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Rotton Apple Bass Tab

Rotten Apple Tab

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#----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE---------------------------------#
#This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the #
#song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research. #
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------#
#
From j.p.juneau@arcadis.be Sun May  4 09:44:06 1997
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 1997 21:48:09 +0100
From: "J.P.Juneau"
To: guitar@olga.net
Subject: tab/alice in chains/rotten apple
[The following text is in the "ISO-8859-1" character set]
[Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set]
[Some characters may be displayed incorrectly]
ROTTEN APPLE
ALICE IN CHAINS
I'm sending this because i've noticed that your tab for this
song wasn't very complete... This tab isn't going to be
complete either but at least you'll have most of it...
so here it goes.
standard tuning
Intro:
Bass intro:   arranged for guitar.
e:-------------------------------------------------------
B:-------------------------------------------------------
G:-------------------------------------------------------
D:--------4-0---2--------------4-0---2----4p0-------0h2--
A:--0h2-2-----0-0--------0h2-2-----0-0--------0-2h4------
E:-------------------------------------------------------
Play this several times.
After a while, the rhythm guitar will come in and play this:
e:-----------0-----------
B:---------0-------------
G:------16---------16----
D:---14---------14----0--
A:-----------------------
E:-----------------------
And then comes the verse:
Em7       D
e:---------3------------------3--------3p2---0h2------
B:---------3---3--------------3---3--------3-----3----
G:-------------2------------------2----------------2--
D:-------2-----0------------2-----0-------------------
A:-----2------------------2---------------------------
E:---0------------------0-----------------------------
Just play it over and over...
chorus:
D       Em7               G/C             Em7
yyyeeeeaaaaaaaaaaah, what i see is unreal
G/C            Em7
i've written my own part
G/C                  Em7
Eat oy the apple so young
G/C                   ( go back to the intro riff)
I'm crawling back to start.
That's about it, i don't have clue on how to play the lead
guitar.
If anyone knows how to play it, it would be very nice if they
could post it.
Chords:
Em7: 022033
D: XX0232
G/C: 032033
LYRICS:
Hey ah na na
innocence is over
hey ah na na
over
Hey ah na na
ignorence is spoken
hey ah na na
spoken
Hey ah na na
confidence is broken
hey ah na na
broken
Hey ah na na
sustenance is stollen
hey ah na na
stolen
hey ah na na
arrogance is potent
hey ah na na
potent
Yeah.... what i see is unreal
I've written my my own part
Eat of the apple, so young
I'm crawling back to start
Hey ah na na
A romance is fallen
hey ah na na
fallen
Hey ah na na
i repent tomorrow
hey ah na na
tomorrow
hey ah na na
I suspend my sorrow
hey ah na na
sorrow
(chorus)
Hey ah na na
A romance is fallen
hey ah na na
fallen
Hey ah na na
recommend you borrow
hey ah na na
borrow
(chorus)
There you have it.
Have fun,  drink Milk
J.P.

Rotten Apple Tab

Send "Rotten Apple" Ringtone to your Cell Phone

Source: http://www.guitarmasta.net/a/alice_in_chains/345356.html

Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques


No Picture Robo Badass	#1 by Robo the Hobo at Sep 26, 2007 at 10:09 AM EST
	This is the most beautiful song i have ever heard; it sends chills up my spine... sooo relaxing and emotional... it is off one of the most beautiful albums of all time too, anyone who doesn't have the jar of flies album needs to go get it, it is a masterpiece. Yea, the meaning seems to be sort of like "what is the world coming to?"...

No Picture Jordan Wanna Be	#2 by Jordan Thompson at Sep 26, 2007 at 2:30 PM EST
	Does anyone else think the main riff in this song sounds like "Times of Trouble" by Temple of the Dog? "Times of Trouble" came out a year or two before this song. It was just something I noticed while listening to this song. 1 2 Next

No Picture [Insert Name He Wanna Be	#3 by [Insert Name Here] at Sep 26, 2007 at 7:19 PM EST
	very nice, greg. that sums it all up. nothing more to say.

No Picture Andrew Rhythm Player	#4 by Andrew Viflanzoff at Sep 27, 2007 at 6:13 AM EST
	I feel this song relates alot to Layne's drug addiction. (For those who have had experiance in drug use maybe you know what im talking about) Layne Staley was a heroin addict. I feel this song discribes from the time he shot up and to the time hes sober. When the high is over... You crawl right back to where you started... Getting nowhere.

