Tool › Swamp Song Guitar Tab

Undertow Tabs:

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Send "Swamp Song" Ringtone to your Cell Phone

DROP D tuning

INTRO (bass, then band)

D|---(0)--------------------------/---||
A|-------------5--------3--------3--5--||   X 4
D|-0-----3--0-----3--0-----3--0--------||

VERSE (My warning...)


  ..................
D|---------------------------/--------||
A|--------------------------3--5-------||   X 4
D|-0---0--0--0-----0-----X-------------||

PRE CHORUS (Why don't you...)

   ..........     ....     ....  AH     ....     ....     .     ....  AH
D|--------------------------------/--|--------------------------------/--|
A|-5-----------5--------5--------3--5-|-------5--------5-----5--------3--5-|
D|-0--0--0--0-----0--0-----0--0-------|-0--0-----0--0-----0-----0--0-------|

   ............................  AH AH  ............        ...       AH AH
D|----0--3-----0--3--0-----5--0--3--5-|----0--3-----0--3--0-----5--0--3--5-||
A|-5--------5-----------3-------------|-5--------5-----------3-------------||
D|------------------------------------|------------------------------------||

CHORUS (This bog is thick...)

D|----5--0--3--5------5--0--3--0--3--5-(0)-|
A|-3--5--0--3--5---3--5--0--3--0--3--5-(0)-| X 3
D|----5--0--3--5------5--0--3--0--3--5-(0)-|

D|----5--0--3--5------5--0--3--0--3--5-|-5--3--3--5--3-||
A|-3--5--0--3--5---3--5--0--3--0--3--5-|-5--3--3--5--3-||
D|----5--0--3--5------5--0--3--0--3--5-|-5--3--3--5--3-||

Play the intro, but on the last bar, play this:

                        ^hold bend
D|---(0)------------------|
A|-------------5--------5-|
D|-0-----3--0-----3--0----|

Play verse, then pre chorus, then chorus

SOLO for four bars (this is just noise, so improvise...I normally just play
with harmonics)

ALTERED VERSE (My warning...)

   let ring
E|-0----------||
B|-0----------||
G|-2----------||  X 3
D|-0----------||
A|------------||
D|------------||

   let ring
E|-0--------------||
B|-0--------------||
G|-2--------------||
D|-0---------/---||
A|----------3--5--||
D|----------------||

Play pre chorus then chorus, but on the 4th bar play:

D|----5--0--3--5------5--0--3--0--3--5-|
A|-3--5--0--3--5---3--5--0--3--0--3--5-|
D|----5--0--3--5------5--0--3--0--3--5-|

 (I hope it sucks...)  

D|-5--3--3--5-|-5--3--3--5-|-5--3--3--5-|-3--3--5-|
A|-5--3--3--5-|-5--3--3--5-|-5--3--3--5-|-3--3--5-|
D|-5--3--3--5-|-5--3--3--5-|-5--3--3--5-|-3--3--5-|

D|-5--3--3--5-|-5--3--3--5-|-5--3--3--5-|-3-||
A|-5--3--3--5-|-5--3--3--5-|-5--3--3--5-|-3-||
D|-5--3--3--5-|-5--3--3--5-|-5--3--3--5-|-3-||

                      .....................
E|---------------------------------------------||
B|------3--------------------------------------||
G|------2----5---------------------------------||
D|-0----0----5----0---0--0--2----2--2--3--5--0-||
A|-0---------3----0---0--0--2----2--2--3--5--0-||
D|-0--------------0---0--0--2----2--2--3--5--0-||


   .................
D|-7--9--------------||
A|-------7--X--10--7-|| X 8
D|-------------------||

Bridge

   ................                            /
D|----7--------5-----||           D|-0---/---5--0--||
A|-0-----5--7-----7--|| X 8 then  A|-0--5--0--------|| X 4
D|-------------------||           D|-0--------------||

Repeat the bridge 3 times, then play:

SOLO (well, at least what the solo basically is. I haven't included
the picking pattern, because it's felt more than heard. Also, the bar
lines don't represent bars, but I included them for ease of reading. I
have no idea what signature the solo is in.)

   let ring             hold bend         hold bend
E|--------|------------------------/---|---------------/---|
B|-3------|--(3)/(15)--15------(18)--15-|-10--------(13)--10-|
G|-2------|--(2)/(14)--17^(19)----------|-12^(14)------------|
D|-0------|-------(0)-------------------|--------------------|
A|-0------|-----------------------------|--------------------|
D|-0------|-----------------------------|--------------------|

   hold bend  (No...one...told...you to...)
E|-0---------|-------------------------|
B|-4^(5)-----|-/3--------3/15----------|
G|-----------|-/2--------2/14----------|
D|-----------|--0----------------------|
A|-----------|-------------------------|
D|-----------|-------------------------|

  (COME!!!!!!)
D|------------------------------------|
A|-0--5--8--0--5--8--0--5--8--0--3--3-|  X  3 then
D|------------------------------------|

D|-------------------------------5-||
A|-0--5--8--0--5--8--0--5--8--0--5-||
D|-------------------------------5-||

ANOTHER ALTERED VERSE (My warning...)

