Background Guitar Tab

		
		Ver 1 Ver 2 Ver 3 
	

Third Eye Blind Tabs:

#-----------------------------------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. #
#----------------------------------------------------------------------------#

Author/Artist: Third Eye Blind
Title: The Background
Album: Third Eye Blind
Transcribed by: Pablo Alvarado
Email: Volcomskate18@hotmail.com

this song is in open d tunning
DADF#AD

---------0h4p0---0--------0-----0h4p0---0---------0---------------------------|
---------------4----------0-----------4-----------0---------------------------|
----------------------0---0-----------------------0---------------------------|
--------------------0-----------------------5--5------------------------------|
--------------------------------------------5---------------------------------|
--------------------------------------------5---------------------------------|
    Intro x 2 1/2 times for the half just play the first half of the intro

------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
---------------0---0-0-0-0-0-0------------------------------------------------|
-------------0-----0-0-0-0-0-0------------------------------------------------|
-----------0-------0-0-0-0-0-0-------5-7-5h7-5-7-5h7-7-5----------------------|
-------------------------------------5-5-5---5-5-5---5-5----------------------|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Verse 1 repeat 3 and 1/2 times. For the half just play everything open

---------------------12-12-12--x----7-7-7--x---0------------------------------|
---------------------12-12-12--x----7-7-7--x---0------------------------------|
-------------0-------12-12-12--x----7-7-7--x---0------------------------------|
-------------9-------12-12-12--x----7-7-7--x---0------------------------------|
-------------9----------------------------------------------------------------|
-------------9----------------------------------------------------------------|
   this is after he says "in the background"

------------------------------5---------5-------------------------------------|
--------0-0-0-0-0-0-----------------------------------------------------------|
--------0-0-0-0-0-0---5-5h7-7----5h7-7----------------------------------------|
--------0-0-0-0-0-0---5-5---5----5---5----------------------------------------|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 Verse 2

----------------0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-------------0-0-0-0-0-0---------------------|
----------------0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-------------0-0-0-0-0-0---------------------|
----------------7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-------------8-8-8-8-8-8---------------------|
----------------7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-------------9-9-9-9-9-9---------------------|
----------------x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-------------x-x-x-x-x-x---------------------|
----------------7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7------7/9----9-9-9-9-9-9---------------------|
 Pre-Chorus    "the plans i made.....them....when you come swimming...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
-----------------------10-10-10-10-10-10-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---10---------|
-------------12-12-12--12-12-12-12-12-12-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8---12---------|
-------------12-12-12--12-12-12-12-12-12-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9---12---------|
--------------x--x--x---x--x--x--x--x--x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x----x---------|
-------------12-12-12--12-12-12-12-12-129-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9/12---------|
 Chorus  "view and i'm hanging on your words like i always used to do"Repeat

-----------x--0h4p0------------x----------------------------------------------|
-----------x----------0--------x----------------------------------------------|
-------0-0-x--------0----0-0-0-x----------------------------------------------|
-------0-0-x-------------5-5-5-x----------------------------------------------|
-------0-0-x-------------5-5-5-x----------------------------------------------|
-------0-0-x-------------5-5-5-x----------------------------------------------|
 Bridge

------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
---------7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7-----------------------------------------|
---------7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7-----------------------------------------|
---------x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x-----------------------------------------|
---------7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7-----------------------------------------|
 "cause i felt you long after we were throouuuuugh"

------17--17-16b17r16--12v----14/17-17-16b17r16-12v-12-14-12h14p12------------|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 solo

------17--17-16b17r16--12v-----------------------------17-17-16b17r16--12v----|
-----------------------------12-12/10---10/9---9/7v---------------------------|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------|


---17--17-16b1716-12v---17-17-16b17r16--12v-----------------------------------|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
-----------------------------------------------0-0-0-0-0-0-0------------------|
-----------------------------------------------5-5-5-5-5-5-5------------------|
-----------------------------------------------5-5-5-5-5-5-5------------------|
-----------------------------------------------5-5-5-5-5-5-5------------------|
                                             "i only know because"

------------------------0h4p0---0-------0-------------------------------------|
------------------------------0---0-----0-------------------------------------|
----------------------------------------0-------------------------------------|
----------------------------------------0-------------------------------------|
----------------------------------------0-------------------------------------|
----------------------------------------0-------------------------------------|
  "in the background.."

