Flickering Flame (Roger Waters - Flickering Flame)

#1

yo, nobody's tabbed this great song out yet so i did it. Enjoy.

FLICKERING FLAME

Written and performed by Roger Waters

Great song, cant wait to hear the album version. All the chord progressions are there and most of the guitar (minor variations aside). YOu have to listen to the record to find what lyrics fit with what chord progressions towards the end but its all there in my tab if you look hard enough.

E
When my neurons conspire
To distract my thoughts
A
Away from divorce
And competitive sports
E
Back to the place
............................B
Where all rivers run to the sea
.....A
Then I
.............E
I shall be free
....A.......E
Yes, I shall be free

....C
On a seesaw
In a strange land
F
The jackdaw sat
On the Cardinals hand
C
And the fiddlers played
And the planners planned
.............G
What would be
...C
On a back seat
In a court room
F
Sat Molly Malone with Leopold Bloom
.....C
'Til the police came down
With a new broom
................G
And swept them clean

Am
Like Geronimo
Like Quinn the Eskimo
Em
Like the Blackfoot
And like the Arapaho
Am
Like Crazy Horse
I'll be the last one
D
To lay down my gun

The guitar part for the above section I think is:

B|----13--13/15\12-------|

but i think it changes slightly when roger sings 'lay down my gun'

MAIN SLIDE GUITAR PART
----------------------

G Cadd9 G Cadd9 G G/F# Em D
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|-----------------------------------15-----------------------------------------------------
|---14/16--14/16\14--12--14--14/16-----14/16\14----12--14--14/16--14---12--11/12\11---/9\7-
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the open road
In a bar room
A pick up band plays a new tune
When the coloured girl sings
I feel my heart bloom

When a new song
Hits the right note
When a clearing sky
Saves an old boat
When an insight
Strikes the mote
From mine own eye

Like Geronimo
Like Quinn the Eskimo
Like the Blackfoot
And like the Arapaho
Like Crazy Horse
I'll be the last one
To lay down my gun

Just out of sight
Beyond the next range
I feel the heat
Of a flickering flame

On an African Plain
By a thorn tree
My old friend Philippe
Is waiting for me
Que cera cera
What ever will be
Will be
When a friend dies
And the tears rise
From that deep well
That never runs dry
And the women break their bracelets
And the men take their whisky outside

In a petit theatre
On the Rue St Denis
The red velvet curtain
Draws back to reveal
The place where the dark side
Meets the angel and me
The angel in me

When my synapses pause
In my quest for applause
When my ego lets go
Of my end of the bone
To focus instead
On the love that is precious to me
Then I
Shall be free
I shall be free

tabbed by Yuri Johnson (hodjpokol@hotmail.com)

Blytey · #2 01-25-2003, 06:37 PM

Roger keeps changing the key so I guess it doesn't matter too much. Decent tab though! He drops notes and stuff on some of the chords (I mean he uses hammer-ons on single notes in some of the chords) like he does on a lot of his songs eg. mother. I've heard each time he performs it live it gets better, so roll on new album.

hodjpokol · #3 01-31-2003, 08:04 AM

ok i fixed it up. Turns out i did have the wrong key at the start.

btw, im downloading the live version of the song (the version ive heard until now is the demo), and i gotta say whats Roger's obsession with backup singers? I've heard the first minute of it, and having the backup singers singing the 'I shall be free' part just ruins it for me. It was so much more down to earth and powerful with just roger singing it by himself. I thought the backup singers held back 'Each Small Candle' from being a brilliant song also (its still very, very good mind you). I just hope whoever produces the album suggests that he finds an alternative or just sings these parts himself.
It annoys me because judging by these two songs, the next album could easily be his best record yet, he just has to get the sound right.
Amused to death is a really good album, but thats another case where alot of the time, roger just didnt get the sound right with his arrangements, despite most of the songs being very powerful.

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Flickering Flame (Roger Waters - Flickering Flame)

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