17-17--14------------17-17--14------------18-18--15----------------
d--------------15-------------------15-------------------16------------
a----------------------------------------------------------------------
e----------------------------------------------------------------------
e----------------------------------------------------------------------
b----------------------------17-17--13------------18-18--14------------
g---20-20--16---------------------------14-------------------15--------
d--------------18------------------------------------------------------
a----------------------------------------------------------------------
e----------------------------------------------------------------------
e----------------------
b---19-19--17----------
g--------------16------
d----------------------
a----------------------
e----------------------
e----------------------------------------------------------------------
b---20-20--16-----------20-20--16----------20-20--16-------------------
g--------------17------------------17-----------------17---------------
d----------------------------------------------------------------------
a-----------------------------repeat a couple of times and then>>>>----
e----------------------------------------------------------------------
WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!!!!
This part culminates by playing an Am instead of the Am7, then playing a D > Dsus4
chord figure 4 times, which leads back into the G F figure as in CHORUS III. End
the CHORUS III this time with the staccato C chord, followed by 16th-note bass C
notes until the guitar melody enters. The first time through up until the second
ending, only the bass notes of the indicated chords should be played.
Refer to the VERSE section above for the proper notes...
[oh, alright! here they are: C: C G Gm F Fm Fm C C-5 G/9]
[ B: C B Bb A Ab Ab G Gb G ]
OUTRO:
C: |C |G/B |Gm/Bb |F/A
* H-O
E------------|--------|--------|--------------|----------
B------------|8-------|8-----8-|10-8-----8-10-|8-6-5-----
G-------9-10-|------9-|--------|----10--------|------5-5-
D-10-10------|--------|--------|------10------|----------
A------------|--------|--------|--------------|----------
E------------|--------|--------|--------------|----------
1.--------------
|Fm/Ab |Fm C C-5|G/9 |G/9
E-|----------|---------|--------|----------------
B-|8---5-6---|6---5----|3-------|---------------- begin repeat
G-|--7-------|------5--|--------|-----------9-10- at the "*"
D-|--------5-|---------|--------|-----10-10------ above
A-|----------|---------|--------|----------------
E-|----------|---------|--------|----------------
2.---------
|G/9 |Ebmaj7 |Dm7 |Abmaj7
E-|----------|------3-6-|--------|--------------
B-|----------|3---3-----|6-----6-|4-----3-4---4-
G-|--------3-|--5-------|--------|----5---------
D-|----------|----------|--------|--------------
A-|----------|----------|--------|--------------
E-|----------|----------|--------|--------------
|Gm7 |F |Em |Dm7 G
E-|----------|5-------5-|7-----7-|5---5-------|----
B-|3-6-----6-|----6-8---|--8-----|--6---8-----|----
G-|----------|----------|--------|------------|----
D-|----------|----------|--------|------------|5---
A-|----------|----------|--------|------------|----
E-|----------|----------|--------|------------|----
then repeat the entire outro twice more. The second time the outro is repeated, raise
the guitar melody up one octave, and instead of
going to the 2nd ending of the repeat, go back into the G F figure as in CHORUS III.
End the CHORUS III this time with the staccato C
chord. That's it!
(Alternate view From: John Greene )
Verse: C -> E -> Edim -> F -> Fm -> C -> F#dim (ALL WITH A C BASS!)
G7 G7 G7 G7 -> Bdim7 (hold this for a while)
C -> E -> Edim -> F -> Fm -> C -> F#dim (ALL WITH A C BASS!)
G7 G7 G7 G7 -> Cdim7 (hold this for a while)
Here's the part where he says "The Lizards would be saved, he said..."
Note: The top line is the chord, and bottom line is the bass to go
with the chord:
chord: F -> D -> G -> G#dim -> Amin -> C7-5 -> F (pause)
bass: F F# G G# A A# F
chord: F -> Fm -> C -> G7 -> G7 -> G7 -> G7 ->C
Chorus: "He said I come from the land of darkness" (G > F > C) x 3
G F G F G F G F C
Neat jam part: (this part comes after the chorus, but instead of playing
that final C, play the first chord of the part below and
continue)
Abmaj7 -> Gm7 -> Bbmaj7 ->Am7 (repeats a whole bunch of times)
This part culmiates by playing an Am instead of the Am7, then
playing a D > D7 > D > D7 which leads back into the G F G F G F G F