--------------------7-7-4-4------0-0------------------------------------------|
--------------------x-x-x-x------0-0------------------------------------------|
--------------------0-0-0-0--7-7-0-0-7-7--10-10-10h12p10-10-------------------|
--------12-12-12----5-5-5-5--7-7-0-0-7-7---x--x--x-x-x-x--x---12-12-12--------|
---------x--x--x----5-5-5-5--7-7-----7-7---x--x--x-x-x-x--x----x--x--x--------|
--------12-12-12----5-5-5-5--7-7-----7-7--10-10-10-------10---12-12-12--------|
 Outro

Brought to you by the GUITARMASTA - http://www.guitarmasta.net

Source: GuitarMasta.net
http://www.guitarmasta.net/t/third_eye_blind/.html

Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques


No Picture sebastian Average	#1 by sebastian daalmeijer at Dec 6, 1973 at 12:51 AM EST
	lyrically this is the best song ever wriiten...what an emotional trip into oblivion...this song moves me to tears each time i hear it...so beautiful...he still loves her despite the fact that he knows it will never happen...she is gone forever and even if she is not dead...it still feels just the same...isn't it sad to be with somebody and share so much with them and then one day all you had vanishes into nothing and you never see them again? no closure, no warning...they're not dead..but they might as well be..and you grieve...you really do. you grieve for what is lost...i just want to wrap my arms around the guy in the song and feel his pain. such an aching misery...this reflects me exactly because after i got out of the hospital a while ago, it was over between me and my guy...so the line i don't see you anymore since the hospital is so strange and poignant to me...it's true...somebody went through what i did and the plans i make still have him in them and they always will..wherever i go i will carry him around in the background....

No Picture Chris Rhythm Player	#2 by Chris Pray at May 14, 1976 at 4:25 PM EST
	i had ever really tried to figure out this song before, i would just listen to it. but now i agree with sarac. i think its a really sad but good song. its probably my favorite song by 3eb, followed by "God of Wine". also i luv stephen jenkins voice!

No Picture SLUT Badass	#3 by SLUT at Mar 23, 1978 at 8:15 AM EST
	I have 2 theories. Both could be utterly wrong I don't think its just about his girfriend being in hospital. It's undeniable he's singing about the at one point. But I think its more a representation of how much he cares about her because he was always there for her while she was in hospital. He mainly sings about how they are through and how in some respect he can't move on from her; "I felt you long after we were through" i don't know. It could also be that he's visiting an ex who he could never get over who happens to be in hospital. He could just have been visiting her. Say she is in a coma? He could just be saying this to her while she sleeps? I don't know. Let it mean what you want it to.

No Picture spencer Wanna Be	#4 by spencer mccarthy at Mar 28, 1979 at 11:52 AM EST
	wow... this song is just wow... i love it. for some reason it really strikes a chord with me... i think it's his voice. it just sounds like he's so full of sadness. awwww...

No Picture KELSO Wanna Be	#5 by KELSO Is a COOL kid at Jun 30, 1980 at 5:26 PM EST
	this song is so mellow i love it. i think this song is about a guy dealing with a break up and how hard it is

No Picture Chuck Average	#6 by Chuck Norris at Nov 2, 1983 at 3:16 AM EST
	OK, so I'm a huge 3eb fan, and there are so so so so many songs to choose from, but this is deffinantly one of my favorites, the only song by 3eb that I love more than this one is God of Wine. This song is about someone that the speaker really loved- leaving him for unknown reasons, i dont actually think she died, but something happened between them that makes things unresolvable. He wishes there were something he could do to change the way things are between the two of them, he wishes that he could have her back, but he knows that he can not. Though still when he sees her, or thinks about her, he rembers exactly how much she means to him and wishes things were different, because no matter what, he will always love her.

