Rock And Roll Nigger Guitar Tab

Land (1975-2002) [Disc 1] Tabs:

Rock 'n' Roll Nigger »
Free Money
Because The Night
Ghost Dance

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Patti Smith- Rock and Roll Nigger

A

E (p.m)
Baby was a black sheep baby was a whore
                          (C)G (D)A
Baby got big and baby get bigger
E (p.m)
Baby get something baby get more
                          (C)G    (D)A
Baby baby baby was a rock and roll nigger

Oh, look around you, all around you,
Riding on a copper wave.
Do you like the world around you? 
Are you ready to behave? 

Outside of society, 
they’re waitin’ for me.
Outside of society, 
that’s where I want to be.
Lenny!

Baby was a black sheep. baby was a whore.
You know she got big. well, she’s gonna get bigger.
Baby got a hand; got a finger on the trigger.
Baby, baby, baby is a rock-and-roll nigger.

Outside of society, 
that’s where I want to be.
Outside of society, 
they’re waitin’ for me.

(no guitar)
Those who have suffered, understand suffering,
And thereby extend their hand
The storm that brings harm
Also makes fertile
Blessed is the grass
And herb and the true thorn and light.

E                   G            A
I was lost in a valley of pleasure.
E                   G             A
I was lost in the infinite sea.
E                  G              A
I was lost, and measure for measure,
E                 G              A
Love spewed from the heart of me.
E                 G
I was lost, and the cost,
E                 G          A
And the cost didn’t matter to me.
E                  G
I was lost, and the cost
E                  G          A
Was to be outside society.

(guitar solo bit, minor pentatonic)
Jimi hendrix was a nigger.
Jesus christ and grandma, too.
Jackson pollock was a nigger.
Nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger,
Nigger, nigger, nigger.

(back into normal verse prog, with solo over)
Outside of society, they’re waitin’ for me.
Outside of society, if you’re looking,
That’s where you’ll find me.
Outside of society, they’re waitin’ for me.
Outside of society. (repeat)

Source: http://www.guitarmasta.net/p/patti_smith/334112.html

Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques


No Picture silent Rhythm Player	#1 by silent support at Dec 30, 2005 at 4:51 AM EST
	marilyn mansn covers this though i just think he wanted to shock people by saying nigger. anyway patti kicks ass and this song is mocking the word. she doesn't mean it as a racial slur and i think she mentions this when she performs it.

No Picture Aaron Average	#2 by Aaron Smith at Feb 5, 2006 at 4:25 PM EST
	this song fucking rules.

No Picture Will Wanna Be	#3 by Will Hay at Feb 23, 2006 at 11:22 PM EST
	It's a powerful image. Those people who think and feel and speak such radical TRUTH -- found through the suffering and the storm -- that they're out of society, so far out that they're labeled nigger! Damn right Jesus Christ was a nigger! Outside of society, that's where I want to be. -Pie

No Picture rockman Average	#4 by rockman the sequel at Mar 28, 2006 at 4:38 AM EST
	im guessing its positive.

No Picture Kazza Average	#5 by Kazza at May 7, 2006 at 1:00 PM EST
	She's not making fun of the word nigger, and yes the word does mean BLACK. Trace it's roots if you'd like. The song is about sterotypes, individuality and being crazy.

No Picture Matt Lead Player	#6 by Matt Cromwell at Jun 23, 2006 at 6:49 PM EST
	I agree with geoffsaintgeoff

No Picture Dan Wanna Be	#7 by Dan Z at Sep 21, 2006 at 12:37 AM EST
	This song is mocking the word nigger and using it as a positive thing because the definition of nigger is nothing to do with being black.It just means anyone that is seen as different or a freak.Patti is praising the fact that people are weird and yes she is using it as a compliment

No Picture Braxton Lead Player	#8 by Braxton Overby at Oct 1, 2006 at 7:02 AM EST
	The first paragraph, up to "I have not sold myself to God", is an entirely different song; Babelogue. And in the liner notes of her album, it's not "Moslem", it's "mausoleum". I realize that internet sites write it as "Moslem", I'm just saying in the album it says "mausoleum".

No Picture Lyssa CHAOS Average	#9 by Lyssa CHAOS at Dec 17, 2006 at 8:12 AM EST
	Sex and artistic outcast status rolled up as one. Nigger could be nigger, or it could be freak, or queer or punk. Any word that sets one aside from mainstream society, 'outside of society', and which implies societies rejection or disapproval. And nigger was probably the most powerful. She's staking ground - making a claim, and at the same time declaring allegiance. And at the same time, from Babelogue and the middle section, there's sex and art. Women's perspective, I guess, and a woman's experience of sex that seems to drive so much of 'Horses' - the complete absorption of the 'I was lost...' lines. A moment beyond one's self, where all else is lost to sensation. And the link - the equation of the two, art and sex - the rush of sex, and the rush of rock'n'roll, or performance, that's so obvious in her performances from the time.

No Picture terry Rhythm Player	#10 by terry terry watts at Dec 20, 2006 at 5:22 PM EST
	But, what does it mean? Is she trying to use the word "nigger" as a complement or term of endearment?

No Picture Zac Wanna Be	#11 by Zac Fielder at Jan 13, 2007 at 2:23 PM EST
	It's Muslim, i think raddddd song

No Picture nick Average	#12 by nick coffeen at Mar 12, 2007 at 5:48 PM EST
	geoffsaintgeoff... you must be quite the imbicile, because if you would look in a dictionary the word means LAZY. As in: TOO LAZY TO PICK UP A GODDAMN DICTIONARY!

No Picture MysticCat Wanna Be	#13 by MysticCat (Janis johnny Udodovs) at Apr 7, 2007 at 2:54 PM EST
	i loooooove this song. but i beleive its about being an outcast. "baby was a black sheep baby" -hence being an outside- "baby got big and baby got bigger" -maybe got more popular...let into society even tough they are weird- but then when lenny comes in i think he is singing about patti smith...and how she is an outsider. just a thouhgt...

No Picture jordan Average	#14 by jordan roberts at May 7, 2007 at 1:42 AM EST
	Alright, the word "nigger" comes from the Latin "niger", which absolutely means black. If it's defined as "lazy", that must be a more recent definition, based (I assume) on a racist perception of black people.

No Picture Ben Rhythm Player	#15 by Ben at Jul 23, 2007 at 9:47 AM EST
	Awesome song, Marilyn Mansons's cover really kicks ass Crazymoomin is right that Patti is making fun of the word as well as attacking society because many dumb fuckheads treat Black people like second hand citizens in this day and age. nigger-symbolism for outside in this song, being different is cool cuz the mainstream is boring

No Picture mike Average	#16 by mike rojas at Aug 15, 2007 at 3:51 PM EST
	I see this song as being partly autobiographical, although Patti Smith isn't black. I think she's using the word 'nigger' as someone who is, as she says, 'outside of society,' and something of a rebel ('In my heart I am an American artist') and she does what she wants - 'I was lost in a valley of pleasure... and the cost didn't matter to me, the cost was to be outside of society.' Then she references Jimi Hendrix, Jesus Christ, Grandma and Jackson Pollock (an artist) and how they were all 'niggers,' or outcasts. I d/k what the Moslem reference is about unless she was Moslem. I know during that time in the 70s that Islam became more widespread, particularly among African Americans so maybe she is talking about a black woman. Brilliant song.