                                 AH
D|---(0)--------------------------/---||
A|-------------5--------3--------3--5--||   X 4
D|-0-----3--0-----3--0-----3--0--------||

(Why don't you watch...)
  .............................
G|----------------------5--------5--7-|
D|-------------------------7--5-------|  X 2 very softly, then
A|-0--5--8--0--5--8--0----------------|
D|------------------------------------|
                                                                      AH
   ................              AH AH  ............                   /
D|----0--3-----0--3--0-----5--0--3--5-|----0--3-----0--3--0-----5--0--3--5-||
A|-5--------5-----------3-------------|-5--------5-----------3-------------||
D|------------------------------------|------------------------------------||

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Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques


No Picture Matt Rhythm Player	#1 by Matt at Nov 7, 1976 at 2:45 AM EST
	I believe, and I say I believe because I wouldn't be suprised if I'm wrong, that this song is about the complexity of Maynards lyrics. People listen and judge because they dont understand them. The bog, his words, are thick, complex, and easy to get lost in.

No Picture Joshua Wanna Be	#2 by Joshua Osprey at Mar 18, 1978 at 2:52 AM EST
	i think when hes says Wander in and wandering. Noone even invited you in. But still you stumble in stumbling. He is basically telling the media to stay out of his personal life. I know for a fact that in the rare times he actually gives interviews is very open on government, religion, and censorship, but when asked about his personal life the interview stops.

No Picture Pasquale Average	#3 by Pasquale at Nov 28, 1979 at 4:51 AM EST
	A warning. Get out because, "this bog is thick and easy to get lost in". The warning is not taken seriously so, "I hope it sucks you down". One of the easier ones, I'd have to say.,

No Picture Super Average	#4 by Super Q at Nov 16, 1988 at 2:53 PM EST
	I think it is just about ignorance in general. With that in mind read the lyrics one more time.

No Picture paddy Average	#5 by paddy coscoran at Jan 10, 1989 at 2:26 PM EST
	I personally think that this song can mean whatever you want it to mean, whether it be religion, drugs, or even a real, actual swamp/bog/etc. I can actually relate to this song somewhat, albeit with me being the guy dancing in the quicksand >.<

No Picture Manu Professional Badass	#6 by Manu at Nov 14, 1991 at 11:48 PM EST
	It could be a number of things. My guess, however, is that he's speaking to someone who is doing something Maynard warned against and now he's fucked.

No Picture ♥WeEzY Average	#7 by ♥WeEzY♥ at Feb 11, 1994 at 5:11 PM EST
	crazydrunkendude, you know what this website is for right? interpreting lyrics....as you see them, so it's ok for people to attempt to put into words what they think the song means and you're right, no matter what a person thinks about a song, it is personal. Maynard only cares that his lyrics make you think about anything, let alone what the topic could or couldn't be. oh and to reply to those who think that Maynard doesn't respect you and shouldn't... get a better handle on your self-esteem Just because he turned his back to the crowd doesn't mean he thinks that he should not respect the crowd, it could mean anything, but my point is that it made you use the greymatter rotting in the tomb known as your skull. To quote Maynard himself: "Get up and free yourself from yourself. Locked up inside you, like the calm beneath castles, is a cavern of treasures that noone has been to. Let's go digging. Bring it out to take you back in. You won't do what you'd like to do. Lay back and let me show you another way. I'll kill what you want me to, take what's left and eat it. Take all or nothing. Life's just too short to push it away. Take it all. Take it all in. All the way in. Let it go. Let it go in. You won't feel what you'd like to feel. Lay back and let me show you another way."

No Picture jamie Lead Player	#8 by jamie soad at Aug 12, 1999 at 10:03 AM EST
	this song means that you should listen to maynard when he says something cause eveyrone else is a quote:"stupid, dumb ass, beligerent fucker." end of quote

No Picture Robyn Average	#9 by Robyn Paul at May 7, 2000 at 1:23 PM EST
	And I love this quicksand. I'm tempted to agree with the theory of it being lyrics about lyrics, but I'm not sure. Either way, it kicks ass.

No Picture Vezy Professional	#10 by Vezy at Dec 6, 2000 at 4:31 AM EST
	ah but many other tool songs also have drug references... in fact he seems to compare drugs and religion a lot and all

No Picture Scott Average	#11 by Scott Anderson at Jun 3, 2002 at 12:01 PM EST
	A musical Genius, all i have to say. I ponder his lyrics for hours sometimes.

No Picture Chuck Average	#12 by Chuck Norris at Mar 27, 2003 at 4:32 AM EST
	oh my god if rztheraza is right about the song........ then ALL of the people who are posting things here are getting sucked into the quicksand.

No Picture Curtis Rhythm Player	#13 by Curtis Lee at Nov 6, 2003 at 3:33 PM EST
	i just wanted to say that bog in croatian means god, so i think that this song has something to do with christianity just like many other songs of tool