#-----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE------------------------------------#
# This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the #
# song. The owner of this website has not reviewed the contents of this file and #
# does not support copyright infringement or violating the rights of any artist #
# or legal entity. If you feel that the content of this file may be violating #
# copyright law, you may not use the information displayed here in any way. #
#----------------------------------------------------------------------------------#
Artist: Radiohead
Title: The Bends
Album: The Bends
Tabbed by Camello (chrismellon@hotmail.com)
Intro (also Chorus):
G|-------------------------------|
D|-------------------------------|
A|-5-5-5-3-2-3---2--3--2-3-2-----|
E|-------------3-------------3-0-|
G|----------------------0-2-0---|
D|--------------------2-------2-|
A|-5-5-5-3-2-3---2--3-----------|
E|-------------3----------------|
G|------------------------------|
D|------------------------------|
A|-5-5-5-3-2-3---2--3-2-3-2-----|
E|-------------3------------3-0-|
G|-----/2-0----------/4---------------|
D|----------4-------------------------|
A|-5-5--------5--3-------3--2-3-2-----|
E|-----------------3--------------3-0-|
Verses:
G|-----------------------------|
D|-----------------------------|
A|-------------2-3--3---3--3---|
E|-0--0-2-3--3--------3------3-|
G|-------------------------------------|
D|-------------------------------------|
A|---------------3--3-2-3-3--2-3-2-----|
E|-0--0-5-3--3-0-------------------3-0-|
Guitar fill part:
G|--------------------------3-0-3-0-8-6-4---|
D|------------------------3---------------5-|
A|------------------3-3-5-------------------|
E|-5-5-0-3-4-5-3-0--------------------------|
Verses:
G|---------------------------------------------------|
D|-2----2------4-5----5-5--------------------------5-|
A|----2---2---------5------5-3----3-3----3-5-7-7-7---|
E|----------0-------------------3------3-------------|
G|-----------------------------------------------------|
D|-2----2------5h7p5----5-/7-5-------------------------|
A|----2---2-----------7--------3----3-3----3-2-3-2-----|
E|----------0---------------------3------3---------3-0-|
Chorus:
G|------------------------0-2-0---|
D|----------------------2-------2-|
A|-5-5-5-3-2---3---2--3-----------|
E|-----------3---3----------------|
G|-------/2-0---------/4--------------|
D|------------4-----------------------|
A|-5-5-5--------5-3-------3-2-3-2-----|
E|------------------3-------------3-0-|
Bridge One:
G|---------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------|
A|-0-0---0-0--0-0---0-0------------|
E|-----------------------0-0---0-0-|
G|------------------------|
D|------------------------|
A|-0-0---0-0--0-0---0-0-2-|
E|------------------------|
G|---------|
D|---------| <-- eight measures of this
A|---------|
E|-0-0-0-0-|
Verses: (play fast here)
G|-------------------------------------------5-5-3-3-------|
D|---------------------------------------------------5-5---|
A|---------------------------3--0-3-3----3-5-------------3-|
E|-0--0-0--3h5p3--0h3p0h3--0-----------3-------------------|
G|-----------------------------------------------------|
D|-2----2------5h7p5----5-/7-5-------------------------|
A|----2---2-----------7--------3----3-3----3-2-3-2-----|
E|----------0---------------------3------3---------3-0-|
Chorus:
G|----------------------0-2-0---|
D|--------------------2-------2-|
A|-5-5-5-3-2-3---2--3-----------|
E|-------------3----------------|
G|-------/2-0---------/4--------------|
D|------------4-----------------------|
A|-5-5-5--------5-3-------3-2-3-2-----|
E|------------------3-------------3-0-|
Bridge Two:
G|---------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------|
A|-0-0---0-0--0-0---0-0------------|
E|-----------------------0-0---0-0-|
G|------------------------|
D|------------------------|
A|-0-0---0-0--0-0---0-0-2-|
E|------------------------|
G|---------|
D|---------|
A|-3-3-3-3-| <-- five measures of this
E|---------|
G|-------------------------|
D|---------2-2-2-2-4-4-4-4-|
A|-5-5-5-5-----------------|
E|-------------------------|
Cool guitar part (repeat four times, there are slight variations):
G|--------------------------------------------|
D|-5-5-5--5--5-5---0h4-0-5-5-5--5--5-5--4h5p4-|
A|---------------3----------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------------|
G|-------------------------------------------|
D|-2-2-2----2---2-0h2-5-2-2-2----2---2---0h2-|
A|-------------------------------------3-----|
E|--------0---0----------------0---0---------|
Ending slow part:
G|-------|
D|-------|
A|-----3-|
E|-0-3---|
You can hear the bass pretty easily through most of the song, but
there are a couple parts where it's a little hard to hear. I haven't
actually Colin Greenwood play the song in a video or anything, but I
know this tab's gotta be pretty close to how it's played. Feel free to
make any corrections.
