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Song: A Boy And His Machine Gun
Band: Matthew Good Band
Album: Beautiful Midnight
Tabbed by: Devil Monkey <swarm@cyberus.ca>
This whole song is tuned down a half step, so keep that in mind.
Verse:
B5 B5/Bb B5 B5/Bb
Don't move, stay right where you are
B5 B5/Bb B5 B5/Bb
Talking can only give you away
E5 C#m5
And there's so nothing to say
(Same pattern)
The voices say hello
Imprisoned, they're invisible
E5 C#m5
But we look a lot alike, we look a lot alike
This is boring, all we talk about is you
C'mon give me a reason
E5 C#m5
A boy and his machine gun
Chorus:
E B G#m F#
If you're fi-nished strugglin'
E B G#m F#
Are ya fr-ee tonight?
E B G#m
Did they stick you in here
F# E (let fade)
Cuz you weren't workin right?
Verse:
Don't move, stay just like you are
You look sane, motionless like that
So very flat
It's amazin what velocity can do
When human beings are in season
E5 C#m5
A boy and his machine gun
E5 C#m5
If you're quiet we might see some
Chorus:
When you're finished strugglin'
Are ya free tonight?
Did they stick you in here
Cuz you weren't workin' right?
E, B, G#m, F#
(same pattern)
There's a TV in every room
And it's free, even pay-per-view
Which you'll need if no one's
Gonna visit you
E
Animal
C#m
Fuckin' Animal
E
C#m
E F# B C#m
I know who you're waiting for
E F# B C#m
no one's comin' though
Now it changes to this:
------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------
--6-6-6-9-4-4-4-9-2-2-2-9-4-4-4-9---------
--6-6-6-9-4-4-4-9-2-2-2-9-4-4-4-9---------
--4-4-4s7s2-2-2s7s0-0-0s7s2-2-2s7---------
(over that):
So fuck you and your principals
And fuck whatever made me
Perhaps you think I'm evil
What does it matter if we're crazy?
Then that part repeats, and you end on G#m
Chords Used:
EADGBe
B5: 799xxx
B5/Bb: 699xxx
E5: x799xx
C#m5: x466xx
E: 022100
B: 799877 or x24442
G#m: 466444
F#: 244322
Alright, that's it, hope nobody's confused.
One final note: for the verses, I know it's power-chords, but for the choruses
and that weird closing bridge thing, you can use open chords or power-chords,
it's up to you.
Brought to you by the GUITARMASTA - http://www.guitarmasta.net
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No Picture
Jordan Average |
#1 by Jordan S. at Jan 27, 1974 at 12:44 PM EST |
| Actually, if you read his interviews, it says plainly: ***** The turbulent "A Boy And His Machine Gun" has taken some heat for its expression of youthful violence in the wake of Columbine, but Matthew says the song is about something else altogether. On the other hand, he’s glad the song can be used as a starting point for discussion. "I wrote it before school shooting became a prevalent thing," he explains. "It’s actually about being checked into a mental institution. But I don’t know, the First World is a really stupid place. Algerian rebels can walk into some mountain village and hack the legs off kids because they’re pissed off about the International Red Cross vaccinating them, but if some kid walks into a school in Denver and shoots some people down, it means morality is coming to an end! Because, what, we’re so much better than them? That’s just horsesh**." **** So yeah, it's about a mental patient, even the lyrics state that. And it's "principles", I believe. Principals would make no sense, while Principles would tie completely into the song. | |
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Jon Lead Player |
#2 by Jon Shuffler at Oct 3, 1978 at 7:26 PM EST |
| it is "What does it matter if we're crazy" he says it alot, fading out in the end. I love this song. He does a great job getting his point across. The song is great, just like all of their others. Matt and the band does such a great job finding out how to best put the song out. They don't care who will like it, he just wants his opinion out. | |
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logan Average |
#3 by logan cook at Jun 25, 1979 at 3:58 PM EST |
| this is a really good song. i dont like the mental patient thing..i think i liked this song back when it was more mysteriouse and ...yeah..not about a mental patient. just plane creapy at the end. | |
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Kazza Average |
#4 by Kazza at Jul 5, 1979 at 8:56 AM EST |
| This song is a true story of a boy (that Matt knew) in Alberta that came up at school with a Machine gun and shot one student to death and injured some other. It happen days after Columbine and is in some way linked to Columbine. It is the shooting called the "Taber Killing": "The Taber killing (Alberta, Canada) in 1999. A 15-year-old boy who had recently been withdrwn from public school because of bullying, walked into W.R. Myers High School and shot two students with a .22 rifle, killing one and injuring the other. " I don't know which link Matt had with him, but other site say he knew him (not a friend, but just someone he knew). That 15yo boy didn't suicide after, he was sentence to jail and then mental institute... the word that Matt say at the end are the word the kid said (i believe but can't verify this). The weird music at the end is a broken "Happy Birthday" toy that Matt trew around to get this weird sound. | |
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Mike Lead Player |
#5 by Mike at Nov 20, 1979 at 3:24 PM EST |
| I'll admit at first I didn't see that connection. I thought this song was about school, not school shootings. But there are definitely similarities. I view the machine gun as a symbol for built up rage that may potentially be used to harm others - and it's gonna set off and harm people any moment now. And the word is 'Principles'. Go actually buy the CD beautiful midnight and see for yourself. | |
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♥Chicken Average |
#6 by ♥Chicken On Heroine Shots♥ at Oct 26, 1980 at 7:33 AM EST |
