Radiohead › The Tourist Bass Tab

OK Computer Tabs:

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Send "The Tourist" Ringtone to your Cell Phone

Song: "The Tourist"
by RADIOHEAD
from the album: "OK Computer"
written by: Radiohead
tabbed by: Guido Comparato <comparato@fcmail.com>

 This is one of my favorites songs by radiohead
 
 Intro
G|---------------------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------------------|
A|------2------2-------------------------------|
E|--------------------2--------------4---------|

 Verse ("It barks at no else but me..."
G|-----------------------------------------------|
D|-----------------------------------------------|
A|------2----------------------------------------|
E|--------------------2------(/5)------4---------| repeat until

 Chorus ("Hey, man, slow down...")
G|--------------------------------------------------------|
D|------------2-2--------2-2--------2-2-------------------|
A|----2-----2-----2----2-----0----2-----------------------|
E|--------------------------------------2--3--4--5--------|

 Solo Guitar Part 
G|-----------------------------------------------|
D|-----------------------------------------------|
A|------2----------------------------------------|
E|--------------------2----------------5---------| 

 Outro
G|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------------------------------------ding!----|
A|--2-----2---2-----2---2-----2---2-----2---2-----2---2-----2------------|
E|------0---0-----0---0-----0---0-----0---0-----0---0-----0---0----------|

 Listen to the song for the rythm...
 corrections, comments or anything else to comparato@fcmail.com

 Bye bye...


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

Send "The Tourist" Ringtone to your Cell Phone

Source: http://www.bassmasta.net/r/radiohead/126054.html

Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques


No Picture Matt Average	#1 by Matt at Mar 6, 1972 at 8:06 PM EST
	This song is definately about thinking for yourself. i actually believe that this song is detailing the thoughts and life of a certain free-thinker. Perhaps from a transcendentalist perspective. He seems to be saying "hey man, slow down". This could be referring to the way people in society looked upon Henry David Therough and Ralph Emerson. Telling them to slow down and think clearer, when in fact, this was the opposite of what they believed in.

No Picture Tom Average	#2 by Tom Parton at Dec 16, 1973 at 4:15 PM EST
	I don't think Thom really likes the idea of tourists taking pictures of the locals with their photo cameras, repackaging it, and selling it back at their place too much. The "sparks" are the camera flashes.

No Picture Zim Average	#3 by Zim Zimson at Mar 26, 1974 at 7:11 AM EST
	with this song, I always get a reallly spacy feeling, like that I'm driving in the western planes of America, with nothing but space in all directions, and I just stop, step out of the car, and just savor the moment (Hey man, slow down) like that I"M enjoying where I am not where I'm going to, as not to waste the precious time we have on this planet

No Picture Tom Average	#4 by Tom Haas at Jul 10, 1975 at 12:14 AM EST
	i had an amaaaazing experience with this song. i didn't think that driving through a canopy of trees& over hot pavement on a lazy saturday evening, as the sun was slowly sinking below the horizon with sun rays bouncing off of everything, which produced this weird blanket of sunlight on the surface of the river& the ongoing green& so forth, could be so fucking magical, whilst listening to "the tourist" by radiohead which was turned up so loud i could feel the vibrations leak through the thick air& up into the pink& orange clouds until i thought maybe i could evaporate in that very moment. i'm telling you, it was amazing& absolutely perfect. i've never felt so at peace or so alive just driving along with a headful of absolutely nothing. for once, my head felt clear& my heart felt full. this is the part where i thank thom yorke for letting me see the purpose in my life.

No Picture Justin Wanna Be	#5 by Justin for-a-minute at Jan 21, 1980 at 2:10 PM EST
	I read it somewhere in an interview with Thom, that its actually about himself and how he was so driven by completing this album and perfecting it and stuff

No Picture Kyle Rhythm Player	#6 by Kyle Robinson at May 26, 1982 at 2:39 AM EST
	Ahh this song is truely a mastermind It really tends to freak me out sometimes. When I am driving and listening to it, it makes me terribly paranoid. I get the feeling that the song is giving me some sort of a 6th sense signal to "slow down" because something terrible is going to happen or because I am missing out on things... going through life too fast. It's funny... I don't know why, but immediately when Thom sings those words, it's like a command; I instantly step on my brakes and get real freaked out. Ganja es muy malo... eek

No Picture scott Rhythm Player	#7 by scott o'brien at Jul 12, 1982 at 2:35 AM EST
	I don't know where to begin. This song has inspired a big transition in my life, and I don't even know what it is. Beyond comprehension. Radiohead.

No Picture troy Average	#8 by troy worden at Mar 27, 1983 at 3:13 PM EST
	watch "Meeting People Is Easy" it's all about this album and what the band went through in the year of touring afterwards. Great movie. In it Thom mentions exactly what D krez says. They were in Rome I believe I forget exactly. Johnny I think noticed how all the tourists would pay to go on these rides to see sites, but the drivers would just fly everything.

No Picture Diexis Lead Player	#9 by Diexis at Dec 21, 1983 at 12:59 AM EST
	Oh WOW! I thought I was the only crazy one that felt this album was a loop. I would listen to this song in my car and immediately had to listen to airbag, people would get mad at me for doing that. Anyway, after reading Lumpy Custard's comment I TOTALLY see a different interpretation and one that seems so obvious now... It Barks at no one else but me like its seen a ghost... the semi truck (you know this from Airbag) is honking (barking) at the car coming at it. The car can't stop in time (because it's going so fast) so the sparks are the tires on the pavement screeching to a grinding halt. Slow down, slow down is the realization that you're going to be in an accident... That's why I always have to listen to Airbag next. Just one more time to "find out" he made it.

