Want You Gone tab (Portal 2 spoilers!)
EDIT: Okay, I've tabbed up a playable version that is almost certainly 50% wrong. You can sing to it, but it doesn't quite play if you hold it up against the recording.
Since this song has been looping on repeat in my brain and on my speakers for the past 48 hours, I figure I might as well turn the obsession to something constructive and try tabbing it out.
Very much a WIP - I'm sure there are half-diminished minor 7ths everywhere that I'm not catching. Any and all help would be appreciated. Please. Playing this song might be the only way to free my brain up for other things. Like sleeping.
Another warning: The lyrics contain spoilers for the game, so don't read if you don't want spoiling.
Since this song has been looping on repeat in my brain and on my speakers for the past 48 hours, I figure I might as well turn the obsession to something constructive and try tabbing it out.
Very much a WIP - I'm sure there are half-diminished minor 7ths everywhere that I'm not catching. Any and all help would be appreciated. Please. Playing this song might be the only way to free my brain up for other things. Like sleeping.
Another warning: The lyrics contain spoilers for the game, so don't read if you don't want spoiling.
A: x02220
B: 224442
C#: 446664
D: xx0232
Dm: xx0231
E: 022100
F#: 244322
F#m 244222
Dm7: xx0211
A F#m
Well here we are again
D E
It's always such a pleasure
A F#m
Remember when you tried
D E
to kill me twice?
A F#m
Oh how we laughed and laughed
D E
Except I wasn't laughing
A F#m
Under the circumstances
D Dm F#
I've been shockingly nice
F# C#
You want your freedom?
C#
Take it
F# B
That's what I'm counting on
F# C#
I used to want you dead but
D E A
Now I only want you gone
A F#m
She was a lot like you
D E
(Maybe not quite as heavy)
A F#m D E
Now little Caroline is in here too
A F#m
One day they woke me up
D E
So I could live forever
A F#m
It's such a shame the same
D Dm F#
will never happen to you
F#
You've got your
C#
short sad
life left
F# B
That's what I'm counting on
F# C#
I'll let you get right to it
D E A
Now I only want you gone
A F#m
Goodbye my only friend
D E
Oh, did you think I meant you?
A F#m
That would be funny
D E
if it weren't so sad
A F#m
Well you have been replaced
D E
I don't need anyone now
A F#m
When I delete you maybe
D Dm F#
I'll stop feeling so bad
F# C#
Go make some new disaster
F# B
That's what I'm counting on
F# C#
You're someone else's problem
D E A F#m
Now I only want you gone
D E A F#m
Now I only want you gone
D E
Now I only want you...
A
gone
Comments
This might be the intro notes:
A E A E A D#
A D A D A F
If someone else could play 'em through, leave some impressions, that would help tremendously.
A: x02220 B: 224442 Bm: 224432 C#: 446664 C#7: 446464 D: xx0232 Dm: xx0231 E: 022100 F#: 244322 F#m 244222 Intro/verse: E|--------------------------- b|-2-2-2-2--2-2-2-2--2-2-2-2- G|-2-2-2-2--2-2-2-2--2-2-2-2- D|-2-1-0-3--2-1-0-3--2-1-0-3- A|-0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0- E|--------------------------- A E Well here we are again F#m D It's always such a pleasure A E Remember when you tried F#m E to kill me twice? A E Oh how we laughed and laughed F#m D Except I wasn't laughing A E Under the circumstances F#m C# F# I've been shockingly nice F# B C# You want your freedom B take it F# B C# B That's what I'm counting on F# B C# B I used to want you dead but Bm E A Now I only want you gone A E She was a lot like you F#m D (Maybe not quite as heavy) A E F#m E Now little Caroline is in here too A E One day they woke me up F#m D So I could live forever A E It's such a shame the same F#m C# F# will never happen to you F# B C# You've got your short B sad life left F# B C# B That's what I'm counting on F# B C# B I'll let you get right to it Bm E A Now I only want you gone A E Goodbye my only friend F#m D Oh, did you think I meant you? A E That would be funny F#m E if it weren't so sad A E Well you have been replaced F#m D I don't need anyone now A E When I delete you maybe F#m C# F# I'll stop feeling so bad F# B C# B Go make some new disaster F# B C# B That's what I'm counting on F# B C# B You're someone else's problem Bm E A F#m Now I only want you gone Bm E A F#m Now I only want you gone Bm E Now I only want you... A gone
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 A Ab5 D Dm A Ab5 Well here we are again D Dm It's always such a pleasure A Ab5 Remember when you tried D E To kill me twice A Ab5 Oh how we laughed and laughed D Dm Except I wasn't laughing A Ab5 Under the circumstances D C# I've been shockingly nice F# B C# B You want your freedom take it F# B C# B That's what I'm counting on F# B C# B I used to want you dead but Bm E Now I only want you A Ab5 D Dm Gone.. [Last few lines] Now I only want you gone.. Bm E A F#m Now I only want you gone.. D E A F#m Now I only want you gone D E A
I think this is sounding pretty close to a good tab - but, again, I'd like second, third and fourth opinions.
