Red Sector A Guitar Tab

Grace Under Pressure Tabs:

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From: jimmy@walrus.com (Jimmy Pena)
Subject: RUSH TAB: Red Sector A
Date: 8 Oct 1996 00:42:01 GMT


Rush - Red Sector A

Jimmy Pena - jimmy@walrus.com

| - not a standard bar line; just used to separate music
~ - vibrato or held note
x - percussive note with no pitch; muted note
. - staccato; mute the note immediately after striking it
h - hammer on
p - pull off
s - slide
t - trill; play the note(s) indicated rapidly and repeatedly
/ - slide up from infinity
 - slide down into infinity
 - natural harmonic (or pinch harmonic)
3(b5) - bend note up from 3rd to 5th fret pitch
3(b5r3) - bend note from 3rd to 5th fret pitch, then return to 3rd fret
o  _
o  /   repeat sign (always look for these!)

[x35553] - fret box; this is a C chord - this is the same as standard
  tablature, only turned on its side. Tilt your head clockwise to read.

[Intro]

Dm7sus4  Dm9                         Dm9
e:-15----12---12-12---12-|-15~----|--12-12--------12-------12-12-----|
B:-13----13---15-15---13-|-13~----|--13-13---15---13--15---13-13--15~|
G:-14----14---14-14---14-|-14~----|--14-14---14---14--14---14-14--14~|
D:-12---------12-12------|-12~----|--12-12---12----------------------|
A:-----------------------|--------|----------------------------------|
E:-----------------------|--------|----------------------------------|
  Dm7   Dm9            Dm7    Dm7sus4         Dm7
e:-5-5---5--------------5--5--------|--5-------8-----5-5-------------|
B:-6-6---5----5----5-5--6--6----8~--|--6---8---6--6--6-6--6~---------|
G:-5-5---5----7----7-7--5--5----5~--|--5---5---5--5--5-5--5~---------|
D:-------7----7----7-7--7--7----7~--|--7---7---7--7--7-7--7~---------|
A:----------------------------------|---------------------5~---------|
E:----------------------------------|--------------------------------|
   F5     Am
e:-----|--12~---|---15--15----12---12--12----15~---|--12----12-------|
B:-----|--13~---|---13--13----13---15--13----13~---|--13----15-------|
G:10~--|--14~---|---14--14----14---14--14----14~---|--14----14-------|
D:10~--|--14~---|---12-----------------------12~---|--12----0--------|
A:-8~--|--12~---|----------------------------------|-----------------|
E:-----|--------|----------------------------------|-----------------|
                  Dsus2 Dm9
e:--5-----------|---0----0----5~-----|---0----0----5~----------------|
B:--6----8~-----|---3----1----5~-----|---3----1----5~----------------|
G:--5----5~-----|---2----2----5~-----|---2----2----5~----------------|
D:--7----7~-----|---0----0----7~-----|---0----0----0~----------------|
A:--------------|--------------------|-------------------------------|
E:--------------|--------------------|-------------------------------|

[Riff 1]

e:--0----0----5~-----------------------------------------------------|
B:--3----1----5~-----------------------------------------------------|
G:--2----2----5~-----------------------------------------------------|
D:--0----0----0~-----------------------------------------------------|
A:-------------------------------------------------------------------|
E:-------------------------------------------------------------------|

[Riff 2]
              F5      A5
e:--0----0-------------5---5--|--0----0----5~------------------------|
B:--3----1-----6-------5---5--|--3----1----5~------------------------|
G:--2----2-----5-------2---2--|--2----2----5~------------------------|
D:--0----0-----3-------2---2--|--0----0----0~------------------------|
A:-------------------------0--|--------------------------------------|
E:----------------------------|--------------------------------------|

[Riff 3]

e:-------------------------5-5-5-5-5---------------------------------|
B:-------------------------5-5-5-5-5---------------------------------|
G:-------------------------2-2-2-2-2---------------------------------|
D:--2---0-0--3--0---2-2----2-2-2-2-2---------------------------------|
A:-------------------------0-0-0-0-0---------------------------------|
E:-------------------------------------------------------------------|

[Riff 4]
    F
e:-------------------------------------------------------------------|
B:-------------0---------------0-------------------------------------|
G:--2--------2---2-----------2---2---0-------------------------------|
D:--3------3---------------3-------3---------------------------------|
A:--3----3---------3----3--------------------------------------------|
E:--1--1----------------1--------------------------------------------|

Song progression:

[Intro] x1

[Riff 1] x1 /w lyrics:

All that we can do is just survive.

