U2 › A Day Without Me Guitar Tab

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A Day Without Me Tab

Send "A Day Without Me" Ringtone to your Cell Phone

Member Name: the edge
Real Name: Alan Kells
E-mail: akdookie@hotmail.com

Intro - (guitar)  Riff 1

	"Well somebody cry, somebody cry, somebody cry!"

e-----------------------------------------------------------------|--
B--12--12--12--12--12--12--12--12--12--12--12---X--X--X--------|--With nice delay...
G--11--11--9---11---11--9--11--11--11--11--11---X--X--X--------|--Do this bit a
D--9---9---9---11---11--9---9---9---9---9---9----9--9--X--------|--few more times.
A-----------------------------------------------------------------|--
E-----------------------------------------------------------------|--

  "Well I can't see why or what for!"   Riff 2

e---------------------------------------------------------------|--
B----------------------5--7--5-------------7--9--7-------------|--
G--------2---5--4----------------2--5--4-----------2--5--4----|--    x2
D--------------------------------------------------------------|--
A--------------------------------------------------------------|--
E--------------------------------------------------------------|--


  Part just before lyrics through first line ("Boy, stupid Boy!")  Riff 3

          D             /                G
e--2--2--2--2--2--2--2-3-2--
B--3--3--3--3--3--3--3-3-3--
G--2--2--2--2--2--2--2---2--
D----------------------------
A----------------------------
E----------------------------

	Haven't figured out the part after that yet...

	'Chorus'

          C               Em
	"Till you don't know...

                     D/G
	"Electric Co.

          C               Em
	"Till you don't know...

                     D/G
	"Electric Co.

	 Riff 2 here

	'Bridge'

	B or Bm

	'Solo'

	D
	               v Do this a bunch of times with variations in speed, it's too much to 
tab!  Lazy...
e--10-9-12-10-9-12-10-9---------------------------|-
B--------------------------14-12-11-9-8-9-8-------|-
G---------------------------------------------9-7--|-
D--------------------------------------------------|-  Repeat once more
A--------------------------------------------------|-
E--------------------------------------------------|-

e--------------------------------------------------|-
B--------------------------------------------------|-
G--2--4-5-7---2--4-5-7----------------------------|-
D--------------------------------------------------|-
A--------------------------------------------------|-
E--------------------------------------------------|-

  'Outro'

          D             /                G
e--2--2--0--2--0--2--3--3--3--3--7-5---|-
B--3--3--3--3--3--3--3--3--3--3--7-5---|-
G--2--2--2--2--2--2--2--0--0--0---------|-  Repeat about 8 times or so...
D----------------------------------------|-
A----------------------------------------|-
E----------------------------------------|-

  Sorry it's not entirely complete, but it should be plenty to work from if you listen to 

the disc a thousand times.

	Note that the main chords (D, G, C, Em) can all be played in their barre form for more 
control over the distortion.  Also note that in Riff 2, G is substituted for Dsus2 if 
played in barre chord form.

     D      Dsus2     C        Em
e--x-----x------x-----x
B--7-----8------5----5
G--7-----7------5----4
D--7-----7------5----x
A--x-----x------x----x
E--x-----x------x----x

	Remember this stuff is not set in stone in any way, shape or form.  Experiment.  It's 
fun.  Just not with chemicals...

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A Day Without Me Tab

Send "A Day Without Me" Ringtone to your Cell Phone

Source: http://www.guitarmasta.net/u/u2/321336.html

Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques


No Picture John Wanna Be	#1 by John Merritt at Jun 5, 1976 at 2:47 AM EST
	To me, this song represents a somewhat skewed and childlike curiosity of how the world would move on without the lyricist in it. Clearly it reflects thoughts of suicide, but it seems like an innocent curiosity rather than a hardcore vision. When we're teenagers, most of us go through a period where we wonder what our significance is in the world we live in and "A Day Without Me" sort of reflects that. The line "I started a landslide in my ego", to me at least, signifies that Bono is writing about how people often lead themselves to believe that they have a great purpose in life and because most of us at a young age feel as if we have some great role to fill in our life, this song is asking the innocent and simple question...If I were to exit the Earth right now; would the world even notice I'd gone or would it still go on as if nothing had happened?

No Picture Luke Professional	#2 by Luke Goudreault at Mar 29, 1978 at 11:08 PM EST
	WOW, the whole God thing has me blown away. I remember when MTV first debuted this video, I was waiting for some form of meaning but instead it was shot in black and white and offered no such explanation. However, the video (much like Every Breath You Take) was better than ever just being shot in black and white. As far as the acutual meaning goes, either way, the God version or the girl/guy version, this song is out-of-hand with imagery and messages.

No Picture bradley Wanna Be	#3 by bradley goodman at Mar 16, 1983 at 10:23 PM EST
	I'm starting a landslide in my ego ......i think its the realisation that not everything is about you and you affect everyone around...so you need to "Look from the outside to the world I left behind" look and see what your doing to the people around you

No Picture December Underg Average	#4 by December Underground at Jan 7, 1984 at 10:45 AM EST
	irishprincess is right, this about Ian Curtis.