Sincerely, SRDownie.
----
All seriousness aside, I would not recommend playing chords over the verse. Even though there's no third of the chord (c natural or c sharp) in the accompaniment, we all know that Jonathan intends A Major because he put a c sharp in the melody. But since the instrumental isn't outlining an entire chord, you have that vague sense of dis-ease that maybe the harmonies could go some uncalled-for new direction on a moment's notice.
And they sort of do! F# minor is the relative minor to the key of A major. (Both keys share three sharps). BUT the crafty Coulton moves to F# MAJOR when he hits the "B" section. F# Major has seven sharps! Ow! Jonathan is in good company here: This was one of little Franz Schubert's favorite harmonic moves as well.
Another other advantage of sticking to the original "counterpoint": The e sharp (some might call it f natural) in the original lick initially seems out of place. But in reality, that wacky note is preparing you for the eventual arrival of the F# Major tonality. Good stuff.
At some point in the not-too-distant future, I think I'm going to see if I can perform this tune with a bunch of little musical devices: Nintendo DS, Korg Kaoss Pad 3, Casio VL-Tone (the very first Casio musical instrument), Yamaha QY10, Korg Kaossilator, Yamaha RX15 drum machine (from 1985!), etc. Or maybe I'll cheat and simply use the Mac or Garageband on the iPad. We'll see.
At the moment, like the rest of the planet (it seems), I'm learning ukulele (as well as how to sing) by working out various simple songs. Coulton's "I Feel Fantastic" is my focus. The tune is easy but playing quickly and remembering the words (and where to breathe) is the hard part.
Thanks for allowing me into your secret lair!
F#, F#/G#, F#/A#, B
So the question that is burning in my mind: What intertextuality are others picking up with "Still Alive?" Anything I find there I will consider a conscious creative decision, because... well, JoCo isn't stupid, and he was virtually guaranteed to plant Easter eggs in that line.
The most interesting one I've come across so far is this: Intro completely matches "I'm you moon" (2nd verse of IYM makes it most obvious if you don't hear it) with slight rhythmic variation. I don't treat this as coincidence - the concept of two characters being joined at the hip is core to both.
(I don't suppose I'll get anybody to agree hearing Abba's "Mamma Mia", but I do have an odd imagination :-)
BTW, your Shop Vac video is, I think, my favorite video for anything, anytime. Well done! I hope JoCo paid you lots of $$$! :-)
@Borba: Good question. If you use JoCo's Best.Concert.Ever version of "Still Alive" (SA) for comparison, the harmonic movement of SA moves from A Major to C Major, up a minor third. For "Want You Gone" (WYG), the harmony moves from A Major to F# Major, down a minor third. So there's a tiny bit of symmetry. Alas, the original GLaDOS key for SA was D Major (to F Major), so this theory doesn't hold water if you are directly comparing Portal to Portal 2. But if you're a conspiracy theorist ....
More food for thought: It could be a C#7 sus.
BTW, that's the frustrating thing about ukulele: It is hard (for a new uke player like me) to be too choosy about voice leading. I'm accustomed to the piano (and the computer) where, if you so desire, you can get every voice to flow the way you'd like. But with only four tiny uke strings, options are limited.
