Soundgarden – Black Days Iii (Guitar Tab)
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Chords
The following song was titled 'Black Days III' on Superunknown's 20th anniversary re-issue and the compilation
Echo Of Miles: Scattered Tracks Across The Path; both from 2014. It had previously been released under a
different title, 'Fell On Black Days Demo' when it appeared as a B-side on the Fell On Black Days single
in 1995, which featured both the album and the video versions of the song in it's final iteration.
This however is conceptionally totally different from what would end up on the album, with only the
lyrics in the chorus repeating: "How would I know that this would be my fate? Fell On Black Days...".
Neither the melody, nor the structure bear any further resemblance.
You may recall this song having been through yet another transformation before this, found on Badmotorfinger's
25th anniversary re-issue in 2016 as 'Black Rain (Black Days) (Studio Outtake)'. At that point, the song had
the melody to Black Rain already, but the chorus lyrics too sang "Fell On Black Days", rather than the
ultimate "Cry On, Black Rain" of the studio version.
It seems to be just one guitar playing on this relatively lo-fi take, and it does so with heavy fuzz. There
are only two verses and two choruses and they are repeated within small variations that I have noted. This
mostly being a one string wonder until it moves on to power chords. Don't be irritated, I wrote it out this
way intentionally. I can not only clearly hear the slides that are otherwise impossible if we were to hop
between strings, rather than staying on the same one... I also have the visual confirmation of someone taping
Soundgarden playing this very version on Eddie Vedder's Self Pollution radio in 1995, where Ben was using the
same positions for his bass parts.
The tuning is DADGbe, drop D. Move the low E string down a whole step to D for it. I can count the verses
as bars of 7/4 with an additional measure of 3 at the end. Nothing really fit the chorus, so I cannot
further comment.
My video lesson: https://youtu.be/AEvTcRF_DKw
[INTRO/VERSE 0:01, vocals join at 0:20]
e|----------------------------|-----------------------------------------| x1 |
b|----------------------------|-----------------------------------------| |
G|----------------------------|-----------------------------------------| |
D|----------------------------|-----------------------------------------| |
A|----------------------------|-----------------------------------------| |
D|-7-10qb-7--5-/7--4-4/5-10-7-|-7-10qb--7-5-/7-0-4-/5--10-7--10-12-12-0-| |
e|--------------------------|------------------------------------------| x3 |
b|--------------------------|------------------------------------------| |
G|--------------------------|------------------------------------------| |
D|--------------------------|------------------------------------------| |
A|--------------------------|------------------------------------------| |
D|-10qb-7--5-/7-0--4-5-10-7-|-7-10qb--7-5-/7-0-4--5-10-7--10-12-12-(0)-| |
e|--------------------------| x1 |
b|--------------------------| |
G|--------------------------| |
D|--------------------------| |
A|--------------------------| |
D|-10qb-7--5-/7-0--4-5-10-7-| |
e|----------------------------|-------------------------------------------| x1 |
b|----------------------------|-------------------------------------------| |
G|----------------------------|-------------------------------------------| |
D|----------------------------|-------------------------------------------| |
A|----------------------------|-------------------------------------------| |
D|-7-10qb-7--5-/7-0-4-/5-10-7-|-7-10qb--7-5-/7-0-4-/5--10-7--10-12-12-(0)-| |
D5
e|----------------------------|-----------------------------------------| x1 |
b|----------------------------|-----------------------------------------| |
G|----------------------------|-----------------------------------------| |
D|----------------------------|-----------------------------------------| |
A|----------------------------|---------------------------------------0-| |
D|-7-10qb-7--5-/7-0-4-/5-10-7-|-7-10qb--7-5-/7-0-4-/5--10-7--10-12-12-0-| | [1:03 CHORUS]
F5 G5 A5 C5 D5 F5 C5 F5 G5 D5 e|-------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------| x1 | b|-------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------| | G|-------------------------------------------------|------------------5--5-5-------------------| | D|-------------------------------------------------|------------------5--5-5-------------------| | A|-3--3-3-3--3/5-(5-5)--7--7-7-7--10---10---12\-.--|--3-3-3--3-3-3----3--3-3--3-5-5-5--0-0-0-0-| | D|-3--3-3-3--3/5-(5-5)--7--7-7-7--10---10---12\-.--|--3-3-3--3-3-3------------3-5-5-5--0-0-0-0-| | C5 D5 F5 C5 F5 G5 D5 e|---------------------------------------------------------------------| x5 | b|---------------------------------------------------------------------| | G|---------------------------------------5-(5)-------------------------| | D|---------------------------------------5-(5-5p3)---------------------| | A|-10--10-10-10--10/12-12-12\3--3-3-3-3--3-(3)-----3-3/5-5-5--0--0-0-0-| | D|-10--10-10-10--10/12-12-12\3--3-3-3-3------------3-3/5-5-5--0--0-0-0-| | C5 D5 F5 C5 F5 G5 D5 e|--------------------------------------------------------------------| x1 | b|--------------------------------------------------------------------| | G|--------------------------------------5-(5)-------------------------| | D|--------------------------------------5-(5-5p3)---------------------| | A|-10--10-10-10-10/-12-\-(0-0)-3-3-3-3--3-(3)-----3-3/5-5-5--0--0-0-0-| | D|-10--10-10-10-10/-12-\-(0-0)-3-3-3-3------------3-3/5-5-5--0--0-0-0-| | C5 D5 D5 G5 F5 C5 D5 F5 G5 G5 G6sus e|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| x1 | b|----------------------------------------------------------------------------5-5-5-5-5-| | G|----------------------------------------5-(5)-------------------------------5-5-5-5-5-| | D|----------------------------------------5-(5)---------------------------5-5-5-5-5-5-5-| | A|-10--10-10-10-10/-12-\-(0)-5p3-3-3-3-3--3-(3)------0-3-3-3--5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-| | D|-10--10-10-10-10/-12-\-(0)-5p3-3-3-3-3-------(3p0)-0-3-3-3--5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-| | -------downstrokes-------
