#----------------------------------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. #
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Date: 20 Oct 97 00:23:00 -0700
From: OLIVER_ULES@tandem.com
To: guitar@olga.net
Subject: TAB: Lilac Wine by Jeff Buckley
Lilac Wine
(written by J. Shelton)
LILAC WINE -- Chord Chart and Tab
[Originally posted by Michael Harris, May 20 1996]
** "LILAC WINE" CHORD CHART **
This is my user-friendly chord map to "LW". It is not too far from John
Pollock's earlier tab of this, but there are some variations,
particularly
the diminished chord and the D7 instead of D.
Gm
I lost myself on a cool damp night
Eb
Gave myself in that misty light
D7 Cm
Was hypnotized by a strange delight
D7 Gm
Under a lilac tree
Gm
I made wine from the lilac tree
Eb
Put my heart in its recipe
Cm(*)
It makes me see what I want to see...
D7 Gm
And be what I want to be
Gdim C
When I think more than I want to think
Cm Gm
Do things I never should do
Gdim C
I drink much more than I ought to drink
Cm G D7
Because I brings me back you...
G G7
G G7 C D7 G G7
Lilac wine is sweet and heady, like my love
C Dm G C Dm G C
Lilac wine, I feel unsteady, like my love
Eb D7
Listen to me... I cannot see clearly
D7 Am7 D7
Isn't that she coming to me nearly here?
And repeat as necessary.
The final progression is just:
G G7 C D7 G G7
Lilac Wine, I feel unready for my love
C Cm D7 G
I feel unready for my love...
Notes:
>The C minor chord marked with the * is actually a bit more involved
(complicated?) if you look at the tab, as it has an A in the bass. This
actually makes it, I think, an "A minor 7 diminished 5", but don't quote
me!!
>Diagrams for the G diminished chord and the Am7dim5 are below:
alternatively see the tab.
>To get the "muted jazzy feel" John Pollock referred to in his post,
without being confined to barre chords (which are difficult and also are
not what I have tabbed out below for the most part), I suggest using the
thumb and fingers of the right (picking) hand rather than a plectrum, to
"stroke" the strings.
Chords
E |---|---|-4-|---| |---|---|---|---|
B |---|-2-|---|---| |---|-1-|---|---|
G |---|---|-3-|---| |---|---|-4-|---|
D |---|-1-|---|---| |---|---|-3-|---|
A |---|---|---|---| |(1)|---|---|---|
E |---|---|---|---| |---|---|-2-|---|
2 3 4 5 3 4 5 6
G diminished Am7dim5 I think
[to make this a Cminor, just play the
(1)
on
the 5th string rather than the 2 on the
6th, OK]
** "LILAC WINE" COMPLETE TAB **
This is actually fairly easy and quite fun to play. As best I can
figure
it, this is what I think is actually played on the "Grace" album. At
least, it's pretty darn close...
Standard tuning!! (What a shock!) I'm just going to tab out the
individual chords, not the rhythm or anything. Y'all can figure that
out
yourselves. (If you are training your ear, a good exercise is to figure
out which chord below goes where in the song.)
*Introduction
E--3----------------------------------------|
B--3---4---3---4---3---3---4---4---3---3----|
G--3---0---5---5---5---3---0---5---5---3----|
D--5---5---4---5---4---5---5---5---4---5----|
A--5---6---5---3---5---5---6---X---5---5----|
E------------------------------5------------|
E---4---------------4--------------------|
B---3---5---4---3---3---5---4------------|
G---4---5---5---3---4---5---5------------|
D---3---5---5---5---3---5---5---5---4----|
A-------3---3---5-------3---3---5---5----|
E----------------------------------------|
*"Lilac wine..." bit
E---3---3---0---2---3---3---0---1---3---0----|
B---0---0---1---1---0---0---1---3---0---1----|
G---0---0---0---2---0---0---0---2---0---0----|
D---0---0---2---0---0---0---2---0---0---2----|
A---2---2---3-------2---2---3-------2---3----|
E---3---1---X---X---3---1---X-------3--------|
E---1---3---0-----------------------|
B---3---0---1---8---3---5---3-------|
G---2---0---0---8---5---5---5-------|
D---0---0---2---8---4---5---4-------|
A-------2---3---6---5---7---5-------|
E-------3---------------------------|
Now, I'll leave the final progression up to you since it's just a
variation on the above, and the chord chart I provided gives the
essential
information.
