Burn Your Life Down Chords Guitar Tab

The Con Tabs:

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BURN YOUR LIFE DOWN – Tegan and Sara
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Tabbed by: Steph
Email: clichedplatitude@hotmail.com
Standard Tuning
Chords:
C   G   D   D/C# G/B  A  G*
e|-x---x---x----x----x---x--x----|
B|-x---x---x----x----x---x--x----|
G|-x---x---x----x----x---x--12---|
D|-10--5---12---12---9---7--12---|
A|-10--5---12---12---10--7--10---|
E|-8---3---10---9----7---5--x----|
C
Tell me that you know another way to get it done
G
It’s not me, or how I would be,
C                                         G
But it’s a different situation, a different situation
D                      D/C#                    G
You lay awake in the night just staring at the ceiling above
D                         D/C#      G
Pulling pieces of it out is such a waste of time
D
Keep on fighting to remember this
D/C#                  G
That nothing is lost in the end
C     G/B   A(m)           G
When you burn, burn, burn your life down
C
Get me to the door, out of bed, on the track,
G
I’m not sure of starting over
C                                          G
It’s a different situation, a different situation.
D                        D/C#                      G
You wake up in the night and refuse to be afraid of it now
D                              D/C#         G
Unfolding pieces of it faster, don’t you waste your time.
D
You’ve been planning to remember this,
D/C#                       G
And nothing will be lost in the end.
C     G/B   A(m)           G
When you burn, burn, burn your life down
C     G/B   A(m)           G
When you burn, burn, burn your life down
G*
I drive around the block and I’m not looking to my right
D
I feel the glass against my cheek and I can’t see you in the light.
C                           G
I break my heart around this; break my heart around this.
G*
I drive around the block and I’m not looking to my right
D
I feel the glass against my cheek and I can’t see you in the light.
C                           G                           C
I break my heart around this; break my heart around this pole.

Source: http://www.guitarmasta.net/t/tegan_and_sara/359108.html

Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques


No Picture kenzie Professional Badass	#1 by kenzie at Oct 1, 2007 at 8:07 PM EST
	I love how she prononces 'light' i dnt really know what its about but i just love it!

No Picture Conar Wanna Be	#2 by Conar Gillard at Oct 4, 2007 at 4:01 PM EST
	i saw tegan and sara in concert last week and she said that the song is about her grandmother dying a few years back... love them ! :]

No Picture Daniel Average	#3 by Daniel Gordon at Oct 4, 2007 at 5:22 PM EST
	Yeah I don't think the end is about a car crash since I don't think Sara has her liscense. I think it's a metaphor for her not being careful and then someone she was close with got hurt because she wasn't watching out for them.

No Picture phil Wanna Be	#4 by phil taylor at Oct 6, 2007 at 2:02 AM EST
	"I drive around the block and I’m not looking to my right I feel the glass against my cheek and I can’t see you in the light I break my heart around this break my heart around this" Sheer perfection. This is one of my favs from this album.

No Picture ed Average	#5 by ed lubecki at Oct 6, 2007 at 5:12 AM EST
	^ I agree. I was immediately interested in the title of the song. I agree it's about someone who overanalyzes their life. I think a lot of T&S's songs (and maybe this album) bring up the point of messing something up (maybe a relationship or your life) by overanaylzing it.

No Picture Guitar Man Lead Player	#6 by Guitar Man at Oct 6, 2007 at 7:44 AM EST
	It seems that this song is about someone going through a complete change in her life; she's starting over, from the ground up. As a result, however, her relationship with the speaker will suffer. [It also seems that the situation is out of the subject's control (i.e. "pulling pieces of it out is such a waste of time"), although details about the reason for the change aren't given. The speaker is still making some level of decision, since she "[burns her] life down." It makes sense then that she is making the decision to change, but she was forced into it somehow. The actual change itself would most likely be moving a large distance away, a TnS motif. Not much info. is given here, either. The song, instead, focuses more on the consequences of the change, on both the speaker and the subject] The speaker wants "you" to find "another way to get it done...for [her]." The subject is scared of her future, as well, laying awake at night analyzing whether everything will be alright. She comforts herself, though, remembering that "nothing is lost in the end;" she'll still have the memories, even if she burns her life down. The beginning of the second verse sounds like the subject is getting the speaker to move on. This may mean a physical move (i.e. out of her house) or emotional, I can't really say. This subject, however, has solidified her decision. She realizes this is not truly her decision, but what she must do. In the end, you find the speaker completely removed from the subject. She's probably driving away from the subject's home (continuing the idea of physical removal), and has an accident in her distraught state. The accident may actually be on purpose, considering the last line "I break my heart around this...pole." The fact that she can't see the subject in the light probably was meant to have multiple meanings; it shows that the subject is no longer there for her in her times of need (the reason for her distress to begin with), and may also act as a metaphor as the speaker no longer seeing the subject in a beneficial way (light meaning good).

