Undertow Guitar Tab

Undertow 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. #
#----------------------------------------------------------------------------#

||-------------------||----------------------||
||-------------------||----------------------||
||*--0h2-2/5--------*||*--------------------*||
||*----------0--00--*||*--5/7--7/10--0--00--*||
||-------------------||---5/7--7/10--0--00---||
||-------------------||---5/7--7/10--0--00---||


                              3x
||------------------------------||----------------------------|
||------------------------------||----------------------------|
||*----------------------------*||----------------------------|
||*----------------------------*||---------5----8-7------0-0--|
||----------3----6-5------------||--5h7----3----6-5-----------|
||---5h7--0----0----------0-0---||--5h7--0----0---------------|


                               3x
||-------------------------------||-------------------------|
||-------------------------------||-------------------------|
||*----6-----9-----11-----------*||----6-----9-----11-------|
||*--/7---/10---/12--------0-0--*||--/7---/10---/12--------|
||-------------------------------||------------------------|
||-------------------------------||------------------------|


                                                                 2x
||---------------------------------|-------------------------------||
||---------------------------------|-------------------------------||
||*--------------------------------|------------------------------*||
||*----------2--2------------------|----------2--2-------2--2-2-2-*||
||-----------------3--3-0--0-0-0-0-|----------------3--3-0--0-0-0--||
||---2--2-2------------------------|-2b3b2-2-2---------------------||


                                           3x
||----------------------------------------------||
||----------------------------------------------||      2nd time  
||*-------------9------------------------------*||      go to CODA
||*--2----x-x---9---x---10---10---7---7-7-7-7--*||
||---2----x-x---7---x---10---10---7---7-7-7-7---||
||---2----x-x-------x---10---10---7---7-7-7-7---||



||-----------------------------------------|
||-----------------------------------------|
||-------------9---------------------------|
||--2----x-x---9---x---10---10----5-----5--|
||--2----x-x---7---x---10---10----5-----5--|
||--2----x-x-------x---10---10----5-----5--|



|---------------------------|-------------------------------|
|---------------------------|-------------------------------|
|---------------------------|-------------------------------|
|---------------------------|-------------------------------|
|---------------------------|-------------------------------|
|-5-3-0-3-1-0-5-3-0-1-0-6-0-|-5-3-0-3-1-0-5-3-0-1-0-3-0-6-0-|



|---------------------------|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|---------------------------|
|-5-3-0-3-1-0-5-3-0-1-0-6-0-|-5-3-0-3-1-0-5-3-0-1-0-3-0-|



|-------------------------||    Play from beginning until
|-------------------------||    you get to "Go to Coda"
|-------------------------||    then go to next section
|---6-----8-----3-----0---||    below...
|---6-----8-----3-----0---||
|---6-----8-----3-----0---||



CODA:
||--------------------------------------------||
||--------------------------------------------||
||-------------9------------------------------||
||--2----x-x---9---x---10---10---7---7-7-7-7--||
||--2----x-x---7---x---10---10---7---7-7-7-7--||
||--2----x-x-------x---10---10---7---7-7-7-7--||


                                                    3x
||----------------------------------------------------||
||---5----x-x---17---x---13---13---10---10-10-10-10---||
||*--4----x-x---16---x---12---12---9----9--9--9--9---*||
||*--2----x-x---14---x---10---10---7----7--7--7--7---*||
||----------------------------------------------------||
||----------------------------------------------------||



||------------------------------------------|
||---5----x-x---17---x---13---13---8-----8--|
||---4----x-x---16---x---12---12---7-----7--|
||---2----x-x---14---x---10---10---5-----5--|
||------------------------------------------|
||------------------------------------------|


                                                             2x
||----------------------------|--------------------------------||
||----------------------------|--------------------------------||
||*---------------------------|-------------------------------*||
||*-53-0-31-0-53-0-1p0-6p0-|-53-0-31-0-53-0-1p0-3p0-6p0-*||
||--53-0-31-0-53-0-1p0-6p0-|-53-0-31-0-53-0-1p0-3p0-6p0--||
||--53-0-31-0-53-0-1p0-6p0-|-53-0-31-0-53-0-1p0-3p0-6p0--||


