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Message-ID:
From: "MAQUET, Frederic F."
Subject: Tab: Wandering Stars by Portishead
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 17:58:56 -0000
Wandering Stars by Portishead
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Tabbed by Frederic Maquet
This is one of the best songs from the "Dummy" album (but then again,
they're all
brilliant...). It is very simple to play, and it can sound good even on
an accoustic,
if you don't mind not having the rap sounds with you...
All the strumming is downstroke, giving it that dum dum dum dum, dam dam
dam dam
feel!
For more exclusive tabs, go to:
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/3224/guitar.html
Email me for comments, corrections, and anything else! at
f.maquet@ic.ac.uk
Intro/Verse/Chorus/Everything:(normal tuning)
B5 G(something) B5 F#(something)
e:--------------------------|---------------------------|
B:--------------------------|---------------------------|
G:--------------------------|---------------------------|
D:-9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9---|--9--9--9--9--8--8--8--8---|
A:-9--9--9--9--10-10-10-10--|--9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9---|
E:-7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7---|--7--7--7--7--6--6--6--6---|
Verse 1:
--------
B5 G
Please could you stay a while to share my grief,
B5 F#
It's such a lovely day to have to always feel this way,
B5 G
And the time that I will suffer less,
B5 F#
Is when I never have to wait Chorus:
-------
B5
Wandering stars,
G
For whom it is reserved,
B5 F#
The blackness, the darkness, forever
Wandering stars,
For whom it is reserved,
The blackness, the darkness, forever
Verse 2:
--------
Those who have seen the needles I now tread,
Like a husk from which your darkness now has fled,
And the masks that the monsters wear,
To feed upon their prey
Chorus 2:
---------
Wandering stars,
For whom it is reserved,
The blackness, the darkness, forever
Wandering stars,
For whom it is reserved,
The blackness, the darkness, forever
Doubled up inside,
Take a while to share my grief,
Always doubled up inside,
Taunted, Cool,
Wandering stars,
For whom it is reserved,
The blackness, the darkness, forever
Wandering stars,
For whom it is reserved,
The blackness, the darkness, forever
Extra bits:
-----------
Fills:
e:-------------------|--------------|
B:-------------------|--------------|
G:-------------------|---11-9--7--4-|
D:----------------7--|--------------|
A:--9p8h9p8h9p8h9----|--------------|
E:-------------------|--------------|
Brought to you by the GUITARMASTA - http://www.guitarmasta.net
Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
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No Picture
Reece Wanna Be |
#1 by Reece Brown at Mar 28, 1972 at 10:07 AM EST |
| i mean wow! the lyrics are just incredible and then the beat. c'mon pplz! totally awesome! this is an awesome jam! | |
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julius Average |
#2 by julius vaisanen at Apr 15, 1972 at 8:38 AM EST |
| This song is absolutly beautiful. look at this Please could you stay awhile to share my grief For its such a lovely day To have to always feel this way And the time that I will suffer less Is when I never have to wake beautiful... | |
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metal-cat Average |
#3 by metal-cat stepheria at Jul 18, 1974 at 5:39 PM EST |
| Clearly the chorus was taken directly from the book of Jude. I'm surprised that Raven didn't mention the other Biblical allusion, in the line "those who have seen the needle's eye", a reference to Matthew 19:24. Beth seems to be twisting the imagery to fit in with a portrait of alienation from society combined with depression and drug abuse, which is ultimately what I believe this song is about. (In the dim recesses of my mind, I seem to remember an interview or liner note when this album came out in which Beth credited the chorus to one of her friends who has an interest in biblical imagery.) | |
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Justin Wanna Be |
#4 by Justin at May 12, 1982 at 9:24 PM EST |
| I find that Biblical stuff quite interesting, cause it may well have been an influence on the lyrics. That's not the same as saying that the song has a Christian message. There's Biblical/Christian imagery in all sorts of non-religious works of art. (Not so keen on the actual preaching and stuff though. I can't think of a less appropriate place for it.) | |
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marvin Lead Player |
#5 by marvin at Mar 27, 1984 at 3:45 AM EST |
| niam i agree with you, however let me tell all of you who are not trying to push religion on the rest of us, what this song means...... to me that is...... it is about basically being lost in this cruel world, you are wondering in the blackness and darkness of it all, and there is alot of grief even though its a beautiful day to have to always feel this way. but the truth of the matter is you always feel doubled up inside as if you know things are not ok and really ever wont be becuase as beth wrote" And the masks, that the monsters wear ,To feed, upon their prey ", you can look to other things to feel better but until you, your self make something happen for you, no one else will till then you will be a "wondering star" make sense not much huh? thats ok it will one day!! | |
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Abe Lead Player |
