Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers – American Girl (Bass Tab)

Versions (5)

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[Intro] (Rest for 7 measures, then:)
  |   |   |   |  h |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
G|--------------9-|11--------------|9---------------|7---------------|
D|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
A|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
E|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|

  |   |   |   |  h |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
G|9-------------9-|11--------------|9---------------|----------------|
D|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
A|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
E|----------------|----------------|----------------|3---3-3---------|

  |   |   |   |
G|----------------|
D|----------------|
A|----------------|
E|5---5-5---------|

[Verse 1]
  D                Em               G                A
  |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
G|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
D|----------------|----------------|5---5-5-----5---|7---7-7---------|
A|5---5-5---------|7---7-7-----5-7-|---5------7---7-|---7------0-2-4-|
E|---5------------|---7------7-----|----------------|----------------|

  D                Em               G                A
  |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
G|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
D|----------------|----------------|5---5-5-----5---|7---7-7---------|
A|5---5-5-----5---|7---7-7-----5-7-|---5------7---7-|---7------------|
E|---5------5---5-|---7------7-----|----------------|----------0-2-4-|

                   “ great big world ...”           “run to”
  A                D                G                Em
  |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
G|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
D|----------------|----------------|----------0-----|----------------|
A|--------------4-|5---5-5---------|--------------0-|----------------|
E|5--05-5---5-7---|---5------0-1-2-|3--33-3-----2---|0--00-0---0-2-3-|

 “And if she had to die ...”
  A                A                A                A
  |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
G|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
D|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
A|------------4---|------------4---|------------4---|------------4-5-|
E|5--05-5---0---5-|5--05-5---0---5-|5--05-5---0---5-|5--05-5---5-----|

 “Oh yeah          All right ...”
  G                A               D                 Bm
  |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
G|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
D|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
A|------------2-3-|--------------4-|5---5-5-----4-5-|2---2-2---------|
E|3--33-3---3-----|5--05-5---5-7---|---5------5-----|---2------0-1-2-|

 “She was            an American    Girl”
 G                 A                D
  |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
G|----------------|----------------|----------------|------------7-9-|
D|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
A|------------2-5-|--------------4-|5---5-5---------|5---5-5---57----|
E|3--33-3---3-----|5--05-5---5-7---|---5------7-5-7-|---5------------|
(Second verse and chorus: For all practical purposes, the same as the first verse and chorus. Some very small differences but not significant enough to warrant re-writing the tab, or even learning the differences for that matter)
[Outro]
  G                A      D         G                A
  |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
G|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
D|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
A|----------------|-------5--------|----------------|----------------|
E|3--3---3------34|5--5------------|3--3---3------34|5--5---5--------|

  D
  |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
G|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
D|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
A|5---------------|----rest--------|5---5-5---------|5---5-5---------|
E|----------------|----------------|---5------------|---5------------|

  D                Em               G                A
  |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
G|----------------|----------------|----------------|------7---------|
D|----------------|--------------4-|5---5-5-----5---|7---7-----797---|
A|5---5-5-----5-6-|7---7-7-----7---|---5----------7-|---7---------97-|
E|---5------------|---7------------|----------------|----------------|
(Then repeat the bass pattern used in the first part of the verse, multiple times. There are a few variations that I didn't transcribe.)
  D                Em               G                A
  |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
G|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
D|----------------|----------------|5---5-5-----5---|7---7-7---------|
A|5---5-5---------|7---7-7-----5-7-|---5------7---7-|---7------0-2-4-|
E|---5------------|---7------7-----|----------------|----------------|