[Riff 2] x1 /w lyrics:

All that we can do to help ourselves is stay alive.

[Am]  [Riff 3] x2

[Riff 3] x2 /w lyrics:
                                                      G~
Ragged lines of ragged grey. Skeletons they shuffle away

                                 G~                   [Riff 3] x1
Shouting guards and smoking guns   will cut down the unlucky ones.

(strum)    A5                             Em
        I clutch the wire fence until my fingers bleed.

[Riff 4] x1 /w lyrics:

A wound that will not heal. A heart that cannot feel.

(strum)  Am                      Em
       Hoping that the horror will recede.

[Riff 4] x1 /w lyrics:

Hoping that tomorrow we'll all be freed.

[Riff 3] x2

[Riff 3] x2 /w lyrics:
                                       G~
Sickness to insanity, prayer to profanity.

                                 G~                        [Riff 3] x1
Days and weeks and months go by.   Don't feel the hunger too weak to cry.

(strum)    A5                           Em
        I hear the sound of gunfire at the prison gate.

[Riff 4] x1 /w lyrics:

Are the liberators here? Do I hope or do I fear?

(strum)         Am                      Em
        For my father and my brother it's too late,

     F                      F    F    [Riff 1] x1
But I must help my mother stand up straight.

Repeat this part TWICE:

[Riff 1] x1 then [Riff 2] x1 /w lyrics:

Are we the last ones left alive? Are we the only human beings to survive?

Then go into the [Guitar Solo]:

        Let the harmonics ring; notes with a '!' represent vibrato
instead of a held note; also use echo and a harmonizer set to a perfect
5th.

    Am
e:-----------|------------|---------------|--------------------------|
B:-----------|------------|---------------|--~-------------------|
G:-----------|-~------|---------------|------~---------------|
D:-~------|------~-|-~----------|----------~-~-----|
A:-~------|------------|-~----------|--------------------------|
E:-----!-|------------|-------~---|--------------------------|

e:---------------|------------|--------------------|-----------------|
B:---------------|-~-------|--------------------|-~------~--|
G:----------~-|------!--|---------------~-|------~-------|
D:------~-----|------------|-----~-~------|-----------------|
A:-~----------|------------|-~---------------|-----------------|
E:---------------|------------|--------------------|-----------------|
    G                                                   Am
e:-----------------------|------------------------------12-12-12-12--|
B:-12-----12-13----15----|-13-13-13-13-15--13--12--13---13-13-13-13--|
G:-12--------------------|-------------12--14--12--14---14-14-14-14--|
D:-12--12-------12----12-|-------------12----------------------------|
A:-10--------------------|-------------------------------------------|
E:-----------------------|-------------------------------------------|
                                    D
e:-----------12------------------|----------7--7--5-----7--7--5------|
B:-15p13--15-----15-13-15-13-13--|--5s7--5--8--8--7--5--8--7--7------|
G:---------------12-12-12----12--|--5s7--5--7--7--7--5--7--7--7------|
D:---------------------------14--|--5s7--5-----------5---------------|
A:-------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
E:-------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
    G                                      Am         C/G        F
e:-----------12---12-------------12--12--|---------------------------|
B:--12-13-12-15---15---10---10---13--12--|----------------~-13~~-|
G:--12-12-12-12---12---10---10---12--12--|------5s9---~-----14~~-|
D:--12-12-12-12---12---10---10-----------|----7-----------------15~~-|
A:---------------------------------------|--7------------------------|
E:---------------------------------------|---------------------------|
   Am        C/G          F                    Am       C/G
e:------------------------------------------|------0-----3-3-3-3-----|
B:-1---------~-------10~-----13--13p12--|--1---1--1--1-1-1-1-----|
G:-----2s5--------~--10~----------------|--2---2--2--0-0-0-0-----|
D:---2-------------------10~----------------|--2---2--2--2-2-2-2-----|
A:------------------------------------------|------------------------|
E:------------------------------------------|------------------------|
    F              G                                  Am
e:--3--0-----0--|--3-----3--3---|--5-5-5-5-5-5-5~--|-0---0---0------|
B:--1--1--3--1--|--3-----3--3---|--3-3-3-3-3-3-3~--|-1---3---1------|
G:--0--0--0--0--|--0--0--0--0---|--0-0-0-0-0-0-0~--|-2---2---2------|
D:--2--2--3--3--|--0--0--0--0---|--0-0-0-0-0-0-0~--|-2---2---2------|
A:--------------|--2-----2--2---|-------------------|-0---0---0------|
E:--------------|--3-----3--3---|-------------------|----------------|