                                                             2x
||----------------------------|--------------------------------||
||----------------------------|--------------------------------||
||*---------------------------|-------------------------------*||
||*---------------------------|-------------------------------*||
||----------------------------|--------------------------------||
||--5-3-0-3-1-0-5-3-0-1-0-6-0-|-5-3-0-3-1-0-5-3-0-1-0-3-0-6-0--||



||---------------------------|----------------------------------|
||---------------------------|----------------------------------|
||---------------------------|----------------------------------|
||---------------------------|----------------------------------|
||---------------------------|----------------------------------|
||-5-3-0-3-1-0-5-3-0-1-0-6-0-|-5-3-0-3-1-0-5-3-0-1000-3000-6000-|



|---------------------------|-------------------|
|---------------------------|-------------------|
|---------------------------|-------------------|
|---------------------------|-------------------|
|---------------------------|-------------------|
|-5-3-0-3-1-0-5-3-0-1-0-6-0-|-5-3-0-3-1-0-5-3-0-|



|------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------|
|-1-0--3-0---6-0----7-0-----10-0------11-0-|



||-----------------------------------------------|
||-----------------------------------------------|
||-----------------------------------------------|
||-----------------------------------------------|
||---5--8--x-x---------------------xx--x--xxxx---|
||--------------5--8--x--3---3--0--xx--x--xxxx---|
        ^


|----------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------|
|----------------------------3-----6-----|
|---5--8--x-x----------------3-----6-----|
|--------------5--6--5--0----3-----6-----|
       ^


|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|--7--10-------------------------|--7--10-------------------------|
|--7--10------5--8-----3---3--0--|--7--10------5--6-----3---3--0--|
|--5--8-------5--8-----3---3--0--|--5--8-------5--6-----3---3--0--|
|--------0-0--5--8--0--3---3--0--|--------0-0--5--6--0--3---3--0--|
      ^


|--------------------------------|---------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|---------------------------------|
|--7--10-------------------------|--7--10--------------------------|
|--7--10------5--8-----3---3--0--|--7--10-----5--6--5--0---3---6---|
|--5--8-------5--8-----3---3--0--|--5--8------5--6--5--0---3---6---|
|--------0-0--5--8--0--3---3--0--|--------0-0-5--6--5--0---3---6---|
      ^


|-------------------------------|----------------------------------|
|-------------------------------|----------------------------------|
|--7--10------------------------|-7--10----------------------------|
|--7--10------5--8-----3---3--0-|-7--10------5--6-----3---3--0-----|
|--5--8-------5--8-----3---3--0-|-5--8-------5--6-----3---3--0-----|
|--------0-0--5--8--0--3---3--0-|-------0-0--5--6--0--3---3--0-----|
      ^


|---------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------|
|--7--10--------------------------------------------|
|--7--10------5--8-----3---3--0---x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x---|
|--5--8-------5--8-----3---3--0---x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x---|
|--------0-0--5--8--0--3---3--0---x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x---|
      ^


|------------------------||
|------------------------||
|--7--10-----------------||
|--7--10-----5--6--5--0--||
|--5--8------5--6--5--0--||
|-------0-0--5--6--5--0--||
      ^

                                                    3x
||----------------------------------------------------||
||----------------------------------------------------||
||*--------------------------------------------------*||
||*---3-----6-----7-----10-----11-----12--15--0------*||
||----3-----6-----7-----10-----11-----12--15--0-------||
||----3-----6-----7-----10-----11-----12--15--0-------||



||-----------------------------------||
||-----------------------------------||
||-----------------------------------||
||---3-----6-----7-----10-----11-----||
||---3-----6-----7-----10-----11-----||
||---3-----6-----7-----10-----11-----||


                                      8x
||--------------------------------------||
||--------------------------------------||
||*------------------------------------*||
||*-----------------0-12-15------------*||
||----------0-12-15---------0-12-15-----||
||----12-15-------------------------0---||


                           3x
||---------------------------||-------------------||
||---------------------------||-------------------||
||*-------------------------*||-------------------||   THE
||*-------------------------*||------------5-3-0--||   END
||---------------------------||--5-3-0-1-0-5-3-0--||
||---5-3-0-3-1-0-5-3-0-1-0---||--5-3-0-1-0-5-3-0--||

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Source: http://www.guitarmasta.net/t/tool/319966.html

Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques


No Picture Dillon Rhythm Player	#1 by Dillon H. at Jul 30, 1973 at 3:02 PM EST
	Yeah i think its about drug addiction too, but ecstay in particular. I was addicted to ecstacy myself, and i can relate to this song very well, the high and low is a perfect discription, and the word EUPHORIA is the perfect way to describe an ecstacy high.

No Picture chris Wanna Be	#2 by chris calle at May 2, 1977 at 2:42 AM EST
	I think this song is, as some have already said, just about Addiction-- any kind of addiction. Whatever one takes the song to mean is probobly what one is addicted to... You bunch of drug adicts. ^-^

No Picture Perfect Pervers Rhythm Player	#3 by Perfect Perversion™ at Dec 14, 1979 at 10:49 AM EST
	One of my personal favorite Tool songs. The intensity emitted at the finale of this song puts shivers through my spine as Keenan stretches the word "euphoria" out over what seems to be eons of time, symbolizing the pull of the undertow as it brings you down into oblivion. Of course as with all of Tool's songs, the lyrics are not very user friendly, and are quite open to metaphoric interperetation. My current thought, and probably the most obvious would be that the undertow represents the numbing pull of addiction. Addiction to anything really, something that someone becomes attatched to, sucking them into a mindless typhoon of bliss where they don't need to think, and where they can't feel. Something all too common in todays world of sitcoms and QVC, this complex world has a man-made veil of simplicity masking it from the things we fear, and instead of living life we get sucked into the mindless euphoria represented by the undertow in this song. That is my current thought on it, always changing, always thinking. Please, I would like to hear others opinions as well.