No Picture «™†Rob†™» Average	#7 by «™†Rob†™» at Oct 7, 2007 at 4:50 PM EST
	Sara (of Tegan and Sara) has said that she wrote this song about her Grandfather. His partner, their grandmother, had just died. He had told Sara that it was really tough for him to be in the car now because when his wife was living they used to go on road trips and he's so lonely now without her. The song makes a lot of sense if you think about it in that context.

No Picture Mistress Cheyen Rhythm Player	#8 by Mistress Cheyenne at Oct 8, 2007 at 10:03 AM EST
	UGH. My FAVORITE song off the new album! I absolutely love it. I think it is about someone who over analyzes life. And I agree with "slyoqi" think the last part is about a car crash. She obviously go hurt somehow and she is basically saying that you shouldn't go around over analyzing life because life is too short and you never know what can happen in a blink of an eye. This song says so much to me. It represents my life in a way. I'm kind of like the person who is over analyzing their life.

No Picture Dylan Average	#9 by Dylan Donovan at Oct 12, 2007 at 10:53 PM EST
	I think this song is about a car wreck.. hence "I travel around the block and I’m not looking to my right I feel the glass against my cheek and I can’t see you in the light" and i think she cant get over the fact she got into a car accident with her loved one in the passenger seat. and shes having a hard time dealing with remembering it. she wants to remember it, but then again, she doesnt. [personal experience reflects from it haha.]

No Picture Garland Rhythm Player	#10 by Garland Cross at Oct 14, 2007 at 3:59 AM EST
	I kinda refuse to believe that the end is really about a car crash. It simply sounds so literal and Sara (who wrote this) usually uses alot of metaphors. It doesn't seem like her at all. Besides, I doubt she even has a driver's licence. I think this songs is about starting over...burning your life down completely. And the anxiety that causes. I would know the feeling. You lay awake the whole night thinking of all that could potentially go wrong...of all you've lost. And Sara is trying to say that in the end, it doesn't matter anyways. This is all a con...everything we build around ourselves is gone once we die (especially for those of us who don't have a defined faith that is...tegan and sara included). So why waste your time thinking about non-important stuff?

No Picture Dakota Lead Player	#11 by Dakota Sparks at Oct 15, 2007 at 9:18 AM EST
	and i can't see you in the loight!! hehehe that's so cute the way she pronounces light hehehe!

No Picture paddy Average	#12 by paddy coscoran at Oct 16, 2007 at 7:02 AM EST
	I adore this song farrrr too much, but I'm confused as to what Sara means by "pole" in the last line(?)

No Picture albert Rhythm Player	#13 by albert casualtie at Oct 16, 2007 at 11:12 PM EST
	I feel like this could definitely be about a car wreck, but I don't think that the loved one was in the passenger seat, nor was this person lost. To me it sounds like the narrator of the song was in the passenger seat. "I travel around the block and I'm not looking to my right" (if she were in the passenger seat and not looking to her right she wouldn't see a car coming from that side) "I feel the glass against my cheek and I can't see you in the light" (when the car hit the headlights would have been blindingly bright, thus making her not see the driver as she was looking at her) I think the beginning of this song (i.e. before the lines "I travel around the block," etc.) are meant to show how the two people involved are dealing with it differently as shown in the part, "but it’s a different situation a different situation you lay awake in the night just staring at the ceiling above pulling pieces of it out is such a waste of time" If the subject of the song was the driver, she would most likely be dealing with the situation in a much heavier way, blaming herself, etc. And then in the following verse it feels to me like there is some sort of resolution: "You wake up in the night and refuse to be afraid of it now. Unfolding pieces of it faster don’t you waste your time." It seems like the subject, or driver, wakes up in the night with some sort of revelation and finally talks about it (unfolding pieces of it... like telling a story). p.s. If it turns out this song isn't about a crash, then I'm going to feel like a complete crazy person, haha.