e:--0--0--0--|--0---0-----0--|--0---0-----0--|-----------------------|
B:--1--3--1--|--1---3--0--1--|--1---3--0--1--|-----------------------|
G:--2--2--2--|--2---2--2--2--|--2---2--2--2--|-----------------------|
D:--2--2--2--|--2---2--2--2--|--2---2--2--2--|-----------------------|
A:--0--0--0--|--0---0-----0--|--0---0-----0--|-----------------------|
E:-----------|---------------|---------------|-----------------------|

(strum)    A5                           Em
        I hear the sound of gunfire at the prison gate.

[Riff 4] x1 /w lyrics:

Are the liberators here? Do I hope or do I fear?

(strum)         Am                      Em
        For my father and my brother it's too late,

     F                      F    F    G5 [x5578x]
But I must help my mother stand up straight.

[Riff 1] x1

[Riff 1] x1 then [Riff 2] x1 /w lyrics:

Are we the last ones left alive? Are we the only human beings to survive?

[Riff 1] x1 then [Riff 2] x1 /w lyrics:

Are we the last ones left alive? Are we the only human beings to survive?

[Outro]:
                                                         Dm9
   Dm9            Dm7   Dm7sus4   Dm9             Dm7sus4
e:-12--12----12-----------15~---|-12-12-12--12--12--15--12-12-12-----|
B:-13--13----15---13--13--13~---|-13-13-13--15--13--13--13-13-13-15--|
G:-14--14----14---14--14--14~---|-14-14-14--14--14--14--14-14-14-14--|
D:----------------15--12--12~---|-15-15-15----------12--15-15-15-12--|
A:------------------------------|------------------------------------|
E:------------------------------|------------------------------------|

   Dm7      Dm9              Dm7sus4    F       Am       Dm7sus4
e:--5--5-----0--0--0---5--5-----------|---------12~------------------|
B:--6--6-----1--3--1---6--6----8~-----|-10~-----13~-------8~---------|
G:--5--5-----2--2--2---5--5----5~-----|-10~-----14~-------5~---------|
D:-----------------------------7~-----|-10~-----14~-------7~---------|
A:------------------------------------|--8~-----12~----5--5~---------|
E:------------------------------------|------------------------------|

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Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques


No Picture josh Rhythm Player	#1 by josh groocock at Feb 18, 1970 at 11:39 AM EST
	A few years ago I saw Rush in Buffalo, NY and when I was in the washroom, I heard two guys talking and one of them said that the song was based on a prison in Africa.

No Picture Jesus Average	#2 by Jesus Christ at Oct 24, 1970 at 2:01 PM EST
	Comments from Rush's Lee and Peart on conceiving and writing Red Sector A are available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Sector_A.

No Picture austin Rhythm Player	#3 by austin ballard at Apr 27, 1976 at 3:33 AM EST
	this song is about the halacost

No Picture floyd Lead Player	#4 by floyd lloyd at Apr 29, 1977 at 7:29 AM EST
	such a haunting and touching song. like everyone else, said its about what the Jewish people went through in the Holocaust. and yes both of Geddy's parents survived it. this song just makes me so pissed off at all of those racist fuckers out there and what they are supporting.

No Picture Braxton Lead Player	#5 by Braxton Overby at Jun 16, 1979 at 12:26 PM EST
	i love this song...great lyrics and i love the guitar parts in it

No Picture Jordan Average	#6 by Jordan S. at Aug 16, 1979 at 12:22 AM EST
	you mean holocaust? yes, jewish genocide during ww2...

No Picture ALEX Lead Player	#7 by ALEX FOWLER at Feb 24, 1981 at 2:46 PM EST
	i would have thought this was about a Nazi camp, based on that Geddy's parents were survivors, but u have to remember, this whole album, with the exception of afterimage, is a political, anti-communist album. i thnk that it is more about tyranny and sub human camps than the holocoust

No Picture stephen Average	#8 by stephen warunki at May 27, 1981 at 7:22 PM EST
	Geddy Lees' parents were survivors of the holocaust.