No Picture jake Wanna Be	#5 by jake fugate at Sep 27, 2007 at 1:41 PM EST
	Perfect opener for Jar of Flies. Sets the tone of the album beautifully. The intertwining guitars is exquisite.

No Picture Jordan Average	#6 by Jordan Rouse at Sep 27, 2007 at 7:44 PM EST
	Although I agree with that Adam & Eve theory, I found another meaning in it, at least for me. The line says "Eat of the apple, so young", and the name of the song is Rotten Apple, so I take it to also mean that early in life is when you're at your most corruptible.

No Picture Sir Slinky Lead Player	#7 by Sir Slinky at Sep 28, 2007 at 11:01 AM EST
	I first heard this song and 'Nutshell' on Jerry Cantrell's 40th Birthday! (March 18th 2006)

No Picture Fieldy Average	#8 by Fieldy at Sep 29, 2007 at 10:01 AM EST
	This song can't be about Demri, as she died in 1996, this song came out on Jar of Flies in 1993.

No Picture **A Grand Scene Average	#9 by A Grand Scene For a Color Film at Sep 30, 2007 at 11:55 AM EST
	The lyrics seem more to suggest the utter despair that Layne feels. To me, he is reflecting on how much he has lost over the years [Such as romance, as in when his fiancee died]. He knows at this point that he is lost to Heroin, and in some sense he can't belive that he let himself become so depraved. I think that PWC makes some valid points in his/her analysis. A lot of Layne's songs form a sort of anthology of his drug usage and changing self image throughout the years. I just recently got back into AIC (I haven't listened since MTV's unplugged came out!). This song and Rain When I Die are my all-time favorite AIC's. Layne's vocals are incredibly controlled but wild, and the harmonies are almost ethereal. Also, the guitar work on this track is phenomenal.

No Picture James Average	#10 by James Newsome at Sep 30, 2007 at 7:23 PM EST
	Ahh i love this song so much - so much emotion in it, makes me want to cry

No Picture dan Average	#11 by dan binley at Sep 30, 2007 at 9:47 PM EST
	I agree great song, one of my favorite Alice songs. Overall, I think drink the poison is most on target. I think grey fox is also right that the song represents a rise and major fall in someone's life. I hate to attribute everything to drugs, but I think this song's about the psychological and spiritual trauma that can result from drug use/addiction. The biblical imagery is legit, and provides a parallel to his personal situation. The narrator once felt complete and whole, not affected by the changes in consciousness that drugs can cause. Now through his addiction he has stepped outside of himself; the way he once viewed things was, to himself, real; but after being on drugs for so long his views have changed, and he can't quite find the way he used to see himself and everything about the world. He feels empty inside. His confidence isn't grounded in what he once thought was real about himself, now everything he views is thrown into question, unreal, and he has to resort to arrogance in place of confidence. In his confusion and uncertainty, he speaks ignorance instead of the self-determined truth he used to speak. It's like he no longer feels real and alive like he felt in his innocence, he views himself from the outside and sees his "part" as alerady written, he's stagnant. I think the rotten apple is not only a biblical symbol for giving into a dangerous temptation, but also a symbol for how layne feels about himself, gone rotten inside. More than anything he just wants to forget and move past everything that changed him and is trying to slowly crawl back to the start and become who he used to be, start again from there.

No Picture geoff Average	#12 by geoff at Oct 1, 2007 at 3:20 AM EST
	It's about how innocence is robbed or stolen from the young. Eating from the apple is giving into the temptation to do immoral things like drugs or anything else that we view as wrong. What I see is unreal is marveling at how morals have gone to hell the past few generations. For example,it used to be you were looked at as a sinner if you lost your virginity before marriage. Now you're almost laughed at if you don't.

No Picture josh Rhythm Player	#13 by josh groocock at Oct 2, 2007 at 12:43 PM EST
	this is one of the best AIC songs...its sooo relaxing for me..i listen to it all the time

No Picture Kaden Wanna Be	#14 by Kaden at Oct 2, 2007 at 3:14 PM EST
	I think it's describing a rise and fall in one person's life. We all do something that makes us "crawl back to start" (Like, "eating of the apples, so young"). Wonderful tune.