No Picture alex Wanna Be	#10 by alex foster at Jan 15, 1984 at 8:52 AM EST
	I mean, it's really blooming hard being the mastermind behind the group.

No Picture I am who am Rhythm Player	#11 by I am who am "SAF" at Jun 27, 1985 at 10:33 AM EST
	It's hot as a mug in England right now. Sometimes, I take iced lollies with me to the loo. It helps me think up new lyrics. Then Jonny would be banging on the door, yelling for me to get out. I'd tell the gorm to belt up, but it's like he's bladdered. It's always "Thom sing this", "Thom play this" or "Thom always writes the songs". I'm telling you, it's not like I want to do all the work.

No Picture * kiss me now * Wanna Be	#12 by * kiss me now * kill me later * at Oct 30, 1987 at 12:26 PM EST
	when im incredibly stressed or in a hurry this song is at its most meaningful for me. it just reminds me that there's more to life that woteva im stressing bout. slow down man

No Picture group calling f Average	#13 by group calling for change or end of the masta at Nov 1, 1988 at 1:41 PM EST
	if i'm not mistaken, this is about being in france or somewhere. where it is doesn't really matter i don't think. wherever it was, it was beautiful, and the american tourist were running around trying to get to as many places as they could, but no one was just stopping and looking at the true beauty of the place. that's were the inspiration of the song came from i believe. after that, daisy13 has it all figured out well.

No Picture chris Average	#14 by chris nagel at Aug 10, 1994 at 3:13 PM EST
	This is actually the first song on the album! bear with me here... Johnny was obsessed with the idead of continuity when they were recording ok computer, so this album is a loop. at the end of tourist we hear the the triangle(or whatever it is) and we presume his car has crashed, but the "airbag" saves his life and he continues his life through the album until he gets to tourist again! Did that make sense??

No Picture Sasquatch Average	#15 by Sasquatch Bob at Nov 18, 1994 at 3:38 AM EST
	I interpret this song as needing to enjoy life. When a tourist visits a place he usually feel like he has to do a lot to take in the sights. He is moving at a fast-pace. He is also uptight cause he doesnt know the place he's at, so the sparks are him being irritated a lot. This also applies to people always on the go as well. I often think this song is 2nd to last and Airbag is really the last song on OK Computer (listen to the Airbag lyric. So I listen through the cd all the way and then listen to Airbag last. To me, it is like a rebirth, an awareness of life and doing things right this time cause you had a realization, however that came to be.

No Picture Zach Average	#16 by Zach King at Jun 12, 1995 at 6:56 PM EST
	What a fantastic song by radiohead. This has to be my favorite song out of the album.. truly is amazing. I get this feeling when i listen to it, can't be explained.

No Picture Lily Wanna Be	#17 by Lily at Nov 7, 1996 at 5:42 AM EST
	I found Tourist one of OK Computer's more difficult tracks to understand, but in the end I disagree with most of you (as much as you can disagree about interpretations). I reckon it's kind of a follow-up to No Surprises where he'd decided to go for a fake life, and now here the cracks (or "sparks", as he calls them) are beginning to show. He panics ("overcharged") and begins to run madly away from where he was an in an unknown direction. I like the idea that he ends up brushing death, and we return to the beginning with "airbag". The danger of his wild and unplanned change of direction is expressed by the chorus, where he's told to slow down - to basically lie down before he hurts himself.

No Picture leith Wanna Be	#18 by leith petrie at Jan 11, 1998 at 5:54 AM EST
	ok ok the song's meaning is probably true (look at a town like paris) but my interpretation is linked to a few others here. The man is ill, possibly having seizures, weird mind experiences etc. He loses reality and in that time 'it barks at no-one else but me' - the dog can sense that something is wrong with him. He has 'seen' the sparks flowing, like being linked up to electricity. The seizures end up killing the man due to him becoming overcharged, his mind is in turmoil and nothing can cure him, not even therapy 'they ask me...'. The speed of his mind is out of control and only then can he appreciate life for what it is, and it kills him because he cant put his thoughts into words. All his advice being 'hey man, slow down' as if to say 'take a step back, look at how beautiful life is'. The triangle shows the simplistic, natural end to his life, with all of his questions answered. The notion of the loop in the album can come into play. The man (in Airbag) is born again and lives to tell the tale (the content of OK computer)

No Picture Ben Average	#19 by Ben Asay at Feb 16, 2001 at 2:27 PM EST
	thom didn't write this song. Jonny did.

No Picture Andrew Average	#20 by Andrew Shevchenko at Mar 21, 2006 at 3:24 PM EST
	In Fahrenheit 451, I'm pretty sure Montag says something like "it barks at no one else but me," maybe that exactly. He's talking about the big scary mechanical hound: the one that's a metaphor for technology. It has almost immesurable potential for bettering the world, but it seems like it is mostly used for killing people. Montag is one of the few enlightened people in his world who understands this about technology, and whenever he's around it, it barks at him. These themes are present throughout OK Computer. Draw your own conclusions...