No Picture Bobby Lead Player	#9 by Bobby Parker at Sep 4, 1981 at 4:24 AM EST
	hagar, maybe those guys in the bathroom actually said this bong was built in a prison in Africa... the song is ostensibly about some bleak situation in the future, but in reality is a description of what it must have felt like to have been liberated by allied forces at the end of WWII... the camp survivors had been imprisoned and starved for so long and none of them had any idea of whether the outside world had any idea of what was going on inside the camps or whether they had been totally forgotten... when the American soldiers came at last to liberate the camps, the prisoners probably could not be sure that what was happening was true... were they liberators or were they German soldiers coming to finish the Jews off? "Do I hope, or do I fear?"

No Picture Eric Average	#10 by Eric Phillips at Jun 10, 1982 at 5:15 PM EST
	The Holocaust was the basis for this song, but as many Rush songs do I think Peart might have been referring to some sort of futuristic society here where humans have been enslaved (a la 1984 say). Red Sector A I think refers to the area in Cape Canavral directly near the launch pad.

No Picture JJ Average	#11 by JJ at Sep 1, 1984 at 4:16 AM EST
	I had the honor of seeing rush perform this and many other songs during their 30th anniversary tour as well as on their roll the bones tour,and I was really overtaken by how fucking enerjetic they are during their shows.Especially neil peart.that guy is hands down the greatest drummer alive,and the fact that he could rebound from losing his wife and his daughter just command's the absolute upmost of respect.

No Picture sebastian Professional	#12 by sebastian at Feb 7, 1987 at 10:03 PM EST
	one of the best songs by Rush, great performance on the R30 concert in Toronto.

No Picture Rebecca Average	#13 by Rebecca Lira at May 16, 1992 at 5:32 AM EST
	Ha, I originally thought this song was about aliens enslaving mankind. Then I listened closer to the lyrics and figured it out. It's still my favourite Rush song. I had a feeling Geddy was of Polish background. His nose is almost too big of a give away.

No Picture Dusty Wanna Be	#14 by Dusty Delonge at Apr 26, 1993 at 2:00 AM EST
	This song is one of their best, and I agree with you masterofpuppets. I hate all those racist nazi whores.

No Picture nate Average	#15 by nate eastman at Jan 14, 2001 at 5:40 AM EST
	Lyricist Neil Peart has stated that the detailed imagery in the song intentionally evokes concentration camps of The Holocaust.

No Picture Jake Average	#16 by Jake m at Sep 6, 2005 at 2:16 PM EST
	I do not think this song is just about the Holocaust. I think it is about all of these types of forced imprisonment at subhuman standards of living. I think it also was intended to be a warning about the outcome of collectivist political philosophy, be it tribal or statist.

No Picture Sam Wanna Be	#17 by Sam Payne at Apr 4, 2007 at 5:20 AM EST
	From "How the Holocaust rocked Rush front man Geddy Lee", Jewish News Weekly, June 25, 2004: "The seeds for the song were planted nearly 60 years ago in April 1945 when British soldiers liberated the Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen. Lee’s mother, Manya (now Mary) Rubenstein, was among the survivors. (His father, Morris Weinrib, was liberated from Dachau a few weeks later.) The whole album “Grace Under Pressure,” says Lee, who was born Gary Lee Weinrib, “is about being on the brink and having the courage and strength to survive.” Though “Red Sector A,” like much of the album from which it comes, is set in a bleak, apocalyptic future, what Lee calls “the psychology” of the song comes directly from a story his mother told him about the day she was liberated. “I once asked my mother her first thoughts upon being liberated,” Lee says during a phone conversation. “She didn’t believe [liberation] was possible. She didn’t believe that if there was a society outside the camp how they could allow this to exist, so she believed society was done in.” In a 1984 interview Neil Peart describes writing Red Sector A: "I read a first person account of someone who had survived the whole system of trains and work camps and Bergen-Belsen and all of that (...) through first person accounts from other people who came out at the end of it, always glad to be alive, which again was the essence of grace, grace under pressure is that through all of it, these people never gave up the strong will to survive, through the utmost horror, and total physical privations of all kinds." ...I wanted to take a little bit out of being specific and, and just describe the circumstances and try to look at the way people responded to it, and another really important and to me really moving image that I got from a lot of these accounts was that at the end of it, these people of course had been totally isolated from the rest of the world, from their families, from any news at all, and they, in cases that I read, believed that they were the last people surviving.."