#-----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE------------------------------#
# This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation #
# of the song. The owner of this website has not reviewed the contents of #
# this file. If you feel that the content of this file may be violating #
# copyright law, you may not use the information displayed here in any way. #
#----------------------------------------------------------------------------#
4th Of July
Key:
/ = slide up
= slide down
7B = bend
7H = harmonic
7^9 = hammer on
7P5 = pull off
Tuning: Low E -> C; A -> F; D -> C. The first three strings are the same.
Intro:
Play 4 times Shower...
G||------------------------------------------|--------------|
C||o---------------------------------------o-|--------------|
F||o--3---3--3------3--3--3-----2--2--2--2-o-|--2--2--2--2--|
C||---3---3--3--2~~~1--1--1--0--2--2--2--2---|--2--2--2--2--|
Verse:
dark day....
G||-----------------------------------------------------------------|
C||-----------------------------------------------------------------|
F||--3---3--3------3--3---3-----2--2---2--2--5--5--5--4~~~3---3--3--|
C||--3---3--3--2~~~1--1---1--0--2--2---2--2--3--3--3------3---3--3--|
G||----------------------------------|
C||----------------------------------|
F||------3---3---3------2---2--2--2--|
C||--2~~~1---1---1---0--2---2--2--2--|
Chorus riff:
wind, and I saw it ......
G||-------------------------------------------------------------|
C||-------------------------------------------------------------|
F||--5---5---5---4~~~--1---1-----1--------------------7P5--5~~~~|
C||--3---3---3---------1---1-----1-----2~~~--0----0-------------|
G||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
C||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
F||--7P5--75---5---5---5---4~~~1---1-----1--------------------7P5--5~~|
C||-------------3---3---3-------1---1-----1-----2~~~--0----0-----------|
Then riff b and into second verse, then riff c, and then:
shovel load...
G||-----------------------------------|
C||-----------------------------------|
F||--2--------2--------2--------5b----|
C||--2--------2--------2--------------|
Then riff d:
G||----------------------|---------------------------------|
C||--2------2--2P0-------|---------------------------------|
F||--2------2--2P0--5----|-----------------------------5B--|
C||-----------------5----|----5--4----3B--3B--3B-----------|
I thought it was the end...
G||----------------------|-----------------------------------|
C||---2------2--2P0------|-----------------------------------|
F||---2------2--2P0--5---|-----------------7B-----7B-----5B--|
C||------------------5---|-----5--4---3B---------------------|
The fill before the guitar solo:
Fourth of July.....
G||----------------------|
C||----------------------|
F||---------7B--7~~~~~~~~|
C||--3-------------------|
The high part of the guitar solo:
E||-------------------------------23---23---23---23--20~~~~~--|
B||--22B-----20---23B~~~~-------------------------------------|
G||--------------------------22-------------------------------|
C||-----------------------------------------------------------|
E||---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B||--22B-----20---23B~~~~----23P20----22B-------20^22P20--20-----20--22B--20--|
G||-----------------------------------------------------------22--------------|
C||---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E||----------------------------------------------------------------------|
B||--22B-----20---23B~~~~-----------20--20---20----20---18---20---1815--|
G||----------------------------------------------------------------------|
C||----------------------------------------------------------------------|
E||----------------------------------------------------------------------
B||------------------------------23--------------------------------------
G||--14B-----12------15B~~~~~~-------22B----20^22P20~~~~---22--20^22P20--
C||----------------------------------------------------------------------
Oooh............
