A Stone by Okkervil River
Tabbed by Alex Kandabarow alex[dot]kandabarow[at]gmail[dot]com
Okkervil River: http://www.jound.com/okkervil/main.html
Standard Tuning
Capo on 1st fret
Note: These are just chords representative of what is going on in the song,
this is not exact tablature.
A
Hot breath, rough skin
D
warm laughs, and smiling,
F#m
the lovliest words
E
whispered and meant
D
you like all these things.
E
But though you like all these things
A
you love a stone.
D
You love a stone,
E Bm
because it's smooth and it's cold.
F#m
And you'd love most
E
to be told
D
that it's all your own.
A
You love white veins,
E
you love hard grey,
Bm
the heaviest weight,
D
the clumsiest shape,
F#m
the earthiest smell,
E
the hollowest tone
D
you love a stone.
Bridge: A E Bm D
A
And I'm found too fast,
called too fond of flames,
D
and then I'm phoning my friends,
and then I'm shouldering the blame,
F#m
while you're picking pebbles
E
out of the drain,
D
miles ago.
A
You're out singing songs,
and I'm down shouting names
D
at the flickerless screen,
going fucking insane.
F#m
Am I losing my cool,
E
overstating my case?
D
Well, baby what can I say?
E
You know I never claimed
A
that I was a stone.
D
And you love a stone.
F#m
You love white veins,
E
you love hard grey,
Bm
the heaviest weight,
D
the clumsiest shape,
F#m
the earthiest smell,
E
the hollowest tone
D
you love a stone.
Bridge: A E Bm D (x2) A
D
You love a stone,
E
because it's dark
Bm
and it's old
F#m
and if it could start
E
being alive
D
you'd stop living alone.
(quieter)
A
And I think I believe
E
that if stones could dream
Bm
they'd dream of being laid
D
side-by-side piece-by-piece
F#m
and turned into a castle
E
for some towering queen
D
they're unable to know.
A
And when that queen's daughter
E
came of age,
Bm
I think she'd be lovely
D
and stubborn and brave,
F#m
and suitors would journey
E
from kingdoms away
D
just to make themselves known.
A
And I think that I know
E
the bitter dismay
Bm
of a lover who brought
D
fresh brouquets every day
F#m
when she turned him away
E
to remember some knave
D A
who once gave just one rose, one day, years ago.
End:
A E Bm D X4
A
Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
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No Picture
ben Rhythm Player |
#1 by ben kurkul at Sep 28, 2007 at 2:58 PM EST |
| I think everyone has felt like that at somepoint. He is in madly in love with a woman but she doesn't care that she has a good thing going. She wants the flame. She wants a guy who is emotionless (like a stone). And it drives him absolutly crazy. | |
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Josh Average |
#2 by Josh Sanchez at Sep 29, 2007 at 7:22 PM EST |
| Interpret however you want, but what is definitely sure that these are some of the most amazing lines I've ever read. They fit so well in my life right now, that this song almost makes me cry. | |
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Jon Wanna Be |
#3 by Jon Leff at Sep 30, 2007 at 6:39 PM EST |
| I agree with it being about the singer who is in love with a girl who loves a stone. I think another way you could look at it is a friend who has a mental problem. In the stanza: And I'm found too fast, called too fond of flames, and then I'm phoning my friends, and then I'm shouldering the blame, while you're picking pebbles out of the drain, miles ago. You're out singing songs, and I'm down shouting names at the flickerless screen, going fucking insane. Am I losing my cool, overstating my case? Well, baby what can I say? It sounds like Will is talking about his friend being lost somewhere and everyone is worried and looking for them, However because the friend/person has a mental problem they are just in some field picking flowers and singing. I'm probably very wrong that is just something I thought of while listening to the song. But I do think it's about the singer and his love interest loving a stone. | |
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Matt Average |
#4 by Matt Waas at Sep 30, 2007 at 7:59 PM EST |
| uh oh. i'm the girl... | |
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patrick Average |
#5 by patrick chamberland at Oct 2, 2007 at 5:55 PM EST |
| about a guy who's closed off and the girl that loves him | |
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No Picture
Jon Wanna Be |
#6 by Jon Leff at Oct 3, 2007 at 5:58 AM EST |
| I think there are actually a lot of indications that the girl in the story is still in love with someone who passed away. The narrator is frustrated that she's still wrapped up in this memory and he's trying to be realistic and help her move on by simply saying, it's a stone, he's not alive anymore. "White veins" implies no blood, "Heaviest weight/Clumsiest shape" could be used to describe a dead body. "Earthiest smell" would come from being buried. Then the first stanza is describing everything he has to offer that the guy she's still in love with can no longer can. He's basically telling her there that she's giving up on all these things she enjoys because she can't move on. I could seem a bit disrespectful, but I don't think that's the intention... It's just realism. But even if it is, it's not that shocking, Okkervil River has written about more horrific things. This line from "Kathy Keller" for instance, which could certainly be construed as the narrator talking about how he killed this girl's mother... That bright kitchen, that old cleaver, the spots of blood, the fallen phone reciever, don’t you get tired of seeing those pictures? That was me, but now I'm different. I did all that, but now I'm really better. So I don't think its too out of the question to hypothesize that the "stone" is actually dead. That being said, I think that the most important part of the song though, isn't the story... I think it's more the pain and frustration this guy is feeling... He expresses a lot of emotion in the lyrics and in the tone of the song as a whole, so I think those emotions are really the lead character in this song. | |
