Lips Of Ashes Solo Guitar Tab

In Absentia Tabs:

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The chords played during the solo are:
Bm / A2 / Cadd9 / Em

Bm / A2 / Fmaj7 / Em




E------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------
B---------3-2------------------------|---------3/5-------5/7---5--5----5--5------------------
G---2/4---------2--------------------|---2/4---------6---------------------------------------
D-------------------2---2/4---5p4-2--|-------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------
E------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------


E--------5------5------------5---------------------------------------------------------------
B---5/7------5------5-3--3-3---3-2-----------------------------------------------------------
G--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---------------------------------------7-5--5----5--7p5-4-----------------------------------
A--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


E-------------------------------5/7-7h8--7-3-------------------------------------------------
B-------------5-3--2---------5-----------------3--3/5----------------------------------------
G--------7-6----------2----------------------------------------------------------------------
D---4/9--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


E--------12----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B---12-------12-12/15--14--10/12----10/12--10------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------9/11--9--9----7/9-9h10p9--7---------------7---
D---------------------------------------------------------------------------5--5/7--9-9----9-
A--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


E--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B---3/5---5/7--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-------------7--7/9--6----------------------------------------------------------------------
D------------------------7-------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------7--7----5-7-7h8p7---5-2----------------------------------------
E--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



This is my first tab ever written, please raise my ego and rate it high ;[

- Chen Sternberg (ICQ#: 54320728)

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Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques


No Picture CHUNK ZIZZLE Rhythm Player	#1 by CHUNK ZIZZLE at Jun 15, 1971 at 5:07 PM EST
	The album was based around some book, I read somewhere. There's even a few excerpts from the book in this song. The book is from the father's POV, while the album is from the son's POV. Something like that. Killer song, by the way.

No Picture tim Average	#2 by tim martin at Feb 1, 1973 at 11:34 PM EST
	The whole album is great, but this track stands out. I think this is one of the best ballads the band ever wrote, which is saying something. I believe on My Ashes the hero tells us how he was alienated from his parents, who rejected him. This caused him to withdraw into his inner world that no-one can penetrate to save him.

No Picture Dominic Badass	#3 by Dominic Smith at Oct 5, 1974 at 2:02 AM EST
	"The concept of the album was heavily influenced by Brett Easton Ellis' novel Lunar Park. The novel is told from the perspective of the father, whereas the album is mostly from the son's perspective. Many of the lyrics for Fear of a Blank Planet are lifted directly from the novel, particularly "My Ashes", which is an homage to the last chapter, in which the ashes of a cremated father are scattered and cover the memories of his life." - Wiki

No Picture kevin Rhythm Player	#4 by kevin jeung at Jul 30, 1975 at 11:50 PM EST
	I thought my stomach would explode when I first heard the intro of this song. It sounds sooo wonderful. Anyway, without repeating what is already said I want to add a personal thought about it: It's in general a kind of love song. The protagonist of the song fell in love with a woman, but he knew that he would never be able to be together with her ("You and I - Connection failing"). So he murdered her and kept her corpse at home, that's where the song starts. He looks at her dead body and starts to touch it. He can even get into the wounds with his hands, which is way closer then he would be able to a living body ("I drill down inside"). In other words: He can finally do what he would have never been able to when she was alive. It's very sick on the on hand, but on the other hand a very beautiful and intensive description of love which also shows the desperation you have when this love isn't returned. How far you would like to go just to fulfill this dream. Lyrically and musically one of the best songs I've ever heard.

No Picture Kyle Average	#5 by Kyle at Oct 26, 1976 at 11:40 PM EST
	necrophilia i bet .. or something .. shes sedated. hes fucking her. this song conjures terrible images It's beautiful, yes. but it makes my stomach churn too

No Picture MetJustice Wanna Be	#6 by MetJustice at May 2, 1977 at 12:22 PM EST
	im_a_pirate, don't just accept what's on wikipedia as the truth. Not trying to offend you or anything, but you should have your own opinion about the music.

