#-----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE------------------------------#
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#----------------------------------------------------------------------------#
[Intro, Omar solo, up to 0:32]
E :-----0*-------|-----------------------------------------------------|
B :-----0*-------|-----------------------------------------------------|
G :-----0*-------|-----------------------------------------------------|
D :-----0*---0---|------------5-4------------5-4-----------------------|
A :------------0-|-------5s7------------5s7----------------------------|
E :-0------------|-------------------------------0---------------------|
Repeat this a few times, some times adding opens on the B & G strings. When the rest of the
band comes in it's mostly the same thing, but add in some more bits.
*Play it way down low by the pickups to get the right sound.
[Chorus]
E :--12--15---x3|
B :--12--15-----|
G :-------------|
D :-------------|
A :-------------|
E :-------------|
This is kind of hard to tell if it's the guitar or the keyboard. I kind kind of hear some
distortion, but I can't hear it on the live version, so I'm assuming this is the guitar.
May be Em Gm.
[Verse, 2:02]
E :-15-12-0-10-11-12---------------------|
B :------------------0-10-11-12----------|
G :-----------------------------0-12b----|
D :--------------------------------------|
A :--------------------------------------|
E :--------------------------------------|
AT THE DRIVE-IN FOREVER
Brought to you by the GUITARMASTA - http://www.guitarmasta.net
Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
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LJ Average |
#1 by LJ at Sep 21, 1972 at 7:46 PM EST |
| am i the only one who thinks that this song is closely related to the Deloused in teh Commatorium album's theme? an Eunuch is also "one that lack virility or power" - so maybe it's not literally a sexual reference, but more of a reference to some sort of weakness he has...and provocateur has some lose ties to "trickery" so what i'm thinking is that Julio was in one way or another tricked and this song talks about that and how it's unfair - but doesn't say taht literally. also, about the "de-loused in the commatorium" i think that's a straight reference to how Julio tried to kill himself...the lice being the drugs that are in his brain...so he was "de-loused" you know, de-toxed...and in the commatorium can either be a reference to an actual hospital or maybe the state he was in in his head...anyone have any clues? | |
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jordan Porreca Lead Player |
#2 by jordan Porreca porreca at Oct 13, 1973 at 4:00 AM EST |
| I like your interpretations, al0k. Some of the earlier interpretations make sense, but I sorta can't see the Mars Volta writing a song about moralistic crap like, "sex before marriage is bad." Of course, Herorgy69 might be right, too. Back in the AtD-I days, Cedric admitted to having been high and just sort of making some of their lyircs up as he went along. whatever. sweet song, this. | |
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foster Average |
#3 by foster meng at Jul 1, 1975 at 3:12 PM EST |
| i think the lyrics mean, "i just took alot of lsd watched pink floyds the wall and havent slept for a week" | |
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spence Average |
#4 by spence o'brien at Oct 8, 1978 at 2:46 AM EST |
| The Mars Volta is far better than Sparta. Jim Ward is a little girl! Look at him in any ATDI videos, he's got the least emotion! Sparta isn't riding off the fame of ATDI? Listen to Hourglass on In/Casino/Out and tell me that doesn't sound exactly like something Sparta would write. Then listen to ANY At The Drive-In song and compare it ANY Mars Volta song. Sparta sucks. HAIL MARS VOLTA | |
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dimebag 66' Average |
#5 by dimebag 66' at Apr 15, 1979 at 4:55 AM EST |
| sparta and emoJustin suck | |
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Emdizzy foshizz Lead Player |
#6 by Emdizzy foshizzy at Apr 13, 1981 at 11:22 PM EST |
| i kind of agree with yugaguantos' idea... but i think that the "opiate copulation" is talking about empty sex, not drugged sex. | |
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foster Average |
#7 by foster meng at May 9, 1982 at 9:09 AM EST |
| i played the end of the song backwards one day when i was bored. the sample at the end of the song is someone singing the itsy bitsy spider when played backwards. | |
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IvZ Average |
#8 by IvZ at Jan 15, 1983 at 8:58 AM EST |
| omg cedric-scary i dont think so..cedric-sexy come on | |
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jimmy Lead Player |
#9 by jimmy matthews at Feb 1, 1984 at 10:24 AM EST |
| Christ, these are harder to figure out then ATD-I songs. Yep I have NO idea here. | |
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Luke Professional |
#10 by Luke Goudreault at Mar 29, 1996 at 4:51 AM EST |
| you know something, you suck. your ideas for the song are very vaild, though. | |
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MelissA Average |
#11 by MelissA at Jul 17, 1996 at 4:34 PM EST |
| yeah no kiddin....well i found out what Eunuch means... 1 A castrated man employed as a harem attendant or as a functionary in certain Asian courts. 2 A man or boy whose testes are nonfunctioning or have been removed. 3 Informal. An ineffectual, powerless, or unmasculine man. eww | |
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Gary Wanna Be |
#12 by Gary Rossington at Feb 15, 2003 at 2:23 PM EST |
| wow, a lot of people hear interepted some of the lines in this lyric the same way i did...guess i must be reading something right. anyway, i too thought this song had a middle-eastern "setting." i thought it was about a woman cast out of society for having sex with an exulted one with whom she had no marital ties, and is indicted/exiled for her the "padisha scandal." it's not her fault, however, because she was drugged & raped by the padisha, or ruler (-type). i also think the referrence to al shirat is used to describe the pleasure this padisha will receive from this woman. al shirat, though a bridge to paradise, is razor-strewn, so i take it that cedric means there will be a great pain that must be suffered and equated with this ecstacy. this must mean that the king is also somehow punished for this vile exploit, hence "dethroned in the comatorium"; a comatorium essentially being a place where people sleep, or a bedroom. cedric's lyrics tend to force you to draw conclusions from literal definitions like this. the "demimonde lice" would be a sexually wanton woman, so "de-loused in the comatorium", i believe, would mean that she was somehow forcefully removed from the bedroom, as if gaurds caught she & the king in the act and took her away. by "these nasty sores of ataxia will feel the sting of opiate copulation," i think cedric is describing the feeling of fatigue and ill feeling in the woman after she has been drugged & taken advantage of. lastly, i think the title blatantly states that this padisha (the povacateur), for his immoral, insidious actions, is a cowardly soul, or has "no balls;" a eunich. this is probably incorrect all over the place, but whatever, i tried. | |
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Jordan Average |
#13 by Jordan S. at Mar 8, 2003 at 8:11 AM EST |
| awesome lyrics-- awesome song------- check out www.flightfromwonder.tk-- thats my band. | |
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Goat Average |
#14 by Goat Screwer at Dec 24, 2004 at 3:37 PM EST |
| OK, ok, Sparta aint so bad after all. I just had to get used to the sound. emoJustin sucks;) | |
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kelson Average |
#15 by kelson white at Nov 24, 2005 at 1:19 AM EST |
| The song is a good ride but....I mean are they worshipping Satan or somthing? | |
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December Underg Average |
#16 by December Underground at Jul 4, 2007 at 12:31 PM EST |
| No clue, but thanks to all of you who have helped me understand not only this song but all the others. Being from Costa Rica it's hard sometimes to find meaning to the poetic writing style of english speaking composers and the Mars Volta takes it to a much higher level. The band is amazing!! As for Sparta, it's good but like many others have said there are many bands that sound the same way so Sparta is nothing new. I believe that Sparta is a step down to Atdi while MV is a step higher! El tico tiro loco, | |
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