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No Picture
Harry Average |
#7 by Harry Johnson at Oct 3, 2007 at 9:52 AM EST |
| I agree to most of these comments.. but i think that a stone isnt limited to another guy that doesnt care. I think that a stone could be anything that would distract you from seeing whats really good for you (mostly love i guess). examples of Stones: White veins (possibly heroine?), hard grey (not sure, maybe just bland-ness, unexiting people), heaviest weight (weightlifting, manly-ness), clumsiest shape (art), earthiest smell (possibly pot, or nature), the hollowest tone (obviously music, possibly empty, meaningles music). | |
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brent Rhythm Player |
#8 by brent west at Oct 3, 2007 at 9:24 PM EST |
| i love this song. i agree with elstortez that it is in the first person... the singer is talking about how he is so very in love with a girl and goes out of his way to demonstrate his love to her, but she casts his love aside for another more "challenging" love interest. the stone is the "other man" who puts forth little effort to woo her, but wins her love anyhow. it is sort of the classic situation of someone who loves "the thrill of the chase", or who feels the relationship is only worthwhile if she is never quite sure of where she stands in it. she loves "the stone" because he makes her crazy trying to figure out of he really cares for her and she mistakes this emotion for love and romance. she passes by the singer because it is too easy... his heart is on his sleeve. | |
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Anthony Average |
#9 by Anthony Pardee at Oct 7, 2007 at 8:51 AM EST |
| I guess it could plausibly be a gravestone...but I think the way Will Sheff makes the "stone" a negative thing would be disrespectful if it was about a woman in love with a dead lover. He has too much empathy for a song like that I think. | |
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No Picture
Maggot Man Wanna Be |
#10 by Maggot Man at Oct 7, 2007 at 5:38 PM EST |
| This is easily my favorite OR song out of all their albums. The last stanza alone shows Will's great songwriting ability. "And I think that I know the bitter dismay of a lover who brought fresh bouquets every day when she turned him away to remember some knave who once gave just one rose, one day, years ago." I know exactly how he feels, and the song still kinda hurts to listen to each time, but it's just SO good. I agree with a lot of the previous comments. This song is about a man who is absolutely in love with a girl. She means the world to him, but no matter what he does, she's stuck in her past and doesn't want a future with him... | |
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jimmy Wanna Be |
#11 by jimmy henry at Oct 9, 2007 at 6:09 AM EST |
| I think there's a very good case to be made for the tombstone interpretation. "If it could start being alive you'd stop living alone" is probably the best support. But also, throughout the song the narrator is contrasting himself with "the stone" and one of his qualities is "hot breath," something no living person lacks (though I guess the death could be metaphorical). Also, white veins would belong to a deat person and stones come in all colors but tombstones are almost always a "hard grey" color and are large and heavy. Finally, the idea of "a knave" who gave her a rose "years ago" suggests someone who is not around any more. | |
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No Picture
eddy Lead Player |
#12 by eddy blade at Oct 10, 2007 at 4:58 PM EST |
| I agree that the song is a man singing about a woman he loves who is still in love with someone else. However, I think that the "stone" refers to a gravestone, and that the woman is still in love with someone who has died. The line, "And you love most to be told that it's all your own," refers to her previous lover belonging to her forever b/c he died while he was in love with her. But I feel what is most telling is the final verse that talks about how she is still in love with that man and can't forget about him b/c he was the first to capture her heart. | |
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No Picture
Mike Average |
#13 by Mike Murphy at Oct 11, 2007 at 11:19 AM EST |
| This is so well-put. Just.... amazingly well-said. I know exactly what it's talking about, and I especially love how its refrenced in "Song of Our So-Called Friend." | |
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No Picture
[ßĩη& Average |
#14 by [ßĩηŁ@Ðэń] at Oct 12, 2007 at 7:58 AM EST |
| i think this is a first person song, and the singer is in love with a girl who loves a stone, and he is questioning why the girl loves the man who is such a hard, cold, stone-like man.....saying pretty much that he has way more to offer, and why doesnt she love him instead of the stone | |
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[ßĩη& Average |
#15 by [ßĩηŁ@Ðэń] at Oct 16, 2007 at 12:56 PM EST |
| ooof...im the stone. :( | |
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Sarah McKagan Musical Genius |
#16 by Sarah McKagan (AKA - Lady Rock 'n' Roll) at Oct 18, 2007 at 8:32 PM EST |
| i love the last three verses so much. whatever they mean...they're pure, heartbreaking loveliness.nothing less. | |
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