Tool › Swamp Song Bass Tab

Undertow Tabs:

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Send "Swamp Song" Ringtone to your Cell Phone

verse
G----------------------------------|
D----------------------------------|
A-----------5--------3--------3h5--|
D--0---3h0-----3--0-----5--0-------|

last time going into chorus
G----------------------5--------5--7------------------------------------|
D----0--3-----5--3--0-----5--0-----------0--3-----5--3-----0--3---------|
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
D-0--------0--------------------------0--------0--------0--------0--7--|

Chorus
G---------------------------------------|
D---------------------------------------|
A----3----------------3-----------------|
D-0----5--0--3--5--0----5--0--3-0--3-5--|

Post-Chorus
G------------------|
D------------------|
A------------------|
D-5-3-3-5---3---0--|

Verse
Chorus
Post-Chorus
Verse
Chorus

Pre-bridge (2:30)
G----------------------------------------|
D----------------------------------------|
A----------------------------------------|
D-5-3-3-5---5-3-3-5---5-3-3-5---3---3-5--|

G----------------------------------|
D----------------------------------|
A----------------------------------|
D-5-3-3-5---5-3-3-5---5-3-3-5---3--|

Bridge (2:38)
G-----------------------------------------------------|
D-----------------------------------------------------|
A-------5-------------3-------------------------------|
D-0--0-------0--0--0-------0---0-0-0-2---2--2-3-5--0--|

(2:45)
G-------------------------------------|    played slightly palm muted
D-------------------------------------|    in the MIDDLE of the 12th fret 
A-------------|    harmonics.
D-------------------------------------|

(3:00)
G---------------------|    all notes palm muted
D-----7---------5-----|
A--0------5--7-----7--|
D---------------------|

G--------------------------------------|
D--------------------------------------|
A--------------------------------------|
D--0--------0--------0--------0--------|


(3:17)
   
G------------------|    harmonics
D---------------------------|    
A---------------------------------|    
D---------------------------------|

G--------------------------------------|
D--------------------------------------|
A--------------------------------------|
D--0--------0--------0--------0--------|

(3:27)
G---------------------|    no palm mute
D---------------5-----|
A--0------5--7-----7--|
D---------------------|

G--------------------------------------|
D--------------------------------------|
A--------------------------------------|
D--0--------0--------0--------0--------|

(3:49)
G-----------------------------------------|
D-----------------------------------------|
A-----------------------------------------|
D-0--x--0--x--0-0-0-0--0--x--0--x--0-0-0--|

(4:09)
G-------------------|
D-------------------|
A-------------------|
D--5---8---10---12--|


(4:15)
G---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
D---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
A----5--8-----5--8-----5--8-----3---3-----5--8-----5--8-----5--8-----3---3--|
D-0--------0--------0--------0---------0--------0--------0--------0---------|

G---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
D---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
A----5--8-----5--8-----5--8-----3---3-----5--8-----5--8-----5--8------------|
D-0--------0--------0--------0---------0--------0--------0--------0--5------|

Verse (4:30)
Chorus

Ending (5:04)
G----------------------------------------|
D----------------------------------------|
A----------------------------------------|
D-5-3-3-5---5-3-3-5---5-3-3-5---3---3-5--|

G-------------------------------------------|
D-------------------------------------------|
A-------------------------------------------|
D-5-3-3-5---5-3-3-5---5-3-3-5-------3-------|

Taken from The BassMasta -- http://www.bassmasta.net

Send "Swamp Song" Ringtone to your Cell Phone

Source: http://www.bassmasta.net/t/tool/132597.html

Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques


No Picture Jon Badass	#1 by Jon Coath at Sep 25, 1973 at 4:03 PM EST
	oh word, as do I. His music is great.

