Bottle Up And Explode Guitar Tab

XO Tabs:

Bottle up and explode! - From the Album "XO
"Elliott Smith
Original Tab by Chris Walker
Chords used:
C#m:  x46654
A:    x02220
E:    022100
G#:   466544
F#:   244322
Esus4:0222xx
B:    x24442
B/C:  x3434x
B5:   x24xxx
B5/C: x34xxx
C#5:  x46xxx
E5:   x79xxx
F#5:  244xxx
Intro (and chorus):
B                 Cdim              C#m       B/D#  E       Bbdim
V     V     V V   V     V     V V
e|-----------------|-----------------|---------------|-----------------|
B|-4-----4-----4---|-4-----4-----4---|-----5---5-4---|-------5-----2---|
G|-4-----4-----4---|-3-----3-----3---|---------------|-----------------|
D|-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-|-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-|---6---6-----4-|-----6-----2-----|
A|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-|-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-|-4---4-----6---|-6/7-----1-------|
E|-----------------|-----------------|---------------|-----------------|
A                 E                 F#
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-2-----------2---|-0---------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-3---------------|-----------------|
|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-|---------2-------|-4---------------|-----------------|
|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-|-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-|-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-|
|-----------------|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-|
Verse 1:
C#m               A            E
Bottle up and explode over and over
G#             A
Keep the troublemaker below
F#     A                 Esus4
Put it away and check out for the day
C#m           A              E
And in for a round of overexposure
G#                     A                  F#
The thing mother nature provides to get up and go
B             B/C             C#m
Bottle up and explode seeing stars
E            A
Surrounding you
E         F#
Red white and blue
Verse 2:
C#m              A                  E
You look at him like you've never known him
G#                       A
But I know for a fact that you have
F#
The last time you cried
A                      Esus4
Who'd you think was inside?
C#m            A                     E
Thinking that you were about to come over
G#                    A
But i'm tired now waiting for you
F#
You never show
B             B/C                C#m
Bottle up and go if you're gonna hide
E           A
It's up to you
E        F#
I'm coming through
SOLO (played twice):
E-0--0--0--0----0---------------------------------------------------------------------|
B-2--4--5--5----5---------------------------------------------------------------------|
G-----------------------6/4--6--4-----------------------------------------------------|
D--------------------------------------6------6--6—6/4--------------------------------|
A------------------------------------------7-------------------7--6—4----4--4---6---7-|
E-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B             B/C               C#m
Bottle up and go i can make it outside
E           A       E      F#
I'll get through becoming you
A     E      F#
Becoming you
A     E      F#
Becoming you

Source: http://www.guitarmasta.net/s/smith,_elliott/348786.html

Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques


No Picture Terp Rhythm Player	#1 by Terp Boom! at Sep 26, 2007 at 3:03 AM EST
	Close, but ... bottle up and explode is a picture of what happens when someone buries emotional energy in hopes that it will resolve itself. It doesn't, instead it comes out in explosions. Absolutely brilliant picture of this - when I heard it, I literally saw my ex-wife in the song. True! RIP ES

No Picture Chad Wanna Be	#2 by Chad Barri at Sep 26, 2007 at 10:06 AM EST
	the part that is public, that goes on, and the part that is personal, depressed, can't go on,; the part that is "exposed," and then the part that is repressed until it explodes.

No Picture Mehran Average	#3 by Mehran Farooque at Sep 26, 2007 at 10:30 AM EST
	This song could also be about using sex (one night stands) as a way to try and escape pain of something like a previous relationship.... "Keep the 'troublemaker' below" "Put it away and check out for the day" "The thing Mother Nature provides to get up and go" "You look at him like you've never known him" "The last time you cried, who'd you think was inside?" Its just a different way to look at it...

No Picture AJ Wanna Be	#4 by AJ Harrison at Sep 26, 2007 at 5:35 PM EST
	I think dorareever is right in a sense: this song does have something to do with a troubled relationship, but I don't know if it's as blatant as the narrator's lover being a cheat. I think there's some suspicion there, but ultimately it's about two people on opposite ends of a spectrum and the narrator's realization that the only way to make things work with this particular person is to give in to what she expects, for better or for worse (probably worse). "I'll get through becoming you" pretty much spells this out, and "bottle up and explode" means just that -- keeping your frustrations inside until you blow a gasket, kind of like "red, white and blue" fireworks.