#6 by Abe Watson at Dec 26, 1989 at 2:32 PM EST |
| this song just reminds me of preditors taking advantage of young girls, little red riding hood, sigmund freud | |
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james Rhythm Player |
#7 by james dobson at Dec 2, 1990 at 6:42 AM EST |
| wow. | |
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kenzie Professional Badass |
#8 by kenzie at Feb 2, 1992 at 2:28 AM EST |
| You know, Niam was sort of right. This is an inappropriate place to push religion- so let me apologize officially, if anyone actually cares... Anyway, I wasn't actually intending to push religion, people have to figure that out on their own. What I was trying to accomplish was maybe to add a new perspective to the few people that would ever read this. The fact is those lyrics have an Uncanny resemblance to those scriptures, that can't be denied. I guess I threw the last part of my last comment as a possible way to gain more information, but I now recognise it sounded like a push to convert. So do what you want, as you will, whatever.... The point I was trying to make is that those other invisible, intangible spiritual forces do have a literal and tangible effect on people, as they seem to with Beth here. The song itself is a beautiful ode to tragedy, though, and what better source to spread this attitude, this... feeling than through music. Music is the most commonly used drug in mankinds history, it makes us FEEL the way the song-writer feels, and we use it to delve even deeper into depression, or happiness, or frustration, or sometimes we use it when we just need to.... rock. The fact is, however, regardless of what religious affiliation we ascribe ourselves to, (or complete lack thereof) spirituality is in-arguably linked with music. And this song backs up that fact. | |
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brandon Rhythm Player |
#9 by brandon q at Dec 11, 1995 at 6:05 AM EST |
| You know what this song is really about? Get out your family bible. (No I am not Joking.) Look up Jude 13 (Jude is the book right before Revelation- in the back.) It will read someting like this: "stars with no set course, for which the blackness of darkness stands reserved forever" "Stars" in the bible often represent angels- Satan and his demons are called "falling stars" or "stars with no set course" ---Hmm, does this sound like another way of saying "wandering stars"? Now-- check this out--- Their Judgment: "...for who it is reserved....the blackness... the darkness... forever." Lookup Revelation 20:1-3 in your bible. It explains that Satan and his demons will be cast into the abyss. (the blackness, the darkness....) Interesting stuff huh? Note that she writes from THEIR perspective: "Please could you stay awhile to share my grief " I think I would be pretty grievous too if I knew I were going to be cast into the abyss. The real question is, if BEFORE I wrote this; you didn't know this song had demonic influence, how many other songs that you listen to are influenced the same way.......? It's very interesting to see your bible have modern uses, isn't it? If you are curious about WHEN Satan and his demons will finally be cast into the abyss-- I encourage you to read your bible. If you want a deeper knowledge of your bible, contact the Jehovah's Witnesses in your area. They offer free bible studies and will even travel to your home or other place of convenience. It helped me...... | |
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brandon Rhythm Player |
#10 by brandon q at Feb 4, 2003 at 11:40 AM EST |
| To truly understand this song we will have to step back a bit and discuss the human condition. Please bear with me, I will probably offend some of you “open minded,” “progressive,” deep thinking types. Instead of using the “G” or “J” words, I'll relay to you a little story: Once upon a time, a real smart dude named Bob decided to purchase a planet to build a giant amusement park. He went to Sal's Used Planets to see what He could buy. Sal told him he had a great deal Bob just could not pass up, a place called, “earth.” “A real fixer upper,” Sal claimed with a big smile. Bob agreed to the price and went to build his park. Well when Bob showed up, he found that Sal exaggerated quite a bit, in fact the place was totally trashed. Oh well, Bob ever the optimist got his building crew together and in record time (a week) turned earth into a first rate park with all sorts of vegetation and critters. Bob decide that he needed a work crew to keep the planet in tip top shape, so he built a set of biological robots that looked just like himself. They were self learning and able to reproduce their own kind. He even gave them the ability to communicate with him direct wirelessly! Things were going great until Sal came to check out the planet and saw that Bob turned the dump into a real gold mine. Sal was ticked off because he realized Bob actually got one over on him and he felt ripped off. He came up with a simple plan to make the park unusable: just find a way to sever the wireless link between the caretakers and Bob! Peace of cake. So Sal did just that and soon the caretakers began forgetting that Bob was even real. Some thought he was some myth or something. But all of them new deep down something big was missing: and they searched all over for the peace they had when they could communicate with Bob.... Now to the meaning of the song. Just like the folks above, all of us have deep longing for someone that can fill the void in our lives. We feel lonely and misunderstood. We search for meaning and joy, but it becomes elusive. We try to give ourselves joy through drugs, work, relationships, whatever, but in the end come up empty. The truth is without communication with “Bob” our lives suck, it becomes a downward spiral into depression. Hence death seems to be a better choice than living. Hope that helped, sorry for being long winded. | |