No Picture ben Rhythm Player	#7 by ben kurkul at Aug 28, 1986 at 7:25 PM EST
	The lyrics, whether she is dead or not, are only half of teh beauty of this song. Musically, it is simply ingenius. Listen to the way that the words 'in the background' (and some others depending on the version you have) are said into a carbon microphone to actually sound like they are 'inteh background'. It is so clever. Indeed, the dreamy, resonating quality of the song really sounds like memory. Favourite lines: And I live in the numbness now And I'm hanging on your words like I always used to do TEB are fantastic, both musically and lyrically. Songmeanings rocks!!! Or in the case of this song gently sways...

No Picture jake Professional	#8 by jake burns at Oct 2, 1987 at 6:05 AM EST
	it reminds me when my ex was in town and visiting me in the hospital.this song is so sad yet so meaningful to me.I love it.

No Picture devon Average	#9 by devon at Aug 20, 1988 at 9:25 AM EST
	How can you ever get tired of listening to this album

No Picture dylan Average	#10 by dylan markus at Oct 24, 1991 at 4:11 PM EST
	"Let me put it this way: Have you ever felt like your life was in high gear, and you were right in the moment, and you were happy, and rolling into some glorious unknown future? And then have that all taken away? And then lived in sort of the post-period of that high? That's what it's like to live in the background." ~Stephan Jenkins, Third Eye Blind frontman

No Picture goofy Rhythm Player	#11 by goofy at Oct 27, 1999 at 7:02 PM EST
	First of all I have to say that 3eb are one of the most kick ass band ever! Stephan is so deep and he really knows hoy to write. The first time I heard this song I fell in love with it and until this day is still one of the bests song I've ever heard. I think is about breaking up with somebody or stop seeing somebody because of an accident that torn them apart. But is also about how difficult is to forget this person and how everything you do or everywhere you go you remember him/her. Is so amazing!

No Picture Shay Average	#12 by Shay at Dec 8, 1999 at 8:35 AM EST
	having said that, its probably just about te period after a split up, or death or whatever kind of strong attachment

No Picture Josh Average	#13 by Josh Braun at Apr 10, 2000 at 3:28 AM EST
	this is one of my fave 3eb songs. i love it. to me it is more about a broken relationship. i think there may have been something happening to her but i dont think she died, but it was something tramatic enough to split them apart and he misses her so much that he doesnt know what to do without her in his life. i love the line " i felt you long after we were through" this is such a beautful song, everything about it, the words, the message, the music just a wonderful, sad, powerful song

No Picture Joey Wanna Be	#14 by Joey at Dec 19, 2000 at 3:42 AM EST
	This song, I think, is about someone very special dying and him remembering that. Him visiting that person and remembering all the great times they had together.

No Picture Angus Rhythm Player	#15 by Angus Young at Jun 4, 2003 at 11:33 AM EST
	Why do people say "this song IS or DEFINITELY IS" about blah blah blah? Do they know? I swear, people should use "I think it's". It's been pissing me off in all the songs, don't know why I wrote in this one though.

No Picture Tony Wanna Be	#16 by Tony Danza at Nov 16, 2005 at 8:27 AM EST
	This is one of my favorite 3eb songs. I'm not sure if she died or not, but it's likely. Most of the song is about not being able to get someone out of your head. His plans still had her in them. It's like if you break up with someone, and later you see their birthday or something on your calendar. It brings back so many strong memories. He must have really loved her. "The words they use so lightly, I only feel for you." People say "I love you" like it's nothing, it seems like a conversation filler for some people. hah. With her, though, it was serious, and deeply felt. Now that she's gone, he can't focus. He's living in the memories of her, he's in the background of his own life. Quite an idea.