No Picture Davis Wanna Be	#5 by Davis Williams at Sep 27, 2007 at 10:25 AM EST
	i remember when i was younger, i felt that because i was very emotional and full of feelings, that a lot of older people considered me to be naive. a lot of times we resort to becoming "numb" just like those we call bitter and jaded in order to protect ourselves and our feelings. it's natural for people to want to hide from their feelings - that's the most literal meaning you can get out of this song. everybody has heard the cliched term "bottling up your feelings," and you can't forever.. so eventually you explode. hence the "i'll get though becoming you, becoming you" sometimes we find ourselves doing what we used to hate others for doing, esp. if the person you are with, or want to be with, hides from you. in order to move on away from someone who is hiding their feelings from you, you can find yourself hiding your feelings from them.. if that makes sense. you can't wear your heart on your sleeve all the time.

No Picture vincent Average	#6 by vincent sayre at Sep 27, 2007 at 5:39 PM EST
	the only thing i have to say about this song is i think it's about someone who is an angry drunk... i always thought it was about someone who didnt know how to deal with anger (someone who bottles things up and explodes in a rage when they can no longer stuff it down, something i've been capable of) but now, the poetry in the first line seems to say it all for me... bottle up (as in turn the bottle upward...) and explode (in anger) seems to be also about someone who is dependent on alcohol to the point where they neglect other relationships.

No Picture Kris Wanna Be	#7 by Kris Mackie at Sep 27, 2007 at 6:24 PM EST
	i always thought this song was about sex....

No Picture Tadej Average	#8 by Tadej Supukovic at Sep 28, 2007 at 12:37 AM EST
	makeartnotmath and carmenadrift are dead on. this seems extremely apparrent to me.. but thats just me.. as well as markartnotmath and acrmenadrift.. hah and yes, its very true that everyones interpretations stem from their own emotions and psyche. but thats what makes this little website fun, right? "the last time you cried, who'd you think was inside?" - uhh.. speechless.. damn, no one even compares to elliott esp. in terms of thought provokation and introspectiveness..

No Picture Chris Average	#9 by Chris Tucker at Sep 28, 2007 at 5:26 AM EST
	Juicyclad: "i always thought this song was about sex...." Maybe. This song is one giant figurative orgasm set to music. It could be about sex or just unrestrained joy. Who knows whether he meant it to be or not, it is truly brilliant.

No Picture Neal Average	#10 by Neal Chuenprateep at Sep 28, 2007 at 7:58 AM EST
	i agree this seems to be about himself, as if there are two of him that he is addressing in here. there is the one who is "overexposed," for the sake of being able to "get up and go," to exist, the public side of himself. the persona he puts on to get through life. keep the "troublemaker" "below," keep that side inside, put him away. but that's the side that's the true he who will come to surface, as you bottle him up, but that will only cause him to explode later on. and when he makes his appearance, elliott, talking to himself says, you look at him like you've never known him, you're looking at that part of yourself as if that's not you, as if its never been you, those feelings, those thoughts, those actions, but they are, "i know for a fact that you have," afterall, the "last time you cried, who'd you think was inside?" what part of you was it that was crying, he was coming through, you can't deny that part of yourself. "thinking that you were about to come over but im tired now waiting for you, you never show.." this seems to be about the struggle to accept himself, he's waiting for that within himself that will finally show up, the he who can put himself back together, the true him that answers for all that he is repressing. "i can make it outside," i'll get through becoming you" i'll get through this process of becoming this person, i can push past, outside of this enprisonment i've done to myself.