E||-----------------------------|
B||----------------11-----------|
G||--19~~~~19------------------|
C||-----------------------------|
Do some more of the main riff after this then the outro part is just:
E||-------------------------------20------18-------------------
B||--22---------20---23~~~~~~~-----------------20~~~~~~~~------
G||------------------------------------------------------------
C||------------------------------------------------------------
Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
|
No Picture
Thomas Average |
#1 by Thomas Buckman at Apr 9, 1971 at 6:07 PM EST |
| i thought it was about mushrooms/lsd | |
|
No Picture
♥Chicken Average |
#2 by ♥Chicken On Heroine Shots♥ at Oct 5, 1973 at 12:08 PM EST |
| These lyrics have an almost metaphysical quality to them, something really creepy but really compelling at the same time. Chris Cornell is a great lyric writer, anyway. | |
|
No Picture
Lead Player |
#3 by Michael Leathers at Jun 3, 1974 at 3:04 PM EST |
| LMAO. I cant believe people thought Chris talking about the end of the world. In no way is he a Christian. The 4th of July is a symbol of freedom and he saying one day in the future people will be freed from the Jesus myth. "Jesus tries to crack a smile beneath another shovel load". Jesus is being buried, dead, done with. He is saying the idea of this Jesus guy will some day fade away like many religions in the past. | |
|
No Picture
Lyssa CHAOS Average |
#4 by Lyssa CHAOS at Nov 2, 1975 at 4:46 PM EST |
| It definitely represents war to me. The thunderous sounds in this song sound like bombs dropping. And the flares of light make it look like the 4th of July. The durgy riff during the verse sounds like a march of doom. During the solo it sounds like planes and bombs. Love this song. | |
|
No Picture
Da 1 n onli Mat Average |
#5 by Da 1 n onli Matt! goncalves at Oct 25, 1977 at 7:35 AM EST |
| no offence but i am so sure a large percentage of u are american fundemental christians.....all thinking its about the armageddon and the old testament and jesus.....cornell is not a fundamental christian like urselves. i suspect this song is about how cornell sees the world and perhaps america, the title 4th of july could be an ironic title showing how proud americans are of their country when he states it surely isn't that great...i think it also uses a metaphor to express conformity of religion and politics comparing light to ideals, "The scared light cracks & disappears " being the minorities like homosexuals, negros, jews, and how the majorities keep growing, the majority is the fire. "the fire is spreading and no-one wants to speak about it" and btw i have every soundgarden cd and read basically any article on them their is and i know of know song about armageddons or nuclear wars, they are a smarter band than that and i know alot more songs of his about blind faith | |
|
No Picture
Caitlin Rhythm Player |
#6 by Caitlin Carlisle at Oct 10, 1983 at 1:26 PM EST |
| nuclear warfare blowin the crap out of everybody on the 4th of july | |
|
No Picture
dann Average |
#7 by dann at Aug 26, 1985 at 6:45 PM EST |
| nuclear warfare blowin the crap out of everybody on the 4th of july | |
|
No Picture
guitar girl Rhythm Player |
#8 by guitar girl 13 at Jan 1, 1990 at 5:55 AM EST |
| Crazy horse, nothing personal, but that was annoying. and i didn't buy it! i swear! :) anyway, it does sound like nuclear war. if the apocalypse had a theme song, this or slayer's hell awaits would be it. Soundgarden is absolute genius and deserved to be much bigger that OVERRATED-VANA ever did. | |
|
No Picture
Collin Average |
#9 by Collin at Jan 20, 1997 at 1:02 AM EST |
| Have you ever thought of a video for this song? It would be really cool, I guess. | |
|
No Picture
Corey Average |
#10 by Corey La Plante at Mar 19, 1997 at 2:56 PM EST |
| My brother used to play in a band that would open for soundgarden whenever they played in Seattle. He asked Chris if it was about nuclear war and Chris said nope-its about an episode of Peanuts-Charlie Brown, Linus, u get the picture. Well anyway, it was the one where Snoopy was on his doghouse pretending to be in a dog fight. Chris said that cartoon opened his eyes to the cold, empty world of cartoons who never die....Oh yea, btw, im a pathalogical liar.heehee! | |
|
No Picture
Emdizzy foshizz Lead Player |
#11 by Emdizzy foshizzy at Sep 11, 1997 at 7:30 PM EST |
| its about a nuclear war and the aftermath of it | |
|
No Picture
CJ Wanna Be |
#12 by CJ West at Sep 12, 1999 at 6:40 AM EST |
| the sound makes it seem like the world around you is caving in | |
|
No Picture
birdman Average |
#13 by birdman ethdh at Nov 19, 2005 at 8:39 PM EST |
| While I do agree with perineum_slicer's ideas of religions fading, I have to argue with his thoughts on the end of the world part. Chris would not have to be religious to talk about the end of the world, it could be the end caused by humankind. | |
|
No Picture
Renee Wanna Be |
#14 by Renee Saenz at Jan 4, 2006 at 5:13 AM EST |
| You guys are right, or at least I guess so. Cornell writes alot of songs about the world ending, this is pretty obviously one of them. Great song, love the heavy sounding guitar. | |
|
No Picture
health risk Average |
#15 by health risk at May 28, 2006 at 12:53 AM EST |
| I agree with pretty much everythng grungemonkey said. I didn't really have much of a clue about the lyrics, because I just can't seem to wrap my head around Chris Cornell's lyrics ... some of the absolute deepest lyrics I've ever read ... Musically, though, this song is one of the most creepily depressing, disturbing songs I've ever heard, because of the sludgy, doomy guitars. The Apocolypse idea just adds so much more to the creepiness of this song. Soundgarden = Genuis. | |