Taken from BASSMASTA.NET - http://www.bassmasta.net
Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
|
No Picture
Quinn Wanna Be |
#1 by Quinn Carvalho at Aug 13, 1971 at 4:12 AM EST |
| Sorry that was race. I'm a bit out of it today. | |
|
No Picture
Ben Average |
#2 by Ben Swayn at May 26, 1974 at 11:39 PM EST |
| not about drugs, why does everyone always try to make songs into references about drugs? look at a fansite like greenplastic.com or ateaseweb.com before making some lame comment | |
|
No Picture
emma Average |
#3 by emma davidson at Apr 6, 1977 at 12:56 AM EST |
| MY BABY'S GOT THE BENDS!! love that part! wohoo radiohead!! | |
|
No Picture
Satan SAF! Rhythm Player |
#4 by Satan SAF! Lucifer at Aug 29, 1984 at 9:47 AM EST |
| Number 2 above is correct. Listen to his short monologue on the acoustic version that you can download on any psuedo napster and lays it out that its about knowing who your real friends are | |
|
No Picture
skate rat steve Lead Player |
#5 by skate rat steve at Jun 21, 1990 at 11:13 PM EST |
| flextone zero, i think your second choice sounds right. i think everyone can relate to this song, i mean we all have at least one "friend" who treats us like hell. | |
|
No Picture
richard Wanna Be |
#6 by richard jones at Aug 22, 1992 at 8:52 AM EST |
| This song is awesome, I love when he does the rap, definitely one of my Radiohead favs | |
|
No Picture
One of the chil Average |
#7 by One of the children of the KoRn at Dec 28, 1995 at 3:02 PM EST |
| Wow, I amazed that no one figured out what this song is really about. It`s quite simple, he`s singing about the pressures of his newfound fame and popularity. Personally, I think when he refers to "the bends" in his song, he literally means his new album, The Bends. But that is up for debate. Anyway, I don`t I have the time to disect this song, so I`ll just copy and paste the best song meaning from greenplastic.com This was one written by Kevin Newcombe "The Bends is literally a serious (and sometimes fatal) medical condition that happens to people when they come up out of the water too fast. I think the The Bends meant as a metaphor for the band instantly becoming rock stars without a chance to adjust to fame. Something in the lines of "My Iron Lung" the Bends is a song that speaks about the instant fame Radiohead acquired when they released Pablo Honey, and the world discovered Creep. "Where do we go from here?" Imagine all your life you wanted to be a rock star and have fans and tour the world. Once it happens, and you achieve that goal, what else is there to do? "Alone on an aeroplane / Falling asleep against the window pane" This line is about the exhaustive nature of touring. For a two hours a night it's standing in front of a screaming crowd of tens of thousands of fans, playing rock music, but the rest of the time it's just sitting on tour buses or in airports, or waiting for sound checks etc. "I need to wash myself again / To hide all the dirt and pain / I'd be scared, that there's nothing underneath." It gives the image of the tortured artist, something Thom was perceived as after Creep hit, writing about their pain to relieve themselves of it. "I'd be scared that there's nothing underneath" could be taken as meaning that the pain and melancholy is all there is to their songs, and that maybe the artist can't write about being happy and in love, only about being in pain. "Who are my real friends? / Have the all got the bends?" The author is asking himself, who are the people who like the real him and who are the people that just like him for being a celebrity. The people that are his real friends, are the people who understand what he's going through, who also have "the bends." In other words, his real friends are the other guys in the band. "My baby's got the bends / We don't have any real friends" Refers back to the previous line, about people wanting to be his friends because he's famous. "I'm just lying in a bar... I wish that something would happen" refers back to the first line, that once you've 'done it all,' traveled the world, performed to massive crowds, etc., going back home and trying to be a regular person again, hanging out at bars, doesn't really have the same feel. "I want to live / breath / I want to be part of the human race." This line is talking about how being a celebrity is totally different than being a normal person. Being a celebrity means being this 24 hour public relations machine that has to be nice to everyone they meet and never do anything wrong, in case someone's watching them (celebrities are role models after all)" | |
|
No Picture
Mehran Average |
#8 by Mehran Farooque at Jun 25, 2001 at 8:40 AM EST |
| Alright, first thing's first, I'm not going to say "THIS SONG IS AWESOME" cus obviously thats what I think. After all, im posting. I hate looking on this site to find a song that has 28 posts that say "THIS SONG KICKS ASS" and never explain the song. There's my two cents on that. So here's the tax: This song, unlike many other Radiohead songs, is fairly easy to interpret. Also, like their other songs, there are several ways to interpret the song. This song can be about... 1) The World and other nation's Governments. Thom is speaking from a common-person's POV. This person believes that all nations have "the bends" and they don't help him when he needs it the most (welfare, healthcare, immagration, etc.) "My Baby" refers to England, and how it is being sorta mistreated by other nations, and its own govt. mistreats itself. "Where are all my friends, have they all go the bends?" refers to other nations and how they abandon each other, and thus giving themselves the bends, or suffering. "my girlfriend is waiting for something to happen" -> England is waiting for someone to save her. In Fact, the person Thom speaks for might not just refer to England. He could be speaking out of the words of ANY oppressed country, one certainly more oppressed than england. For instance Tibet or Haiti. 2) He could be refering to someone as an individual in a less geographical and political sense, but in terms of friendship. He feels he cannot tell who his real freinds are because they all hurt each other and betray each other. It brings down not only him, but his relationship. "Brought in the CIA..." could mean that his friend start rumours and tell secrets and talk behind his back. ... "And that's all I have to say about that." | |
|
No Picture
Bobby Rhythm Player |
#9 by Bobby McCorkle at Apr 18, 2002 at 4:13 PM EST |
| The beginning of the third verse should read: "Where do we go from here? The planet is a gunboat in a sea of fear And where are you?" instead of "the words are coming out all weird" again, as in the sleeve notes. Also, the noise at the beginning of the song is a recording of a marching band that was playing outside the bands hotel in New York. (Thanks to FollowMeAround.com for the useless facts!) | |
Top 7 Radiohead Bass Tabs
Popular Bass Tabs