No Picture dimebag 66' Average	#4 by dimebag 66' at Aug 13, 1984 at 11:42 PM EST
	i tihnk this song is about a relationship that keeps falling in and then raising again. every time, ti gets worse. the 2nd time... "twice as clear as heaven, and twice as loud as reason"... it makes alot of sence. the third time... "half as high as reason and half as clear as heaven" it makes less sence, but it still makes some. he is being saturated by the other person. but they drag him into the undertow.

No Picture Average	#5 by Riqu - at Nov 7, 1984 at 12:20 AM EST
	This song is definitely about heroin. I am a heroin user., have been for almost a year now. This is about heroin, how wonderful it is as well as how terrible can be the comedown. Let's cite examples, shall we? "I've been struck dumb by a voice that speaks from deep beneath the cold black water." For starters, 'cold black water' should have been a dead giveaway if you've ever seen a heroin shot mixed and ready for injection. If you've ever tried to talk to anyone who's just bee shot up, you'll find they're unable to do anything but dreamily nod at you -- struck dumb by a voice from beneath the cold black water, quite literally. All the water imagery in this song, and much of it in the whole album, I believe, refers to heroin and the life-changing effects of the "black water". "But I'm so comfortable...Too comfortable." This is really easy. It refers to what we call "nodding out," where you are totally awake, but so comfortable you can't move at all. "shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up you're saturating me So how could I let this bring me back to my knees again again again " This refers to about three hours after your shots, everyone becoming unable to deal with anyone else's voice, any sounds, everyone demanding absolute silence, feeling weak and vulnerable and poor and guilty. The final verse repeats a lot of this imagery from te perspective of the end of the night. You don't have much left, you're scraping your bag, etc., etc., and can't get nearly as high as you were before, filled with guilt and poverty and residual euphoria. Euphoria.... can anyone argue that this isn't about heroin?

No Picture caleb Wanna Be	#6 by caleb at Feb 1, 1990 at 3:12 AM EST
	this song like stinkfist (as much i hate that word) i think is about ..as eightball said, mass/media/society et al and how very comfortable we've become in our existence how saturated we are by images and things and sounds and ways of seeing.his very clever.i could be very wrong though.

No Picture Alex Average	#7 by Alex Zaphiropoulos at Mar 16, 1991 at 9:17 PM EST
	I agree too about drug addiction. And I also agree it could be any kind of addiction but drugs are a fast and powerful way to get hooked because it is such a burst in feeling, as opposed to other things. I know when you do drugs, many people want the absolute feeling and because of that they tend to care less about what happens to them in reality. I think: "and it's half as high as heaven and half as clear as reason." is used repeatedly to illustrate that when you do drugs, you feel only halfway in heaven and you are only half as clear on anything so you never really get anywhere. Because everyone wants the complete, most absolute feeling, feeling just halfway heavenly makes you want to do more and more. It's scary, but with my experience with drugs, there are a few times I really stopped caring about what would become of me and that it would be alright wasting away and feeling good without thinking about my future or and stress. In my opinion drugs are too much of a good thing. I have nothing against it but the cost is there -- the brightest flame burns quickest. You'll feel superior and euphoric, but at a cost to your body, mind, and worse yet ... soul. Don't be caught in the undertow. I'm by no means in a DARE program :)

No Picture Trevor Average	#8 by Trevor fun with drugs at Apr 3, 1993 at 12:26 PM EST
	For a long time i'd only heard the live version of this until I bought the album and heard the studio version ---- the distortions of maynard's voice and the relating lyrics always remind me of someone drowning and scoffing under an endless sea of black silt. Chilling - excellent song.

No Picture hamadi Wanna Be	#9 by hamadi alameddine at Aug 25, 1995 at 5:03 PM EST
	About the guy who said members of tool weren't addicts... maynard has professed to being addicted at one time. But never at a level in which he could not bring himself back out of his addiction. But clearly the members of tool have all experimented with drug use.

No Picture Collin Average	#10 by Collin at Aug 7, 2006 at 1:07 AM EST
	Wow, eightball that's a really good interpretation. I love to read new interpretations on this message board that I would have never even thought of, it adds a whole other level to the song and just makes it that much better.