American Music Bass Tab

Why Do Birds Sing? Tabs:

American Music »

#-----------------------------------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.       #
#----------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

Violent Femmes - AMERICAN MUSIC

G------------------------------------------------------
D--2-------------0~22,22--333-2-0~2------
A------3~333--------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------

G-----------------------------------------------------
D-------------2-0-2---------------------------------
A--3~333---------3------------------------------
E-------------------------4-3------------------------

there it is. I know it's not all of it but I can't seem to get the rest.
If you can do the rest I'd love to see it!

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

Source: http://www.bassmasta.net/v/violent_femmes/132808.html

Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques


No Picture nick? Average	#1 by nick? at Apr 16, 1972 at 10:07 PM EST
	My favorite Violent Femmes song.

No Picture Nick Wanna Be	#2 by Nick Maertens at Sep 18, 1972 at 2:05 PM EST
	my favorite violent femmes song. it costs too much to see them.

No Picture Nate Average	#3 by Nate Shipley at Jun 17, 1973 at 8:55 AM EST
	I love this song. I don't know what he means with "ugly moon" and "ugly lake" reminding him of you and me, respectively, but I love it. Simply great.

No Picture Tyrone Wanna Be	#4 by Tyrone Pinson at Jan 5, 1974 at 6:05 PM EST
	Fun and amusing. hehe. :)

No Picture Kc Wanna Be	#5 by Kc at Oct 24, 1974 at 5:27 AM EST
	acoustic SHOWs even My Username is getting to my head.

No Picture Kevin Wanna Be	#6 by Kevin White at Dec 2, 1974 at 4:22 AM EST
	this song is about german industry

No Picture Caitlin Rhythm Player	#7 by Caitlin Carlisle at Mar 23, 1975 at 10:44 PM EST
	Ha, I love this song.

No Picture Kyle Average	#8 by Kyle Bowlby at Aug 27, 1981 at 3:17 PM EST
	ah shit i meant ignore the lyrics, not ignore the music. maybe shoudnt post on here when im stoned

No Picture + Dissolve + Rhythm Player	#9 by + Dissolve + at Apr 14, 1984 at 3:02 PM EST
	overanalyse much? sometimes you gotta take music at face value. maybe even ignore the music, and just listen to the sound. its about life being a shitty mess, but in the end its gonna work out ok.

No Picture Tom Average	#10 by Tom Haas at Dec 16, 1986 at 8:29 AM EST
	he sounds like he was on several drugs during the recording

No Picture richard Wanna Be	#11 by richard jones at Aug 4, 1993 at 3:25 PM EST
	Great song. I've never heard the Femme's play it-- but my boyfriend's Band does a good cover every now and then on acoustic shoes when they're having a good time. Haha... It's fun.

No Picture Matt Badass	#12 by Matt Germs at May 25, 1994 at 5:11 PM EST
	I love this song. (hence username) It makes me happy. And when i sing it it's really funny. To me, at least.

No Picture danielle Lead Player	#13 by danielle woodley at Oct 16, 1999 at 10:40 PM EST
	What is this about german industry? Please explain. The violent femmes are an intelligent group. I am guessing this song is about their struggle to find like-minded people in this system. The lyrics sound a little lost, as if this is a hopeless task. Music is organized sound. American music would be an organized presentation of American thought. America is supposedly founded upon freedom but freedom cannot be organized since it is subjective, so American music takes on dual meaning in this song. It means freedom and the façade of freedom the establishment is putting on. The 6th line is about wanting love, which is also lacking, and I believe this is related to the lack of freedom. Drugs alter consciousness, either as meds given in mental institutions (as which society is often represented) or as ways people alter their own ways of thinking to stand existing in the system. ‘I was born too soon’ refers to their wanting to see the societal changes they and others like them are making, which will not happen in their lifetime. Moons are often used to represent women because they are round and go through a monthly cycle, so perhaps she reminds him of his mother? Of female stereotypes? I am not sure I get this line. Prom is one of the most political affairs of high school that isn’t an organization. He asks, then almost takes it back as if it is ridiculous to ask someone to get involved politically with him. The violent femmes would probably crash prom. ‘they never heard American music’ they have never known freedom! ‘They’ are the establishment. Freedom is a concept that’s part of him and so he does not look to the system to tell him what it is. That is not free. She was born too soon, has been in system too long? He was born too late, too late to prevent the sins of America the fraud? We like all kinds of organized sound, perhaps organized by our mind this time, but we like freedom most. He says ‘best’, which literally means we are best at liking freedom. I wonder if he meant that. Lake is pooled up water, which is involved in everything living on earth, it ebbs and flows, small ocean… the sea is used in the bible to refer to all unrepentant sinners, and all people are sinners. Society reminds him of himself, because he is still a part of it, regardless of what he thinks of the system. ‘do you like American music/ it reminds me of myself’ he makes freedom a large part of himself but is not truly free. I love this band.

No Picture bean Badass	#14 by bean stalk at Jul 22, 2000 at 12:13 AM EST
	Hah, actually um I think this song's making fun of American music And it's great

No Picture Marcus Rhythm Player	#15 by Marcus Moore at Jul 2, 2001 at 1:32 AM EST
	well, they're from Milwaukee. there's an ugly lake nearby.