Invisible Sun Bass Tab

Ghost In The Machine Tabs:

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Transcribed by Brian Schretzmann <schretz@nwu.edu>


                         Invisible Sun
                         by The Police
                   (off Ghost in the Machine)

NOTE: Use a fretless if you've got one - it really helps the bass tone 
      during the chorus.

INTRO

      Eb                Cm9             (ad lib Repeat)
       e e e e e e e e   e e e e e e e e
|---|------------------|------------------||
|4:-|*-----------------|-----------------*||
|4:-|*-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-|-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-*||
|---|------------------|------------------||

VERSE 1&2

  Eb                Cm9             (6x) Bb9               A9      Ab9
   e e e e e e e e   e e e e e e e e     e e e e e e e e   e e e e e e e e
------------------|------------------||-----------------|-----------------|
*-----------------|-----------------*||-----------------|-----------------|
*-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-|-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-*||-----------------|-----------------|
------------------|------------------||-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-|-5-5-5-5-4-4-4-4-|

CHORUS

  G                                (2x)
   e e e e q e e+  e e e e e e e e+    e e e e q e e+  e e e e e e q
|----------------|------------------||---------------|---------------|
|*-----3---3-5---|-----3---3-2-----*||-----3---3-5---|-----3---3-2---|
|*---5---5-------|---5---5-----3---*||---5---5-------|---5---5-----3-|
|--3-----------3-|-3-------------3--||-3-----------3-|-3-------------|

VERSE 3

Same as VERSE 1, but do the repeat 3x, then to Bb9...

CHORUS

INSTRUMENTAL SECTION

Same as VERSE 1

CHORUS

OUTRO

Same as INTRO


Taken from BASSMASTA.NET - http://www.bassmasta.net

Source: BassMasta.net
http://www.bassmasta.net/p/police,_the/.html

Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques


No Picture Tom Wanna Be	#1 by Tom C at Dec 25, 1978 at 4:54 PM EST
	This is my favourite Police song and it is definitely about Northern Ireland. When he sings "There has to be an invisible sun It gives it's heat to everyone" I think he is talking about the Catholic - Protestant divide.

No Picture Andrew Average	#2 by Andrew Locke at Aug 18, 1982 at 9:59 AM EST
	I don't see the indications that the song is specifically about Northern Ireland. It is certainly talking about a place where the government oppresses the people and industrial jobs make things even bleaker, but that could be any Orwellian society. It could have just as well been about East Germany or the USSR, couldn't it? In fact, was Northern Ireland at any point in the 20th century really as bad as the place this song describes? The lines "they're only going to change this place by killing everybody in the human race", if taken literally, indicate that the song is not about one country or another but a fictional one-world government -- certainly to change Northern Ireland, or even the USSR, you wouldn't have to kill everybody in the human race. You wouldn't even have to have killed all the citizens of Northern Ireland. The invisible sun is something the speaker imagines that could get one hope despite the bleakness of life in this society. It is powerfully ambiguous to say "there has to be..." He may be saying that such a thing does already exist, or else people would not be able to endure the way they do. Or he may be saying that things are too bleak and that such a thing is needed, but hasn't come along yet.

No Picture Art Wanna Be	#3 by Art at Dec 17, 1987 at 3:11 AM EST
	Its about the troubles in northern Ireland

No Picture dustin Average	#4 by dustin mount at Feb 8, 1993 at 1:12 AM EST
	I think the invisible sun is God. It could also be anything you need to believe in to get through a tough or meaningless life

No Picture eric Rhythm Player	#5 by eric morgan at Dec 7, 1995 at 8:02 AM EST
	I don't think it has much to do with God. It's more like an invisible spirit, not to say God. Could be Zeus, Apollo, Aphrodite, or just your self-assurance that keeps you going.

No Picture joel Wanna Be	#6 by joel campion at Aug 18, 2005 at 9:43 PM EST
	to "rikdad"'s question about whether or not northern ireland was really that bad any time in the 20th cetury the answer is yes definately yes; there is no more to say to you. However while this song is written about Northern Ireland it can really apply to the problems of the world as a whole and how if people stopped and looked at them long and hard they would lose all hope. But since people do have inexplicable hope, there has to be some psycological reason, personified here by the invisible sun. A few people have metioned a religious fealing to the song, but I truthfully dont see that at all it seems more like a cynical but realist assessment of the world.