[1:49 VERSE]
e|----------------------------------|-----------------------------------------| x1 | b|----------------------------------|-----------------------------------------| | G|----------------------------------|-----------------------------------------| | D|----------------------------------|-----------------------------------------| | A|----------------------------------|-----------------------------------------| | D|-5-/7-7-10qb-7--5-/7--0-4-/5-10-7-|-7-10qb-7-5-/7-0-4-5-10qb-7-10-12-12-(0)-| | e|---------------------------|---------------------------------------------| x1 | b|---------------------------|---------------------------------------------| | G|---------------------------|---------------------------------------------| | D|---------------------------|---------------------------------------------| | A|---------------------------|---------------------------------------------| | D|-10qb-7--5-/7--0-4-/5-10-7-|-7-10qb-7\5-5-/7-0-4--/5-10qb-7-10-12-12-(0)-| | e|---------------------------|-------------------------------------------| x1 | b|---------------------------|-------------------------------------------| | G|---------------------------|-------------------------------------------| | D|---------------------------|-------------------------------------------| | A|---------------------------|-------------------------------------------| | D|-10qb-7--5-/7--0-4-/5-10-7-|-7-10qb-7-5-/7-0-4--/5-10qb-7-10-12-12-(0)-| | e|-----------------------------|-----------------------------------------| x1 | b|-----------------------------|-----------------------------------------| | G|-----------------------------|-----------------------------------------| | D|-----------------------------|-----------------------------------------| | A|-----------------------------|-----------------------------------------| | D|-10qb-7-\5-5-/7--0-4-/5-10-7-|-7-10qb-7-5-/7-0-4--/5-10qb-7-10-12-12-0-| | e|-----------------------------| x1 | b|-----------------------------| | G|-----------------------------| | D|-----------------------------| | A|-----------------------------| | D|-10qb-7-\5-5-/7--0-4-/5-10-7-| | e|----------------------------|-------------------------------------------| x1 | b|----------------------------|-------------------------------------------| | G|----------------------------|-------------------------------------------| | D|----------------------------|-------------------------------------------| | A|----------------------------|-------------------------------------------| | D|-7-10qb-7-5-/7--0-4-/5-10-7-|-7-10qb-7-5-/7-0-4--/5-10qb-7-10-12-12-(0)-| | e|-----------------------------|------------------------------------------| x1 | b|-----------------------------|------------------------------------------| | G|-----------------------------|------------------------------------------| | D|-----------------------------|------------------------------------------| | A|-----------------------------|----------------------------------------0-| | D|-10qb-7-\5-5-/7--0-4-/5-10-7-|--7-10qb-7-5-/7-0-4--/5-10qb-7-10-12-12-0-| |
[2:52 CHORUS]
e|-------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------| x1 |
b|-------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------| |
G|-------------------------------------------------|------------------5--5-5-------------------| |
D|-------------------------------------------------|------------------5--5-5-------------------| |
A|-3--3-3-3--3/5-(5-5)--7--7-7-7--10---10---12\-.--|--3-3-3--3-3-3----3--3-3--3-5-5-5--0-0-0-0-| |
D|-3--3-3-3--3/5-(5-5)--7--7-7-7--10---10---12\-.--|--3-3-3--3-3-3------------3-5-5-5--0-0-0-0-| |
e|---------------------------------------------------------------------| x10 |
b|---------------------------------------------------------------------| |
G|---------------------------------------5-(5)-------------------------| |
D|---------------------------------------5-(5-5p3)---------------------| |
A|-10--10-10-10--10/12-12-12\3--3-3-3-3--3-(3)-----3-3/5-5-5--0--0-0-0-| |
D|-10--10-10-10--10/12-12-12\3--3-3-3-3------------3-3/5-5-5--0--0-0-0-| |
e|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| x1 |
b|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |
G|---------------------------------------5-(5)--------------------------------5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-.-| |
D|---------------------------------------5-(5)------------------------5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-.-| |
A|-10--10-10-10--10/12-12-12\3--3-3-3-3--3-(3)------0-3-3-3-3-5-(5-5)-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-.-| |
D|-10--10-10-10--10/12-12-12\3--3-3-3-3-------(3p0)-0-3-3-3-3-5-(5-5)-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-.-| |
----------downstrokes----------Tab legend:
/ slide up
\ slide down
h hammer on
p pull off
( ) ghost note/chord
. stop
qb quarter bend