| I have always though it was about a mental patient. Look at these lines: "the voices say hello, imprisoned, they're invisible" "you look sane motionless like that, so very flat" "perhaps you think i'm evil, perhaps you think i'm crazy" In fact, the only reason I ever doubted it being about a mental patient was that he made it so blatently obvious. That's why he threw in lines like these: "did they stick you in here cause you weren't working right? "if you're quiet we might see some" "which you'll need if no one's going to visit you" The song isn't about a mental patient, it's about the way society views mental patients - as exhibitionists, deviations from the norm, perhaps even uncivilized or primitive. How are they supposed to recover if we look at them like that? | |
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Dylan Average |
#7 by Dylan Ruiz at Sep 10, 1986 at 6:27 PM EST |
| I'd have to agree to mental patient theory. Though from hearing it I wouldn't have thought that, I had to read the lyrics to work it out. | |
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Kyle Average |
#8 by Kyle Bish at Nov 24, 1986 at 11:38 AM EST |
| One of the best MGB songs. Many people think this song has something to do with the columbine school shootings, but I believe that the song is about a mental patient. I think A Boy With A Machine Gun is talking about the way in which humans view things that don't conform with mainstream society. In this song Matt used the example of a mental patient to ask us a question. What gives society the right to say what is acceptable or not. We lock mental patients up with the excuse that " oh he/she is crazy," but who should determine if they are crazy or not. JUst because they have different views or opinions on things we should be allowed to lock these people up. -tell me what you think | |
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Jimmy "Hoffa" Average |
#9 by Jimmy "Hoffa" at Apr 15, 1992 at 6:46 PM EST |
| I feel this song is just about simple teen angst. Junior high can be tough, i feel its about that quite 'weird' kid that people either didn't talk to or picked on. So the kid goes through school having to try and make himself blend in the croud so he's not picked on, and when he does talk to people they are all self exorbed and dont care about him. (Don't move stay right where you are/ Talking can only give you away/ This is boring, all we talk about is you.) A boy and his machine gun, is basically the kid, and his built up frusterations and anxietys that he has to lug around. He's not going to necissarily explode or use it, but its just represents his struggles and hardships. | |
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DemolitionLover Wanna Be |
#10 by DemolitionLover ^^v^^ at Aug 7, 1993 at 9:46 PM EST |
| YEah, the song was written long before columbine. | |
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batman Average |
#11 by batman chum at Nov 19, 1993 at 12:45 PM EST |
| I believe Matt wrote this before the entire Columbine incident. When Beautiful Midnight came out, the media just assumed that there was a relation between the two! Otherwise I agree to what you wrote blender, "so fuck you and your principals and fuck whatever made me perhaps you think i'm evil perhaps you think i'm crazy" I think those few lines relate pretty well to the point your making. But then again it's Matt Good so you never know quite what his intensions for writing the song were. | |
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Matt Average |
#12 by Matt at Apr 21, 1994 at 2:34 PM EST |
| I can never figure out if it's principals or principles. Principal is like, the director of a school. But principles is people's morals or whatever. I'm not sure how to explain it. I could look it up, but I'm lazy. This is the first MGB song I heard, and one of my very favourites. I can't choose any one favourite though, I love all his songs. | |
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ToRRi Average |
#13 by ToRRi L at Nov 27, 1994 at 8:36 PM EST |
| animal, fucking animal. he says that so tenderly, as if he's holding the boy in his arms. it's the world that calls the kid an animal instead of trying to understand what it really is that makes him tick, also that flaws and capabillity to murder is in all of us. | |
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Kenny Lead Player |
#14 by Kenny Berg at Oct 25, 1995 at 5:34 AM EST |
| I'd have to agree to mental patient theory. Though from hearing it I wouldn't have thought that, I had to read the lyrics to work it out. | |
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Aaron Wanna Be |
#15 by Aaron Frederick at Nov 13, 1998 at 4:58 PM EST |
| Actually, it's "so fuck you and your principals and fuck whatever made me perhaps you think i'm evil What does it matter if we're crazy" | |
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pat Wanna Be |
#16 by pat smear at Aug 13, 2005 at 12:52 AM EST |
| It's definitely about a boy (or a man with a child’s mentality/power) in a mental institution. These lyrics prove it: "the voices say hello" "this is boring, all we talk about is you" "did they stick you in here, cause you weren't working right?" "which you'll need if no one's going to visit you, Animal" It's a beautiful song, and I love it when Matt sings: "so fuck you and your principals, and fuck whatever made me" Only he could get so much emotion singing those lines. It's damn incredible. | |
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zoe Wanna Be |
#17 by zoe cherrie at Jun 10, 2006 at 7:05 PM EST |
| *in Beavis voice* heh heh... Smell my my finger...eh heheh | |
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Matt Lead Player |
#18 by Matt Cromwell at Dec 13, 2006 at 3:11 AM EST |
| The last line is "What does it matter if we're crazy." | |