No Picture Elijah Rhythm Player	#15 by Elijah Grant at Oct 3, 2007 at 12:16 AM EST
	Power song. Puts shivers down my spine.

No Picture Devon Average	#16 by Devon Thauriaux at Oct 3, 2007 at 5:10 AM EST
	Nice to way to become acquainted with some if AIC's best songs, on the Jerry's (the Great) birthday. I've caught 2 of the 6 shows they've done this year. The Atlantic City show in tribute to Heart and the New York show at the Bowery (both shows were amazing by the way) and Mike Inez uses the beginning of the song to tune his guitar i guess. I start screaming everytime he does it. At the Bowery, I was right under him at the stage, and when he did it again, I scremed "Yea Mike!" and he smiled at me. It was kinda cool. I love this song so much. Def one of my faves. Everyone can relate to it and Staley and Cantrell were an amzaing duo, another McCartney and Lennon of our time. They were so in sync with each other. I can only hope that we come across another duo like that in our lifetime.

No Picture spencer Wanna Be	#17 by spencer mccarthy at Oct 3, 2007 at 11:16 AM EST
	the intro is one of the best....

No Picture Cicely aka Icic Badass	#18 by Cicely aka Icicles and CSkank Shankle (if u stalk me i will shoot you.) at Oct 3, 2007 at 11:17 AM EST
	I think it's describing a rise and fall in one person's life. We all do something that makes us "crawl back to start" (Like, "eating of the apples, so young"). Wonderful tune.

No Picture adam Rhythm Player	#19 by adam gold at Oct 3, 2007 at 4:15 PM EST
	Definitely one of the best songs ever. Pretty much resonable explanation. Better then saying Heroin all the time.

No Picture Kazza Average	#20 by Kazza at Oct 3, 2007 at 11:49 PM EST
	I think it's describing a rise and fall in one person's life. We all do something that makes us "crawl back to start" (Like, "eating of the apples, so young"). Wonderful tune.

No Picture Winterborn Average	#21 by Winterborn at Oct 4, 2007 at 12:10 AM EST
	This was really weird... I was hearing it on my iPod awhile back and as soon as he says "What I see is unreal" I was driving by a church and they had a big statue of Jesus hanging on it above the doors and I was looking right at it when he said those lines. Creepy.

No Picture Commander Cool Professional	#22 by Commander Cool at Oct 5, 2007 at 3:13 AM EST
	Couldn't have said it better myself.

No Picture James Average	#23 by James at Oct 5, 2007 at 2:51 PM EST
	this is my most favorite AIC song. i love the overlapping guitars, the echoes of the acoustics and the squeal of the electrics, all tied in by this vocal mantra. i think staley is writing first about original sin, but in a big picture sense, so that we are given a picture of the entire world composed of many smaller images of the world and how it is cold and ignorant and a mess. the apple is back to the bible - the people are corrupted at such young ages now, so that they can never get back to that place of innocence ever again, and staley wants it, but it's too late for him. freakin' apples.

No Picture bob Average	#24 by bob polein at Oct 5, 2007 at 10:19 PM EST
	Drinkthepoisons Got it all Down!

No Picture Corey Wanna Be	#25 by Corey at Oct 5, 2007 at 11:06 PM EST
	Hmmm.... I think this song is about innocence lost. (Which tends to be a recurring theme in Layne Staley's lyrics.) The apple is a biblical metaphor--when Adam & Eve bit into it they had to leave the Garden of Eden, thus losing their innocence. It could also be the "poison" apple of the Snow White fairy tale. Once the innocence is lost, bad things happen (Innocence is over/Ignorance is spoken/Confidence is broken/Sustenance is stolen/Arrogance is potent). The narrator is upset because he feels that he has lost his innocence "too young," that he has chosen a fate that he didn't want ("I've written my own part"). Resignation to fate is also a common Staley theme. He bit the rotten apple, thus losing his innocence and dooming himself. Metaphorically it's something that most people can relate to on some level, I think ... we all lose our innocence as we grow up. More literally, it's also a warning against heroin use--most listeners know that for Staley, the loss of innocence that doomed him was caused by that drug. On one level it's very personal and specific, on another it's a universal theme that many people in other circumstances can also relate to.