No Picture Josh Professional	#5 by Josh Wilson at Mar 28, 1989 at 4:23 PM EST
	hey 'goingtogrowwings'.......this is the verse bono added in the live version of this song.....no doubt its beautiful: "we will share the stars in the summer night we will share the snow in the winter night one heart one hope one love with or without u"

No Picture Nikola Rhythm Player	#6 by Nikola Supukovic at Oct 28, 1991 at 12:02 PM EST
	I'm pretty sure the line "If I were sleeping, what's at stake?" is "If Alison's sleeping, what's at stake?" refering to Bono's childhood sweetheart/wife Ali. I've heard this song is from the perspective of someone who has committed suicide.

No Picture Chad Wanna Be	#7 by Chad Barri at Oct 15, 1993 at 10:32 PM EST
	I, too, heard (over twenty years ago) that Bono wrote it after Ian Curtis' suicide in May 1980, but since they recorded a demo of it in the summer of 1979 (almost made it onto the U2-3 EP), it can't be true. It is about suicide, according to Bono. I think "landslide in my ego" refers to losing all self worth (it's about suicide, remember?)

No Picture bec Average	#8 by bec madden at Mar 22, 1995 at 1:06 AM EST
	I never thought of the overcoming drug addication, but it makes so much sense when you look at the words... wow... I've overcome drug addiction myself and some of the words are so familiar "stone set in your eyes/thorn twist in your side"... I mean sometimes you just wanna go back to using so bad, it really feels like there's a thorn twisting in your side... such a powerful song. Plus the whole through the storm we reach the shore, you give it all but I still want more... Once you make the committment to stop you think that your life is gonna magically be better once your over the addiction, but that is not always the case. I still think sometimes slip and think about how great it would be to do another line or take another hit, I tell myself that I'm in a better situiation now, but when times get really down it's hard to believe that sometimes... I also think that the "you" Bono is talking about is God. the whole, "and you give yourself away" thing is like when you turn on the news and hear some heartwarming story or you go to the movies and see the pool-boy turned multi-million dollar star, and then you just think man, why do you give him so much and I get so little when I'm putting forth this monumental effort to quit something that is killing me. I dunno, I always thought it was about a girl, but after looking at the God and drug comments I really think that is what Bono was trying to convey in this song. Oh well, regardless of the meaning it's one of my favorites of all time. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

No Picture Lucas Average	#9 by Lucas Gracia at Dec 20, 1996 at 9:53 AM EST
	I think its from the perspective from someone who is thinking or already has committed suicide ' looked from the outside to a world I left behind'.

No Picture ScumFucBondage Average	#10 by ScumFucBondage bumsex at Oct 6, 1998 at 3:18 AM EST
	Yep, i have read (and it is somewhat obvious) that it is about suicide and think about what it would be like if he was gone. Good song.

No Picture Flash Average	#11 by Flash Jaxon at Nov 23, 1999 at 10:34 AM EST
	i read in an early interview that the song was written about the suicide of Ian Curtis. Ian Curtis was the lead singer of Joy Division who later became new Order.

No Picture leester Professional	#12 by leester at Apr 18, 2005 at 9:25 PM EST
	Yeah, I heard that Bono wrote this song when he was in his teen years when he was comtemplating over the idea that "would it really matter if i committed suicide?" Well anyway I really like the song.

No Picture Reece Wanna Be	#13 by Reece Brown at Sep 22, 2005 at 1:40 AM EST
	What a great song, its a great early example of that classic atmospheric sound of U2's. I really enjoy listening to it.

No Picture everett Wanna Be	#14 by everett at Sep 30, 2005 at 7:03 AM EST
	It's always been my favorite song, since the first time I heard it, I was 12 years old and it stucked with me all this time. :O) I have great memories with that song... I danced on it many times nut I remember especially this one time, one night of June last year, I danced on this song with my elf, it was the most perfect moment ever. Everytime I hear it, I can't help seeing us. And next week, I am going to the wedding of my best friend, I'm her brides maid and she will have this song played just for me and my elf, but my elf will not be there... Sad...

No Picture Rene Average	#15 by Rene Salojärvi at Oct 24, 2005 at 8:19 AM EST
	I don't think of this song as a suicide song at all. To me it's about transcending yourself. It's about overcoming ego. The "landslide in my ego", to me anyway, signifies a crumbling of the value we put on ourselves, the self-absorbancy that our society promotes and most of us fall victim to. It's about getting out of yourself, then focusing on God's will and serving others. And looking back at yourself and both laughing and crying at the world you left behind. The world of "self". Crying because you wasted so much time worrying about yourself and laughing because you realize how silly it all was. Then moving on without the "me", without the constant focus on "self". Every once in a while, I experience "A Day Without Me", a day when God just seems to carry me and the next right thing to do just seems so natural. A day when I don't get all caught up with my own petty concerns and others take priority. To me, that's what this song is about. That's what this song means to me.