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Magnetic Fields Fear Of Trains Guitar Tab

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Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 19:36:24 -0500
From: "Mr. Coin Operated"
To: guitar@olga.net
Subject: tab: 'fear of trains' by 'magnetic fields, the'

From: Kent Randell

my band Leslie Can't Love plays this so I figured why not transcribe it.
Chords with words are first. Some riffs are tabbed at the bottom.

Fear of Trains by the Magnetic Fields. 'Charm of the Highway Strip'


into: G F C
VERSE 1:
G F C
It was the army train that took her daddy from her

G F C
It was the bible train that took her momma too

Am Dm C G
And that high loud whistle made her horse run away

G F C
But the straw the broke the camel's back was you


G F C
It was the government train that took away her childhood

G F C
It was the KKK that took away her past

Am Dm C G
It was the white man's will that hers be broken

G F C
But that barefoot girl could run too fast


CHORUS:
C Am
Because the world's too cold for a girl like that with a

C G
Blackfoot soul and a cowboy hat

C Am
Everything she loved went down the dragon track

C G F C
She had a fear of trains


BRIDGE:
C G
In the beet fields of Montana

Dm Am
She's always coming on dead rails

C G
to break the plow and whisper "Honey,

Dm Am
bound to live is bound to fail"

C G
And in a park in San Francisco

Dm Am
her momma shrieks about the Lord

C G
And down the dead rails there's an echo

Dm Am
The wind is whistling all-aboard

CHORUS

VERSE2: (same chords as before)
It was the wagon train that too away her country
It was the oil train that took away her land
She could have been the belle of the ponderosa
but that was not the fat man's plan

CHORUS


Guitar riff during verses and intro:
E-------------------1--0-----------------------------------------
B-------1--0---1-------------------------------------------------
G------------------------------0^2^0------------0^2^0------------
D-------------------------------------0^2--------------0^2-------
A--------------------------3-----------------3--------------3----
E---3----------1-------------------------------------------------

Guitar riff at the end of the Chorus:
E-------1^0-------------------------1^0--------------------------
B------------3^1--------------------------3^1--------------------
G------------------2--2---0---------------------0----------------
D------------------------------3----------------2----------------
A---3-------------------------------------------3----------------
E------------------3-----------1---------------------------------

Guitar/keyboard riff during the bridge:
E-------3-----------3-------------1-----------0------------------
B--1-----------0-------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------2-------------2---------------------
D----------------------------0-----------------------------------
A--3---------------------------------------0---------------------
E--------------3-------------------------------------------------

Brought to you by the GUITARMASTA - http://www.guitarmasta.net

Source: http://www.guitarmasta.net/m/magnetic_fields,_the/274313.html

Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
 
 
No Picture

ed
Average
#1 by ed lubecki at May 3, 1973 at 5:57 AM EST
Great song. Maybe the girl is a metaphor for the whole blackfoot nation. I'm not sure.
 
No Picture

Cory
Wanna Be
#2 by Cory at Dec 21, 1974 at 3:33 PM EST
I've always wondered about that line too. Maybe what Steve Merrit is saying is that white America as a whole (ie you, the listening audience) are all in a small part responsible for the violence done to the Blackfoot (and other) nations, for example by living off the gains from it but not acknowledging it.
 
No Picture

Peter
Wanna Be
#3 by Peter Lambden at May 21, 1980 at 3:23 AM EST
Great song. Maybe the girl is a metaphor for the whole blackfoot nation. I'm not sure.
 
No Picture

alex
Rhythm Player
#4 by alex Smith at Sep 8, 1982 at 7:31 AM EST
Why does that keep happening?
 
No Picture

Fatty [eats chi
Average
#5 by Fatty [eats children] kid at Nov 3, 1990 at 9:51 AM EST
Great song. Maybe the girl is a metaphor for the whole blackfoot nation. I'm not sure.
 
No Picture

tim
Lead Player
#6 by tim sears at Jul 13, 1997 at 12:42 AM EST
I feel like the idea that "the straw that broke the camel's back was you" goes unexplored in the song. What did I do to her? Also: I am a big fan of the phrasing in "her momma shrieks about the lord."
 
No Picture

simon
Average
#7 by simon cody simon at Nov 19, 1997 at 2:32 AM EST
I've always wondered about that line too. Maybe what Steve Merrit is saying is that white America as a whole (ie you, the listening audience) are all in a small part responsible for the violence done to the Blackfoot (and other) nations, for example by living off the gains from it but not acknowledging it.
 
No Picture

Spanky
Lead Player
#8 by Spanky Man at Jan 30, 2000 at 1:13 PM EST
Great song. Maybe the girl is a metaphor for the whole blackfoot nation. I'm not sure.
 
No Picture

mat
Wanna Be
#9 by mat bar at Oct 28, 2002 at 10:52 AM EST
Why does that keep happening?
 
No Picture

caleb
Wanna Be
#10 by caleb at Jan 3, 2004 at 1:54 PM EST
I feel like the idea that "the straw that broke the camel's back was you" goes unexplored in the song. What did I do to her? Also: I am a big fan of the phrasing in "her momma shrieks about the lord."
 
No Picture

dann
Average
#11 by dann at May 9, 2004 at 4:26 PM EST
Great song. Maybe the girl is a metaphor for the whole blackfoot nation. I'm not sure.
 
No Picture

Maggot Man
Wanna Be
#12 by Maggot Man at Dec 12, 2005 at 4:30 PM EST
Great song. Maybe the girl is a metaphor for the whole blackfoot nation. I'm not sure.