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Artist: They Might Be Giants
Song: Spiraling Shape
Album: Factory Showroom
Verse:
Bb Bdim Cm C#+
Down, down, down you go
Bb Bdim Cm C#+
No way to stop
Bb(D) Bb7 Eb Ebm(C)
As you fall, hear me call
Bb(F) Cm(E) Eb F
No, no, no
Bb Bdim Cm C#+
Listen to this warning and
Bb Bdim Cm C#+
Consider these
Bb(D) Bb7 Eb Ebm(C)
Simple words of advice:
Bb(F) Cm(E) Eb F
Stop, stop, stop
Verse Part 2:
Bb Eb Cm F
Fogging the view, cupping face to the window
Bb Eb Cm F
In darkness you make out a spiralling shape
Bb Eb Cm F
Putting all reason aside you exchange
Bb Eb Cm F
What you got for a thing that's hypnotic and strange
Chorus:
Bb Eb Cm F
The spiralling shape will make you go insane
Bb Eb Cm F
(Everyone wants to see that groovy thing)
Bb Eb Cm F
But everyone wants to see that groovy thing
Bb Eb Cm F
(Everyone wants to see that thing)
Post Chorus:
Eb Bb(D) F Bb
And nobody knows what it's really like
Eb Bb(D) C F
But everyone says it's great
Gm F(A) Bb C F F7
And they heard it from the spiral in their eyes
Verse:
This could lead to excellence
Or serious injury
Only one way to know
Go, go, go
Go ahead, wreck your life
That might be good
Who can say what's wrong or right?
Nobody can
Verse part 2:
Put out your hands and you fall through the window
And clawing at nothing you drop through the void
Your terrified screams are inaudible drowned
In the spiral ahead and consumed in the shape
Chorus:
The spiralling shape will make you go insane
(Everyone wants to see that groovy thing)
But everyone wants to see that groovy thing
(Everyone wants to see that thing)
Chorus Part 2:
And now that you've tried it, you're back to report
That the spiralling shape was a fraud and a fake
You didn't enjoy it, you never believed it
There won't be a refund, you'll never go back
Chorus:
The spiralling shape will make you go insane
(Everyone wants to see that groovy thing)
But everyone wants to see that groovy thing
(Everyone wants to see that thing)
Post Chorus:
And nobody knows what it's really like
But everyone says it's great
And they heard it from the spiral in their eyes
Verse Part 2:
Fogging the view, cupping face to the window
In darkness you make out a spiralling shape
Putting all reason aside you exchang
What you got for a thing that's hypnotic and strange
Chorus:
The spiralling shape will make you go insane
(Everyone wants to see that groovy thing)
But everyone wants to see that groovy thing
(Everyone wants to see that thing)
Fill:
Bb Eb Cm F
Don't spend the rest of your life wondering
(Everyone wants to see that thing)
Fill:
Bb Eb Cm F
Don't spend the rest of your life wondering
(Everyone wants to see that groovy thing)
Don't spend the rest of your life wondering
(Everyone wants to see that thing)
Brought to you by the GUITARMASTA - http://www.guitarmasta.net
Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
|
No Picture
Angus Rhythm Player |
#1 by Angus Young at Mar 3, 1971 at 9:06 PM EST |
| it's about taking lsd | |
|
No Picture
Jason Rhythm Player |
#2 by Jason ...... at May 16, 1974 at 2:00 PM EST |
| I've heard a lot of different interpretations for this song, it's one of TMBG's most-discussed. Here's a summary of what I thought when I first heard it. The narrator is speaking to someone who was a "newbie" in a religion (probably Christianity, but nearly any religion could work), and it seemed like a good thing at first, but they soon dioocvered things about the religion which disturbed them. This resulted in a major disillusionment, and the poor sap "spiralled" back into the state they were before they found the religion, perhaps a bit worse. "Go ahead, wreck your life, that might be good" could mean that, even though people in the church are telling you that you'll have nothing but hardship if you leave, when you emerge from this hardship, you'll be stronger because of it. I might make another post interpreting more of the individual lines later. | |
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No Picture
chris Average |
#3 by chris at Sep 18, 1985 at 5:48 AM EST |
| THis song could mean many things, but I've always thought that it was more about the vicious cycle of conformity. The main motto of the song is "don't spend the rest of your life wondering." That's the principle the whole song is founded on. I can also easilly see it being about buying into certain things like Nazi-ism, as Tucker said, but it's not specific to just WWII and the Nazis. It's my favorite song in the world because i listened to it 50 times in one sitting when I was on acid. | |
|
No Picture
Justin Wanna Be |
#4 by Justin Neafsey at Sep 8, 1988 at 9:36 AM EST |
| the 'religion' theory on this song is the closest to my interpretation. it's about some search for the unattainable. but hey: who can say what's wrong or right? nobody can.. | |
|
No Picture
Darren Wanna Be |
#5 by Darren Pilton at Nov 16, 1993 at 4:33 PM EST |
| This song describes the relationship between two friends during WWII. The speaker is advising his friend not to become a nazi (the spiralling shape is a swastika in motion) but the friend does anyway, and then after the war the friend claims he never *really* believed in the nazi agenda and didn't enjoy it, but the speaker can't forgive him. The friend can "never go back" to being just a normal person again. | |
|
No Picture
Troy Wanna Be |
#6 by Troy Erskine at Jun 21, 1998 at 10:55 PM EST |
| I think this song is about addiction. It tells of the cycle of becoming addicted to something, being trapped by it ("the spiraling shape") and then claiming to be free and that they'll "never go back", but they do. | |
|
No Picture
phil Average |
#7 by phil gdfgr at Jan 23, 2001 at 8:25 AM EST |
| I've read several good points here, but listening to the song, I can't help being reminded of that Japanese movie 'Uzumaki'. It's a movie about spirals and a town that’s infected with them. How people get so obsessed with these spirals that it causes their death. The first time I listened to this song after seeing the movie, it scared me how similar they were. It’s a very good song anyhow, no matter what the meaning. | |
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No Picture
jacob Average |
#8 by jacob ap at Jun 3, 2003 at 11:06 PM EST |
| I think this song is about one of those roadside attractions, like "The world's largest margarine statue" or a potato that looks like Elvis. The signs draw you in, but once you're there it's a total flop. You can't get your money back, and you went forty miles out of your way. | |
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