The one variation through the song that might be worth noting is that on
the second run through, when we get to "sweet and heady", halfway
through
the D7 bit, Jeff adds a suspension which should be pretty apparent when
you hear it (I'm providing the "rhythm" in the tab below):
E-----2--2--3--3---|
B-----1--1--1--1---|
G-----2--2--2--2---|
D-----0--0--0--0---|
A------------------|
E------------------|
Happy playing.
mh
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 1995 13:55:09 +0100
From: John IB Pollock, stu111@central.napier.ac.uk
Subject: Lilac wine Corrected
Okay I finally got round to doing Lilac Wine : "The reason men drink"
Jeff
in concert, August 1994
Try and play it with barre chords to give that muted jazzy feel
particularly the G G7 bit. As it is fairly jazzy I may have simplifed
the harmonies a bit, but try it and see. As normal I make no claims as
to accuracy.
Lilac Wine [Cover]
Gm
I lost myself on a cool damp night
Eb
Gave myself in that misty light
Cm
Was hypnotized by a strange delight
D
Under a lilac tree
Gm
I made wine from the lilac tree
Eb
Put my heart in its recipe
Cm
It makes me see what I want to see...
D
And be what I want to be
F#m C
When I think more than I want to think
Cm Gm
Do things I never should do
F#m C
I drink much more that I ought to drink
Cm D
Because I brings me back you...
G G7
G G7 C D G G7
Lilac wine is sweet and heady, like my love
C F G C F G C
Lilac wine, I feel unsteady, like my love
Eb
Listen to me... I cannot see clearly
D Am D
Isn't that she coming to me nearly here?
And reapeat patterns.
and the last bit (the coda? My musical education is sadly lacking)
G G7 C D G G7
Lilac Wine, I feel unready for my love
C Eb D G
I feel unready for my love...
LYRICS
I lost myself on a cool damp night
Gave myself in that misty light
Was hypnotized by a strange delight
Under a lilac tree
I made wine from the lilac tree
Put my heart in its recipe
It makes me see what I want to see...
And be what I want to be
When I think more than I want to think
Do things I never should do
I drink much more that I ought to drink
Because It brings me back you...
Lilac wine is sweet and heady, like my love
Lilac wine, I feel unsteady, like my love
Listen to me... I cannot see clearly
Isn't that she coming to me nearly here?
Lilac wine is sweet and heady where's my love?
Lilac wine, I feel unsteady, where's my love?
Listen to me, why is everything so hazy?
Isn't that she, or am I just going crazy, dear?
Lilac Wine, I feel unready for my love...
|
No Picture
Steven Wanna Be |
#1 by Steven Elmslie at Sep 27, 2007 at 1:46 PM EST |
| Didn't Nina Simone sing this? It's about a woman (man in Jeff's case) who has just parted with a lover. Drinking lilac wine brings back memories of their love, but the visions are fleeting and she must go back to being alone. It's probably the saddest song I've ever heard. | |
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No Picture
Fresh Average |
#2 by Fresh at Sep 27, 2007 at 7:17 PM EST |
| According to wikipedia: "Lilac Wine" is a song written by James Shelton. It was covered by Nina Simone on her album Wild Is The Wind (1966), was a solo hit by Elkie Brooks (1977) and appeared in her album Pearls (1981) and later by Jeff Buckley on his début album Grace (1994). More recently, the song was covered by Katie Melua on her debut album Call Off the Search (2003). Buckley considered Simone's to be the definitive interpretation of the song, stating, "I've only heard Nina Simone's...And that's the only one that matters. There's one by Eartha Kitt. There's one by Elkie Brooks, which I've never, ever heard. There's another one. They've done it, but Nina does it best. That's the end all of it. That's the be all end all version. She's the king." No need reading false facts in these comments | |
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No Picture
Dylan Lead Player |
#3 by Dylan |
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No Picture
BOOKER Average |
#4 by BOOKER at Sep 28, 2007 at 8:43 AM EST |
| To re8ecca: Lilac leaves are not poisonous on the contrary they are used to purify the blood in cases of blood poisoining along with lilly of the valley. Can people PLEASE check their facts before posting! Your already on the NET what is few more clicks to research?! | |
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No Picture
anthony Wanna Be |
#5 by anthony barter at Sep 28, 2007 at 4:50 PM EST |
| This song is king when played while walking on a warm summer night. It becomes one of those moments where the song is something that should just happen like when your skin gets a little slick from walking out of a cold house and into the warm night. 1 | |
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No Picture
Sam Wanna Be |
#6 by Sam Kearley at Sep 29, 2007 at 8:28 AM EST |