If only an instrument existed that was slightly larger and offered six strings! Hmmmmm.
I've been playing it in my head tentatively, but finding myself dragged down by "I'm your moon"; if ever I do a version of this I'll have to make a conscious effort to avoid IYM. (I previously referenced IYM in Still Alive, so it's about time to move on!)
Also, this has been my favorite interpretation so farwhich has already been posted, yada yadaI also found some part later in the song which reminded me of Under The Pines, but I can't think what it was now.
ETA: Also, yay, a MIDI file! Now all I need to do is teach my robot
armychoir to read MIDI files (as opposed to MIDI input straight from my keyboard), and they'll be able to sing Want You Gone. Awesome. Now I just need another long weekend, since I spent most of this one playing Portal 2 and have reserved the rest of it to fill my 'going out in the sunshine and interacting with people so that I can lay claim to being a well-adjusted normal human being' quota.The relevant quote:
It doesn't look very pretty, and I haven't done key signatures yet. Maybe someone proficient in sibelius could give it a go?
Also, I'm not completely certain about the vocal rhythm, so anyone can feel free to tweak that
I love a good theory discussion, so here goes... What you call that second chord in the chorus does seem open to some interpretation. There's clearly (to my ears) an F# inverted pedal tone in the top of the piano chord, which means that if it were a C#7 chord, it would have to be a sus4, as noted above. The melody goes A#-B-C#, so at least one of those notes is a non-harmonic tone. And of course the whole thing is over G#... So what it comes down to is how do you analyze the dissonance between the G# and the F#? (1) Is the high F# a part of the chord, and the bass note just a passing tone (F#/G#), or (2) is the bass note part of the chord, and the high F# is just a suspended tone (C#7sus4/G#)?
I suppose in one sense, its all just semantics -- it is what it is, and both names are technically accurate -- but personally, after thinking it through, I'm inclined to agree with Jarrett and take the first interpretation that it's simply an F#/G#, with the melody outlining the A#-C# part of the chord. To interpret it as a C# chord, I'd have to use 2nd inversion, which is a weak (and theoretically, mildly dissonant) inversion anyway, with a sustained 4th and no third, and with a melody that supposedly contains a 7th, but which is unaccented, and which doesn't resolve downward as 7ths are "supposed" to. Yes, I know these all these rules can be, and regularly are, broken; but when the combination of them weakens the C# chord to the point where there's no root, no 3rd, and an unresolved 7th, is it really still a C# chord? Occam's razor suggests otherwise. Oooh... the clincher is when I try playing the progression, and replace the G# in the bass with a C#. That sounds really awkward. If it were a C# chord, putting the C# in the bass should strengthen it, not weaken it.
Anyway, that's just my take on it (hope I didn't sound like a jerk explaining it...). Great song! :-)
Here are a few observations based on all the live videos from the ("slightly experimental version") of the Ottawa performance:
The intro is primarily just an open position E chord moving to an F# or F#m sort of voicing that leaves the two E strings and the B string open in a pedal-point fashion (a lot like some of the voicings used in the main riffs of "Good Morning Tuscon" and acoustic "Code Monkey", just lower on the fretboard)...I'm hearing it as something simiar to either 044300 or 044200, but it could be a number of other very similar possibilities...I'll have to review more videos, I've only watched one.
Correct about the lower key, certainly somewhat more accessible to the male voice, and indeed sweet spots on the guitar...also, women (and men with well-developed high registers...like me, I'm a countertenor) should be able to sing this played as he does, but capoed at 2nd fret, as Caleb notes.
The dominant figure at halfway through the verse sounds to me like some rather typical play on a Dsus4 to D thing, to compensate for the lack of a low D on the instrument. However, I've been playing this song in Drop-D tuning since before Jonathan debuted it live, which allows one to play the dominant figure in question more accurate to the recording, and also makes the chorus changes a little easier to play in a way that is accurate in respect to the recording...but more on that later (if enough people ask me about it!)
In the second verse, he fills out the arrangement more, certainly, and I'm not entirely sure how, but I have some ideas as to how with which I plan to experiment. I will revisit this idea when I figure more of it out.
