# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Print

Home E Elliott Smith Between The Bars Guitar Tab

This is a really great song, and it's not too hard either. Madeleine Peyroux does a
better than Smith's, but they are both awesome.
I can't seem to locate a non-software based accurate tab of this song, so I'm doing it myself.
It starts with an Am7. You can play it open on the neck or barred if you like. I prefer
bar it, just because I'm not too used to the open neck fingering. Hold it for as many
as you want, then go into the lyrics:
Am7 F
Drink up, baby, stay up all night.
C
With the things you could do,
E7
You won't but you might.
Am7
The potential you'll be,
F
That you'll never see,
C E7 F
The promises you'll only make.
Am7
Drink up with me now,
F
And forget all about
C
The pressure of days.
E7
Do what I say,
Am7
And I'll make you okay,
F
And drive them away
C E7 F
The images stuck in your head
F G *
People you've been before
F G Am Am/F#
That you don't want around anymore—
F G *
That push and shove and won't bend to your will.
F Fm
I’ll keep them still.
Am7 F
Drink up, baby, look at the stars.
C
I'll kiss you again
E7
Between the bars,
Am7
Where I'm seeing you there,
F
With your hands in the air,
C E7 F
Waiting to finally be caught.
Am7
Drink up one more time,
F
And I'll make you mine.
C
Keep you apart,
E7
Deep in my heart,
Am7
Separate from the rest,
F
Where I like you the best,
C E7 F
And keep the things you forgot.
G *
The people you've been before
F G Am Am/F#
That you don't want around anymore—
F G *
That push and shove and won't bend to your will.
F Fm
I'll keep them still.
Am7
* There's a riff here.. It's pretty simple, and all the notes recieve an even time. Just
to the record and you should be able to hear the rhythm.
e|--------------------------|
B|--------------------------|
G|--------------------------|
D|-----------------0---2----|
A|--0---0---2---3-----------|
E|--------------------------|
Note: for the Am/F#, I like to just reach across with my middle finger, which is on the
fret of the D string using my Am open fingering, and hit the second fret on the low E
The point of my finger holds down the string while the fleshy part mutes the A string. I
this sounds better and is a lot easier than using some weird fingering to get a proper
with all six strings ringing.
There you go. I hope this tab has been helpful. It's accurate to the best of my
but it's my first tab, so I probably made a few mistakes. If anything isn't clear, or
have a
or something, don't hestitate to email me.


Brought to you by the GuitarMasta
http://www.guitarmasta.net/e/elliott_smith/348784.html

Source: GuitarMasta.net
http://www.guitarmasta.net/e/elliott_smith/.html


Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
 
 
No Picture

Dan
Average
#1 by Dan Flores at Sep 28, 2007 at 1:34 AM EST
i think everyone's meaning (except the date rape one) have good standing and are all unique to each person. what i get from this song is talking about someone he loves not accepting themselves and not really loveing who they are. i get this meaning because i have a similar experiance with someone i love. its difficult to see that person hate themselves and never truely be happy. its rough but you have to go through life with these things, it makes you stronger. anyway, i love this song and its sad to see this great artist pass away the way he did. im gonna miss the music.
 

Redryder
Rhythm Player
#2 by Redryder at Sep 28, 2007 at 1:48 AM EST
ever hear of "kissing the bottle." the song is clearly about alcholism.
 
No Picture

Dr. Jack
Average
#3 by Dr. Jack at Sep 28, 2007 at 6:11 AM EST
all I know is that it makes me really sad when I listen to this song.
 

Lucas
Average
#4 by Lucas Lawrey at Sep 28, 2007 at 9:48 AM EST
its about the inner struggles of someone. parts accepted and some denied. Its about change and leaving your skin, like a snake, so to say. Thats what I think. Or rather, thats what it means to me. To be more tolerant of yourself. Love yourself. Everyone has parts of themselves they don't like. No one is perfect
 

~Ivy Loves Shav
Rhythm Player
#5 by ~Ivy Loves Shavo~ at Sep 28, 2007 at 2:08 PM EST
I think this song is about how alcohol is luring him in. The alcohol is telling him to keep drinking and it'll make him feel better. He goes from bar to bar every night to drink, thus "where I'm seeing you there". It also can be a metaphor for the trap of the routine of always drinking, like a cell. It's like a love/hate song about alcohol.
 
No Picture

luke
Wanna Be
#6 by luke chaffey at Sep 28, 2007 at 5:43 PM EST
"between the bars" means, or i think it means, that the person Elliot Smith is singin about is stuck between to things, and kind of feels trapped in this indecision they have jumped into. its a really good song, very poetic, and i like the lyrics, and how they flow together.
 

Mitch
Average
#7 by Mitch Macaulay at Sep 29, 2007 at 8:05 AM EST
"drink up, baby, look at the stars, i'll kiss you again " if theres no other person, you are trying to tell me his is gonna kiss himself?
 

JC
Average
#8 by JC Drake at Sep 29, 2007 at 2:30 PM EST
why doesn't someone just ask Elliott?
 

jo_silverhawk
Average
#9 by jo_silverhawk at Sep 30, 2007 at 1:25 AM EST
god, i love this song. it makes me sad, but the lyrics are wonderful. and the music is beautiful. if only elliot was younger...
 