| Elkie Brooks did this dunno whether it was the original, But Jeff's Version is sooooo good.....What a waste of talent | |
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No Picture
nate Average |
#7 by nate eastman at Sep 30, 2007 at 2:00 PM EST |
| A very moving song. Beautiful in the most affective sense. Indeed, I like to listen to it and especially focus on the "where's my love" part becuase of what I feel like right now. | |
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No Picture
This is between Wanna Be |
#8 by This is between me and this blade, and my heart Taylor at Oct 1, 2007 at 12:41 AM EST |
| it wasn't written by jeff buckley, it's a cover but i don't remember who actually wrote it. very good cover though !! Jeff is just THE artist ! | |
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No Picture
Alex Wanna Be |
#9 by Alex Williams at Oct 1, 2007 at 2:28 PM EST |
| :') | |
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No Picture
cinn Professional Badass |
#10 by cinn mcrickson at Oct 3, 2007 at 12:56 AM EST |
| This song is so atmospheric - I don't know what it's about, but I love it! :) | |
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No Picture
Callum Wanna Be |
#11 by Callum Parker at Oct 3, 2007 at 2:32 AM EST |
| a song that won't ever force you to sympathize... coz it naturally does | |
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No Picture
Justin Average |
#12 by Justin Ruiz at Oct 3, 2007 at 4:21 AM EST |
| Nina Simone did sing the original. but this song is so beautiful and sad and it reminds me of what i went thorugh not so long ago maybe i'm still at the same stage but the lines "When I think more than I want to think Do things I never should do I drink much more that I ought to drink Because it brings me back you" mean a lot to me because it reminds me of me and how i acted in a situation in my life | |
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No Picture
kenzie Wanna Be |
#13 by kenzie at Oct 3, 2007 at 10:35 AM EST |
| ohhh i know who wrote it...cant remember....read the book dream brother..its great..tells all about him and his dad..and all of their songs | |
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No Picture
MacThistle Wanna Be |
#14 by MacThistle at Oct 5, 2007 at 6:22 AM EST |
| This certainly is atmospheric, as user Lilac Wine said. You can truly FEEL this song, see it, everything. Though Jeff didn't write it, it's safe to say that he is the one responsible for painting this strangely vivid picture for the listener. But also a bit of a foggy one. I don't really know...I can't explain it...his music just makes me weird. In a good way. I remember reading a quote from Jeff Buckley that was something like: words suggest an experience, but the voice IS that experience. This is a perfect example. Awesome cover. | |
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No Picture
Nick Average |
#15 by Nick Serpant at Oct 6, 2007 at 1:22 AM EST |
| i think he is trying to make a link to his alcholism when he sang this, he is just after being dumped and so he drinks and the drink causes him to question the whole thing of love | |
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No Picture
jichael Average |
#16 by jichael at Oct 6, 2007 at 2:08 AM EST |
| I love this song. I think it's about suicide. Lilac leaves are poisonous, and he makes a wine of it and drinks it to die and join his lover, who has already died. (Think Romeo and Juliet). But then those last lines.."I feel unready for my love". ..haunting and so moving. | |
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No Picture
Dylan Average |
#17 by Dylan at Oct 6, 2007 at 4:26 AM EST |
| it was written by James Shelton Ertha Kitt and Nina Simone did versions. | |
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No Picture
God of da Bass Wanna Be |
#18 by God of da Bass at Oct 6, 2007 at 11:22 PM EST |
| The song was originally composed by James A. Shelton, and from what I can gather (although I may be wrong) was originally performed by Eartha Kitt, however the Nina Simone version of this song is far and away the greatest. Buckley, like with all of his covers, does a passable but underwhelming job. In Buckley's own words: "I've only heard Nina Simone's...And that's the only one that matters. There's one by Eartha Kitt. There's one by Elkie Brooks, which I've never, ever heard. There's another one. They've done it, but Nina does it best. That's the end all of it. That's the be all end all version. She's the king." He's not just being modest. If you haven't heard the Nina Simone version, I suggest you have a listen as it's incredibly moving. I find Buckley's version to be listlessly void of substance. Simone's rendition is far more rich and down to earth. | |