No Picture John Average	#2 by John at Sep 15, 1974 at 2:43 AM EST
	I like rztheraza's comments too, buyt i always felt that it was about Maynard's MIND rather than just his lyrics. The thing about Tool songs is that a lot of them don't have nearly enough specifics to limit you to just one meaning. Just look at this one. The whole thing's pretty vague, just the basic idea is clear, and so even though the lyrics are reasonably simple, they can still be taken in loads of ways that all makes sense, so everyone can find their own meaning, hear Maynard singing THEIR thoughts as well as their own.

No Picture Joseph Average	#3 by Joseph Ross at Apr 4, 1976 at 9:41 PM EST
	hmm rzatheraza, I can see your point. It is an interesting one. The lyrics in this song are not linear by any means - one could come up with all sorts of metaphoric philosophies for it. An obvious one could be drugs or alcohol, for example.

No Picture owain Wanna Be	#4 by owain pole at Jan 19, 1977 at 8:29 PM EST
	I think it's a love song

No Picture Gordy Average	#5 by Gordy Myrick at Aug 10, 1978 at 3:59 AM EST
	has anyone ever seen an interview with maynard?????? all he wants is for you to interpret the music yourself....it means whatever you get out of it. except hooker with a penis, that one is for that asshole who didnt realize "i think your a sellout, and you suck for doing it....but great album."

No Picture Matt Average	#6 by Matt Wirta at May 23, 1980 at 12:38 PM EST
	I think this song is about going into the unknown. taking that next step, even though others say you shouldn't. even though it might be dangerous and scary you should defy everyone and do what you want to.

No Picture Zeke Average	#7 by Zeke at Mar 29, 1987 at 2:48 AM EST
	Oh, and dnako, 'bog' is also british slang for 'toilet'. So make of that what you will.....

No Picture Tom Average	#8 by Tom at Apr 30, 1988 at 1:29 PM EST
	tool is fucking great, this is my favorite song of theirs, i seen them last night and the night before and it was the most intense experience i have ever been apart of.

No Picture ty Wanna Be	#9 by ty benson at Feb 12, 1991 at 1:08 PM EST
	twisted has it pretty right. It's sum1 telling the other "i warned u u dumbass, now you're gonna get fucked because u didn't listen to me." It's that simple.

No Picture bigl Wanna Be	#10 by bigl shattuck at May 29, 1991 at 11:55 PM EST
	I may be wrong who knows, but I think the keywords in this song are "get out while you can". He's just saying get out of this trap Tool has got you in or he is gonna show you just how deep it can really get and at the same time getting you hipnotized with this message. I think it's brilliant.

No Picture mark Average	#11 by mark stump at Dec 28, 1995 at 3:51 PM EST
	What Turd said is close to what I think its about. But I think the message is more directed to fans of Tool's music, and no so much the media. Last Sunday I stumbled into Tool's show in Hamilton, to find Maynard had his back turned for the show, he wouldn't face the crowd while singing. So at first I thought that Maynard was being rude and disrespectful to his fans, but the truth is that Tool doesn't need/want my respect. Why do I feel I should be respected by Tool? They don't know who I am. Besides, no one even invited me in.

No Picture TK Average	#12 by TK at Jun 24, 2001 at 3:10 PM EST
	Taking Into consideration what everyone has posted so far, I think that there is a pretty simple and logical explination to "Swap Song". It is my personal beleif, that this is about organized religion or more specifically CHristianity. Though I suppose the details as far as which religion dont really make a difference. Maynard has warned them, that it is nothing more than a shceme, and that it will suck them down, but whoever this song is about didn't listen and is now suffering the reppricussions. Farily Simple I suppose. Though this song could also pertain to society as a whole and how people choose not to listen to others (such as Maynard), because he may be cantankerous. This in mind, that person follows the rest of society (by not thinking for themselves) and gets lured into a trap. Hence, Maynard is saying "Why didn't u listen to me, dumbass"? Though the beauty of Tool, is that the band members never come out and say what the songs are really about. (Except for a few cases, though they were not definate). Tool leaves the interpratation up to you, the fan to decide what the meaning is. Like Maynard said: " My goal is to have evryone who listens to our music to get something out of it". The specifics don't really matter, this is simply my interpratation.