In the chorus, he's (so far as I can tell) using that same pedal-point idea on the intermediary chords, letting the two E strings and the B string ring open...so standard open-position E voicing (022100), 044200, 066400, and then probably an Aadd2 kinda thing which I'm hearing as 577600...although the way I've been playing it Drop-D tuning allows the bass line to voice-lead a bit truer to the recording, so again, if anyone asks, I'll speak to that...bear in mind that I'm not about to tell Jonathan how to play his own song, I'm just willing to describe a way of playing it that works well for me and sounds good to my ear.
-BW;)
As to the second verse, I'll probably have to wait until to tomorrow to fully address the voicings, but I can say for sure that he's at least using a G power-chord dyad (ie. 35xxxx) on the downbeats, and that the major 3rd of the G chord is present in all (or at least *most*) of the upbeats, although I still can't say for certain what fingerings he used. The two possibilities that I can see as feasible are a tangled mess of fingerings that keep the 3rd string fretted at 4th fret, 4th string at 5th fret, 6th string at 3rd, with the 5th string doing all the movement...the other possibility is to base it all on a stock G power-chord (355xxx), but playing the open 2nd and 3rd strings on the upbeats and choking them off staccatto with the right-hand palm...gotta watch some other videos of hopefully better quality than the one I've seen to say anything for certain.
-BW;)
ETA: Caleb, feel free to jump back into this discussion...it definitely won't hurt to continue to discuss the function of each chord (or grouping of non-chord tones, if the case may be) in the progression from a theoretical standpoint...of course, keep in mind that Bach probably wouldn't have written "Want You Gone" quite the way Jonathan did.
Also, where is suuuupaadave hiding? I need him to hack my transcription notes up...he's been doing this longer than I have!
Of the four videos I've seen, this one has the best combination of angle and clarity on his left hand. I can clearly see the thumb being used.
Unrelated to the guitar fingering discussion, I did the following analysis before the live video (so it's still in the keys of A & F#), but I'm going to post it anyway, just to put it somewhere. It's my functional analysis of the chords, treating the walking bassline in the chorus as passing tones. It also shows the pivot chords for the modulation. (Hopefully all the repeat symbols aren't too confusing... The verse section is repeated 5 times - first as an intro/fill (which I'm numbering "0") then 4 times for verse proper, which I'm numbering 1 through 4).
Want You Gone Intro/Fill/Verse: Chorus: Coda: [0,1,3] [2] [4] [x3] D.C. ||: A5 Adim D5 Dm :| E :| C# ||: F# F#sus4/G# F#/A# B :| Bm E || A |: Bm/D E A :|| key:A ||: I IV iv :| V :| III ||: :| (ii) V || I |: ii V I :|| key:F# ||: :| :| (V) ||: I IV :| iv || |: :||
I agree with you that in the chorus, it does look like he's using his thumb to walk that bass line...but I'd still almost swear that I hear the open low E ringing throughout. I'm not sure what it is, but it's really messing with me. No doubt, the thumb can be employed to do just that, although I still prefer the Drop-D method I've been using, since my stubby little thumb doesn't want to wrap around the neck far enough! FWIW, in Drop-D, I've been playing 222100, 444200, 666400, 777600. Easier for me, but may not be for everybody.
I largely agree with your analysis, although I might consider the second chord of the chorus to be more of a G#m than F#/G#...I like the idea of considering the bassline to be passing tones on the way to B, but I don't really hear a third to an F# chord in that second "chord", but rather a B (third in a G#m) suggesting that we might consider calling it some sort of ii...maybe???
Also, in the coda, I would say that what you're calling a ii, I hear as a IV (I just simply don't hear a B in it), and I would insert a vi just before that chord, as well.
There's a nice symmetry between the ascending scale in each chorus, and that descending scale in the coda.
ETA: Also, I have a classical guitar, so the neck is pretty much too wide for me to do anything very effectively with my thumb on that low string.
EATA: Maybe I'm using too much Schenkerian analysis, and just seeing everything as one long prolonged tonic chord! :-p