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Patrick Wanna Be |
#11 by Patrick Wade at May 21, 2003 at 4:27 AM EST |
| i never owned a bible so this information in useless to me | |
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Toby Musical Thunder |
#12 by Toby at Jun 9, 2003 at 10:46 PM EST |
| I agree with ReActor. Ravendaymon's suggestions are not only valid but intriguing. The idea that she is speaking from Satan's perspective is quite interesting. However, I would suggest that she is speaking from her own perspective. Perhaps she feels as if she, herself is damned, as she seems to be experiencing a living Hell. "please stay awhile to share my grief" this grief is in life. She also seems to desire death to escape: "and the time i will suffer less is when i never have to wake." Therefore, I would suggest that she desires death to escape Hell. I have read parts of the Bible, but read it as myth. And again, I agree with ReActor in that this is not the most appropriate venue to push religion. | |
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DUMBASS Average |
#13 by DUMBASS Thomas at Apr 23, 2004 at 7:44 AM EST |
| Whilst finding it really intersting to hear all these interpretations, this song meant something completely different to me. When I first got into portishead, as im sure alot people did, i was depressed. The worst throes of depression can be a completely physical sensation. You go into a zone where everything turns black, you stumble around unsure of what it is you are trying to do at that moment, your life has no purpose, you just want out. This "blackness of darkness forever" really struck a chord for me. Doubled up inside Take awhile to shed my grief Always doubled up inside Taunted, cruel.... ... Those lyrics just for me describe the physical pain, and the emotional pain of just wanting someone to understand. When you feel like this all you want to do is cry out to someone, to reach out for help but you just don't know how... Please could you stay awhile to share my grief For its such a lovely day To have to always feel this way And the time that I will suffer less Is when I never have to wake With depression, you want to get out of it, you want to feel happy again, you want to show your friends how you are feeling but most of all you want out. Most of all, you want it to end. Most people who feel like this (generally bipolars or manic depressives like me, who can occassionaly see a more free way of life) are too afraid of the pain of death, and of the consequences of suicide, so the easiest way would be if they just never had to wake up or worry about anything ever again. Those who have seen the needles eye, now tread Like a husk, from which all that was, now has fled And the masks, that the monsters wear To feed, upon their prey Many a depressive feels as if they have some enlightened way of looking at life, of understanding "deeper" things. They see most other people as empty shells, husks, who are fake (wearing masks) and have no inner beauty (monsters). They think everyone else is trying to attack them (monsters feeding on prey). Another thing, is that I can now see that people who feel like this are so beautiful, and need to realise they are beautiful, like stars. That although all they can see is blackness, they can shine in the life of other people. This imagery is just so beautiful and perfectly fitting for me, I can't imagine it meaning anything else. As for the religious aspect, perhaps there is something saying we are all sinners or something, linking us to demons? I'm not really sure, I hadn't thought about it that much before. Either way, it is a beautiful song, and one of the many that helped me cope with the rougher times in life. | |
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Andrea Average |
#14 by Andrea Lauria at Aug 22, 2005 at 4:38 AM EST |
| it's people like niam's close-mindedness that erks me more than people who try to push religion onto others. i was a lil turned off by raven trying to get people to convert, however, the point made was valid. i just got out my bible to check, new king james version, whcih is even more similar. beth ripped it from the bible "raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever" im not kidding, those are the exact words from the bible!! but i don't really know what the song is about...i guess it may or may not have anything to do with the actual bible and beth just decided to rip the words off. but it's definitely about suffering, and a hellish place which, raven referred the blackness of darkness forever is hell. but it may not be the christian hell. | |
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Speed Demon Professional |
#15 by Speed Demon at Apr 17, 2006 at 5:28 PM EST |
| Hey guys, you know what's cool? Being offended that someone's interpretation of this song is laden with religious conotations, thereby assuming that person is pushing his or her beliefs on you. Nevermind the clear verse reference. | |
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