|
No Picture
A.K.A. Steven Average |
#16 by A.K.A. Steven Stelacio at Jul 20, 2006 at 9:33 AM EST |
| This song is actually about smoking crack while working at a carwash. It's how everything seems on the come down. | |
|
No Picture
Doolittle Lead Player |
#17 by Doolittle at Aug 1, 2006 at 1:31 AM EST |
| This song has the most depressing sound I have ever heard but I love it. | |
|
No Picture
Matt Lead Player |
#18 by Matt Cromwell at Aug 13, 2006 at 7:07 PM EST |
| Like most art it's open to interpretation, I love this song and I love Soundgarden, but a lot of Cornell's lyrics are pretty hard to understand - maybe they're really deep (or maybe they're really random). Having read Chris' comments about his own song and comparing the lyrics to my own experiences with acid I reckon its just about what it felt like to be tripping out, the thoughts that run through your mind - which could include feeling like the world was ending. The first verse, raindrops just don't seem like they would in reality, they might feel hot, as if they were sparks, for example. It sounds as if he's very aware of his hot breath, "breathing life like fire". The second verse definitely sounds to me like the end of the world, with evil taking over and no-one caring or wanting to talk about it. The last bit of the second verse is my favourite: "Down in the hole/Jesus tries to crack a smile/Beneath another shovel-load". Jesus (perhaps representing good) is in his grave and trying to be happy while he is being buried! I think this is because Jesus was said to have died willingly to save mankind, but now he is being buried and forgotten, so his sacrifice was meaningless. In the third verse he is coming down, a very unpleasant experience, the aftermath or (nuclear) "fall out" where he is being brought back to reality. He was dreaming, "asleep", but now he is back in control. I think in the last two lines he is comparing the drug to a firework - a very beautiful and wonderful thing - but not something you would hold or want too close to you! Finally, I love the irony of using "4th of July" - America's Independence Day, when they blow up a bunch of fireworks, that has meaning on so many levels I don't know where to begin. By the way my 4th of July landed me in hospital, so it was a fantastic experience but not one I'm keen to do again. | |
|
No Picture
brent Rhythm Player |
#19 by brent west at Feb 9, 2007 at 3:45 PM EST |
| It kinda reminds me of 9/11 | |
|
No Picture
slapslappopslap Badass |
#20 by slapslappopslap at Mar 19, 2007 at 6:48 AM EST |
| I agree, ThayilBeGod | |
|
No Picture
Lamb Of God Wor Average |
#21 by Lamb Of God Worshiper at Apr 26, 2007 at 8:25 AM EST |
| It reminds me of the Revalations at the end of the New Testament. I love when it mentions Jesus tries to crack a smile beneath another shovel load. Yeah I think it's an end of the world scenario which obviously reminds Cornell of the 4th of July because of the fire in the sky or nuclear holocost whichever it may be! | |
|
No Picture
Allen Average |
#22 by Allen Stone at Aug 4, 2007 at 11:07 PM EST |
| i thought it was about mushrooms/lsd | |
|
No Picture
Taylor Lead Player |
#23 by Taylor Dutton at Aug 11, 2007 at 6:16 AM EST |
| I think this can give you an idea what's the song is about: Chris: One time I was on acid, and there were voices ten feet behind my head. The whole time I'd be walking, they'd be talking behind me. It actually made me feel good, because I felt like I was with some people. At one point I was looking back, and I saw that one person was wearing a black shirt and jeans, and the other person was wearing a red shirt. They were always there. It was kinda like a dream, though, where I'd wake up and look and focus once in a while and realize there was no one there. I'd go, "Oh, fuck, I'm hearing voices." RIP: Do you write a lot of songs on acid? Chris: No, but "4th of July" is pretty much about that day. You wouldn't get that if you read it. It doesn't read like, "Woke up, dropped some acid, got into the car and went to the Indian reservation." RIP Magazine, April 1994 | |
|
No Picture
Mike Average |
#24 by Mike Murphy at Sep 25, 2007 at 9:32 AM EST |
| I always considered it about Armageddon myself, especially that middle verse. I don't know too much on the subject, but from what I understand when the end of the world does come the good are supposed to go to Heaven and the bad are to remain on earth when it becomes hell. I could be totally off but I remember seeing this somewhere. Anyways, I see the part about the sacred light, that being what takes the good up to heaven, but the narrorator is still here on earth, and "the fire" or hell is taking over , and no one wants to talk about it. Thats just what I seen it as. | |
|
No Picture
dylan Average |
#25 by dylan markus at Oct 11, 2007 at 7:57 AM EST |
| I heard that this song was written when Cornell was artistically experimenting with LSD..... it makes sense, when you go on an Acid trip apparently you "See sounds " and "hear colors".. I can imagine what sounds must look like... they must be very colorful.... colorful like the fourth of July fire works..... the first verse seems to be when he is about to experience this new world before he takes the LSD the second verse is when he is experiencing it and the thrid verse is after the effects wore off.... I'm just guessing that's the style of the song form what I heard ..... it's just my interpretation.... | |
Top 7 Soundgarden Guitar Tabs
Popular Guitar Tabs