Cody
Average
#10 by Cody (none of your buisness....stalker) at Sep 30, 2007 at 6:14 PM EST
I'm gonna have to disagree with the personal alcoholism explaination. I think this song is definitely about two people, specifically Elliott and a love interest. I interpret this as Elliott's way of saying he will stay with this woman, even through her alcohol addiction. He begins by explaining their relationship; "drink up baby, stay up all night... the potential will be that you'll never see the promises you only make" - he is referring to the way she lives her life, and in turn, treats him. The girl is unhappy with herself and perhaps drinks to cope with her self-loathing. Elliott promises to keep "The people she's been before that she doesn't want around anymore." He uses "between the bars" as a pun. On one end, it could mean he will kiss her between bars, as in the ones where you get alcohol, implying that he doesn't mind her drinking and loves her anyway. The other side uses "bars" as a metaphor for the prison of her addiction; he will "kiss her again between the bars," meaning he will stay with her, even through her addiction. He sees her "with her hands in the air, waiting to finally be caught," meaning that she is subtly crying for help, which he promises to provide her. I definitely see this song as Elliott's promise to stay with a woman through her troubles, not as a personal lament about his alcoholism, though it is well-documented.
 

Conar
Wanna Be
#11 by Conar Gillard at Oct 1, 2007 at 4:47 AM EST
it's about alcoholism. pretty clear.
 
No Picture

josh
Average
#12 by josh stagel at Oct 1, 2007 at 1:36 PM EST
sounds like a date rape to me.. getting her to keep drinking yet hes trying to get on her.
 

Max
Average
#13 by Max Quint at Oct 1, 2007 at 10:02 PM EST
Obviously, this is a troubled person, trying to get over his troubled, maybe criminal, life. The song is basically his bottle of Johnny Walker Red speaking to him, telling him that he'll make everything better.
 
No Picture

alex
Wanna Be
#14 by alex v s at Oct 2, 2007 at 3:46 PM EST
have you guys ever considered that "between the bars" refers to a star constellation. i've heard the "bars of Orion" referenced many times, and elliott says "look at the stars" right before "i'll kiss you again, between the bars" just something to think about; sometimes it's right on the surface (that line at least)
 
No Picture

Tab
Wanna Be
#15 by Tab at Oct 3, 2007 at 2:08 AM EST
i never thought about it referring to alcholism but that seems very clear to me now. i've always seen it as a sad sort of love song. like he sees this girl for who she really is-the good and the bad- and he wants to love her regardless. i always took the between the bars part as they're iliterally in transit between bars and he just sees her fully for the first time. i don't know. the alcholism idea makes much more sense. not every song is a love song.
 
No Picture

jay
Wanna Be
#16 by jay short at Oct 3, 2007 at 3:04 PM EST
I don't actually think there's supposed to be another person involved here, I don't think it's romantic, exactly. It's about the power of addiction, the call of drink. He used to be someone else, someone with potential, but he knows he'll never live up to it because he can't get out of the grip of his addiction. The alcohol lets him "forget all about the pressure of days" and disappear in to another night that goes on too long. The people he's been before were people with ambition, friends, a life, and he can't stand to listen to those voices any more, only the drink can make them silent again. His pain can be relieved and he can experience beauty again through alcohol, but as long as he relies on this he won't ever be free - kisses between the bars of his cell. Of coure, maybe I'm just projecting, but I know Elliot was an addict himself and I know really well what it feels like to start drinking again and know that it'll go on for one more night... how wonderful it is to have that best friend in the world back, and also know that you'll be worse off than where you started in the morning.
 

Adam
Rhythm Player
#17 by Adam Fender at Oct 3, 2007 at 3:28 PM EST
by the way, springheeledCJ hit it right on the head 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next
 

Will
Rhythm Player
#18 by Will at Oct 4, 2007 at 10:25 AM EST
id have to agree with CONTROLDbyhatred...
 
No Picture

William
Wanna Be
#19 by William Poop at Oct 4, 2007 at 12:51 PM EST
haha. just wondering if AirplanesRbetter was referring to the song "miss misery". as i heard before, elliott often writes his songs and gets inspiration in bars. i guess that's why he came up with this song title.
 

sebastian
Professional
#20 by sebastian at Oct 4, 2007 at 3:57 PM EST
I think the alcoholism theme becomes clearer if you look at the lyrics as the alcohol or bottle or whatever speaking to Elliott.
 

Brett
Professional
#21 by Brett Czap at Oct 4, 2007 at 7:07 PM EST
i actually think "between the bars" is referring to the bars of a jail cell, where the woman he is singing to is being confined to a cell with thoughts of who she used to be torturing her, not allowing her to break free. He's kissing her between the bars - the space which allows her face to break through, and offering to hold onto these troubling memories and images which are causing her so much pain...but what do i know?......
 
No Picture

JJ
Average
#22 by JJ at Oct 5, 2007 at 12:47 AM EST
that makes sense, the girl is in limbo right now and elliot is trying to comfort her. this song is really romantic, but not in that fake way.
 

Ale
Wanna Be
#23 by Ale Rosado at Oct 5, 2007 at 3:03 AM EST
when Elliott writes lyrics, alot of times he does it in bars. He'll goto bars and just write about what he sees, so i think the title of "between the bars" refers to that. I think the girl he's talking about is just some random girl, that he's tyring to incorporate into his life. Another good example of him reflecting on how he does this is Shooting Star. I dont think this is about date rape at all... but thats just one panda's opinion.
 

Napalm
Wanna Be
#24 by Napalm Priest at Oct 6, 2007 at 8:51 PM EST
I think he is walking from a bar he was at where he drank, and then is leaving thinking to himself, and arrives at another bar to repeat the process, and he realizes that this is all his life is, goining BETWEEN BARS!...but that is just my opinion, i could be wrong, amazing song either way
 

Chris
Average
#25 by Chris Tucker at Oct 6, 2007 at 11:36 PM EST
does anyone know what "between the bars" means?