No Picture Joe Average	#7 by Joe Montana at Jun 30, 1980 at 7:12 PM EST
	Oh, I forgot to add something, sorry: Another thought I have: Maybe it's not about a "not returned love", but about a couple that used to love each other but fails to live together. I hope you know what I mean? You love this person so much that you cannot imagine to be together with any other one again, but the relationship just doesn't work. So the solution of the protagonist is to kill her, so they can finally be together. I guess it's not that important which one of the two may be more correctly, but I wanted to write it down as well.

No Picture phil Average	#8 by phil gdfgr at Jan 14, 1981 at 4:20 AM EST
	'Course mommy's gonna help build the wall... I cannot explain, you would not understand; This is not how I am... I have become comfortably numb... Goodbye, all you people, there's nothing you can say... To make me change my mind, goodbye... !

No Picture Jared Wanna Be	#9 by Jared van Eck at Apr 25, 1983 at 11:26 PM EST
	I just got FOABP, wow, is all I can say...Still not my favorite PT, that would be Stupid Dream, but wow, this disc is nothing short of amazing, especially "My Ashes"

No Picture Håvard Average	#10 by Håvard Banne at Oct 18, 1983 at 1:48 PM EST
	By the way, when I say drugs, it seems unclear to me whether it is heroin or in fact morphine, as GroovyJude suggests. I'm beginning to think it's the latter now.

No Picture Daniel Average	#11 by Daniel Johnson at Jul 10, 1991 at 4:51 PM EST
	In Open Car, the girl he has meaningless sex with is smoking. The sex eases his pain. "I drill down inside" could have more than one meaning-sexual &/or violent.

No Picture Nick Rhythm Player	#12 by Nick Carrasco at Oct 2, 1996 at 7:06 AM EST
	The best theory I've heard is that this song refers to a British doctor, Harold Shipman, who killed hundreds of his patients by overdosing them on morphine and other drugs and watched them die. This fits quite well with the imagery of veins, dead bodies and "drilling down inside."

No Picture Jason Rhythm Player	#13 by Jason ...... at Jan 6, 1998 at 6:12 PM EST
	isn't it strange, that pt hardly alludes to people that are still alive or that many people still remember.. christine keeler (piano lessons..i guess most of u know but for those who don't,,,) harold shipman.. Marshall Herff Applewhite (leader of "heavens gate", the one who talks in last chance to evacuate,,, you should check out his speeches on youtube by the way, i found the exact extract that was used in the song.. secondly u'll find much interesting trivia about their religion and the numerous suicides...).. anyway, maybe i just never heard about these people before because i was born in 1991...

No Picture Super Average	#14 by Super Q at Oct 27, 2000 at 3:47 AM EST
	To me, it seems this song is speaking of necrophilia. Taking into account the generally agreed upon theme of "Blackest Eyes" and the theme of "In Absentia" that it's about a man who's either a sadistic rapist/rapist gone crazy, take note of line 2: "Lips of Ashes," and line 4: "Blue vein crashes." This brings the notion to my mind of him looking over the child he had killed, s/he's been dead a while --"Lips of ashes" as if her lips were dried and cracking-- and he notices her dying veins which are "blue." When are your veins ever blue? In latter years of life and in death. The way PT matches saddening musical content with disgusting and sometimes terrifying lyrical content is just magical. Although scary to think about, it is also seemingly a talent not everyone can posses. (Btw, I realize my interpretation seems somewhat short).

No Picture Reece Wanna Be	#15 by Reece Brown at Jan 7, 2004 at 11:04 AM EST
	I think this song is about someone who has lost their inner child, because the problems given to them by their parents made them become mature at an early age. Their inner child is represent as the ashes. When he sees the boy on a bike, it reminds him if himself when he was young. The photos under the bed are all that remains if this inner child. Yet eventually, sleeping one night, he discovers the joys of his inner child again, and embraces them once more.

No Picture Jake Wanna Be	#16 by Jake Stewart at Nov 16, 2005 at 8:33 PM EST
	Probably my favorite PT song. Yes, I believe you may be onto something GroovyJude. I've always imagined this song to be about drugs and/or death. Haven't known or heard anything much further than that though. I have a question. In the beginning, what are those weird strings? Is that a specific instrument? I know a hammered dulcimer is also used towards the beginning, but what about in the VERY beginning?