No Picture Tommy Wanna Be	#11 by Tommy Déry at Sep 28, 2007 at 8:52 AM EST
	well, i dont know if anyone agrees on me bout this but i think this song contains connotations to alchoholism. Things like "Bottle up and explode" and particularly the second verse. "you look at him like you've never known him but i know for a fact that you have the last time you cried who'd you think was inside?" coincidence or not, i think what elliot tries to get at is the pain and consequences of repression and supporting it with the blur and confusion of drunkenness. Particularly "bottle up and explode seeing the stars surrounding you red white and blue" gives me the feeling of chaos and confusion associated with being intoxicated. Intoxicated under the influence of your own inability to cope with difficulties and consequently release them unintentionally in a dangerous way.

No Picture Corey Wanna Be	#12 by Corey at Sep 28, 2007 at 1:15 PM EST
	i think it is obvious that most people on here gets out of these lyrics what is going on in thier own lives ..and has nothing to do with what the artist intended..thus is art

No Picture Token Rhythm Player	#13 by Token at Sep 28, 2007 at 6:04 PM EST
	I love the guitar in the beginning of this song and how there's a saxaphone solo at the end. Sigh, I miss Elliott..

No Picture Rikki Average	#14 by Rikki C at Sep 29, 2007 at 4:13 AM EST
	yeah this song is clearly about repressed anger and emotions.. it helps me deal with his death cause i understand what its like to take things shitty and bury them in hope that they will go away but really things build up eventually and you explode and it has to happen eventually, nothing can stop it. I think its the most accurate description of elliotts personality.

No Picture Will Average	#15 by Will Traylor (Gone) at Sep 29, 2007 at 11:34 AM EST
	the last time you cried who'd you think was inside? ....

No Picture Steven Wanna Be	#16 by Steven Elmslie at Sep 29, 2007 at 6:25 PM EST
	It's about how the narrator hides the anger thats welling up inside of him from the rest of the world and from himself. Perhaps its dealing with the anger surrounding a troubled relationship, but the line "who'd you think was inside..." makes it seem as if it is actually an internal debate and 'him' is simply the narrator referring to himself in the third person.

No Picture screamokid Average	#17 by screamokid at Sep 29, 2007 at 6:49 PM EST
	people dont like feeling vulnerable, especially us guys. so its only natural to keep whatever emotion you have pent up for a long time. but its gotta get out sometime

No Picture cody Wanna Be	#18 by cody westermier at Sep 30, 2007 at 1:40 PM EST
	I think it's about someone fighting with his lover because she cheats, but in the end overcoming rage. but probably you can find many different interpretations.

No Picture Sean Rhythm Player	#19 by Sean Brady at Oct 1, 2007 at 1:00 AM EST
	Awesome song! Elliot Smith is one of a kind. This is my song for freedom on the 4th of July! ...bottle up and explode seeing the stars surrounding you red white and blue...

No Picture PunkrockScotty Wanna Be	#20 by PunkrockScotty at Oct 2, 2007 at 7:19 AM EST
	he's speaking from the point of view of anyone's darkside, and how when you are angry or upset, one bottles up and explodes. in bad situations you try to keep that darkside from coming out, but it's in the worst of times you can become a different person (the becoming you lyric) it's just awesome that he put such importance on the darkside actually being a different person, with hopes and desires completely separate from your own.

No Picture matt Wanna Be	#21 by matt sims at Oct 2, 2007 at 3:35 PM EST
	I always thought this song would be a great background music to a documentary about a protest or something. I know that's not very Elliott...But for me the song is really a description of the tensions and pain and heightened energy that comes out of human relationships.

No Picture Bas Average	#22 by Bas Koningsveld at Oct 2, 2007 at 3:38 PM EST
	speechless. this song calms me down, which is irronic. 1

No Picture stephen Wanna Be	#23 by stephen k at Oct 4, 2007 at 2:32 AM EST
	It seems to me that this song is a reflection on Elliott's repressed feelings throughout his childhood. The emotional outburst often referred to as "bottling up and exploding" seems to be blatantly corresponding to the context of the song. "Keep the troublemaker below" could refer to the force of rage or anger welling up from inside. Hence the bottling up. Other than that, I agree with mfluder2676 on the analysis of the fireworks colors, and what they represent.

No Picture Rhys Average	#24 by Rhys at Oct 4, 2007 at 3:33 PM EST
	This is my new favorite Elliot Smith--song!