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Wilco-Ashes of American Flags
Tabbed By: OldCreepyWoman
-Intro-
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|-0-------------------------------2--------------|
|-------0-------------------2--------------------|
|-------------2------3---------------------------|
-2nd Guitar, Intro-
|-------5----------------------------------------|
|-------------8b---------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|--7---------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
-Chord Progression-
The Cash Machine... Is Blue...
For a Hundred... And a Small...
D G
|-2------------------3---------------------------| x2
|-3------------------3---------------------------|
|-2------------------0---------------------------|
|--------------------0---------------------------|
|--------------------2---------------------------|
|--------------------3---------------------------|
I Could Spend... And Sixty...
Em A
|------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------2---------------------------|
|--------------------2---------------------------|
|--2-----------------2---------------------------|
|--2---------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
On Diet... And Unlit...
D G
|-2------------------3---------------------------|
|-3------------------3---------------------------|
|-2------------------0---------------------------|
|--------------------0---------------------------|
|--------------------2---------------------------|
|--------------------3---------------------------|
Repeats first guitar intro, and strums: D,G,D,G
I Wonder... When Nobody...
Em A
|------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------2---------------------------|
|--------------------2---------------------------|
|--2-----------------2---------------------------|
|--2---------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
How Hot... This Machine...
D G
|-2------------------3---------------------------|
|-3------------------3---------------------------|
|-2------------------0---------------------------|
|--------------------0---------------------------|
|--------------------2---------------------------|
|--------------------3---------------------------|
Chorus:
All My Lies... Wishes.
F#dim7 G Bm
|--------------3----------------2----------------|
|--1-----------3----------------3----------------|
|--2-----------0----------------4----------------|
|--1-----------0----------------4----------------|
|--------------2---------------------------------|
|--------------3---------------------------------|
I Know I Would Die... Back New.
Em#7 Em/maj#7 A/C# D
|--2-----------2------------------------2--------|
|--4-----------4-------------2----------3--------|
|--5-----------4-------------2----------2--------|
|--3-----------3-------------2-------------------|
|----------------------------4-------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
Strums out in D,G,D,G, and repeats Chorus, Followed
By Intro, And Chorus again, fades out with repeated
Intro guitar 2.
This is my first tab, so i hope its right, and i hope
you like it.
Brought to you by the GUITARMASTA - http://www.guitarmasta.net
Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
|
No Picture
logan Average |
#1 by logan cook at Sep 29, 1970 at 11:33 AM EST |
| If any one out there can understand this: I listen to this song and it makes me think of being in a dream-like state, and in this dream-like state I am waking up from actually being asleep, with no worries. I think that's what Jeff's sayin he wants too, in a way, iguess. If that's what he was goin for...I would like to salute the ashes of his american flags | |
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No Picture
tom Average |
#2 by tom jenkins at Apr 27, 1972 at 5:58 PM EST |
| in addition to couldBanyone's i thought maybe saluting the ashes of american flags specifically is a sarcastic salute to what America has become, in that america no longer represents the "ideals," if you believe it ever stood for ideals, of what it used to mean, but is an ash of its former self. | |
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Dan Wanna Be |
#3 by Dan Z at Jun 12, 1973 at 12:04 AM EST |
| I think that this song has to do with how life is so simple and boring, no one cares. Almost like his life and the people around him are meaningless. He's dreading everyday so he would die to come back a new person... to start over. I think that he is being unpatriotic even if what SUGARXSPICE08 says is true (he might not want to admit that he was being unloyal to his own country). Not to say that he's dissing the country, but almost like he would like to see all the fake and meaningless shit of our country burn away. | |
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No Picture
Musical Genius |
#4 by oh.... THAT guy at Jul 30, 1982 at 12:04 AM EST |
| There are two prevailing trends of meaning in this song. 1) Materialism or consumer culture. The lines about buying cigarettes and Coca-Cola represent consumer culture and their obsession with buying things (note how Jeff knows the exact amount of his purchase). Also the "cash machine" and "service fees" evoke this sentiment of money replacing any spiritual values in America. 2) Mortality. Obviously the lines about wanting to die and come back new are a desperate plea for Jeff to remake himself, and right his wrongs. This is impossible when humans are mortal by nature. "Speaking of tomorrow / how will it ever come?" articulates a sense of being stuck in time, in other words doing nothing with your meaningless life. The last lines refer back to the themes of capitalism in America. The flag is being burned because it has no real value, there is no substance to American culture other than the desire to aquire more and more material wealth: "fallen leaves filling up shopping bags." The last line evokes hollow consumers who will buy anything, filling up shopping bags with dead, lifeless things such as "fallen leaves." Alternatively it could indicate the familiar image of the abandoned shopping bag drifting aimlessly and filling up with dead leaves a-la "American Beauty." This is simply my take on the song, there really is a ton of stuff going on here and lyrically it is quite fascinating. | |
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No Picture
Jimmy "Hoffa" Average |
#5 by Jimmy "Hoffa" at Jun 5, 1988 at 3:17 AM EST |
| I think this song is just about how life is pointless and that he would give up this world if there was something else... but he would rather live in this world then have nothing. ..i guess i kind o fagree with erin000 | |
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No Picture
Julian Average |
#6 by Julian . at Aug 28, 1988 at 4:56 AM EST |
| Oh, and I agree with dross about the circularity of the leaves and flags. That pretty much what I've always imagined it to mean. | |
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No Picture
Katie Wanna Be |
#7 by Katie St. Michel at Sep 9, 1991 at 1:02 PM EST |
| I gotta say that I've listened to this song too many times to count, and I think that "saluting the ashes of American flags" is really a statemeant about how Tweedy still loves the US despite all of the awful things that happen here. He is a patriot, loving a country that is destroying itself. | |
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No Picture
Tyler Average |
#8 by Tyler Hutchison at May 4, 1996 at 8:53 AM EST |
| Oh my gosh. I'm so glad someone else mentioned the guitar solo on Kicking Television. It's.. amazing. I'd say it's my favorite guitar solo of all time too. I'm actually listening to this song right now, from Kicking Television of course. | |
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Matt Lead Player |
#9 by Matt Miller at Oct 16, 1997 at 1:27 AM EST |
| Just going off all the previous, tying together the loose ends: I'd say its a dead song, longing for passion. Something to do and feel like doing. Waking up in a dream-like state with no worries... that would be a peace found in the good life the singer desires. | |
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No Picture
Mauricio Wanna Be |
#10 by Mauricio Tonon at Feb 22, 1998 at 12:29 PM EST |
| Sugarxspice is right, he stated in an interview that it was out of respect for people who can burn a flag, something he'd never do. In 'Learning How To Die' he says that at the time of writing the album he was thinking alot about distance, loneliness, and the idea of "country"--the "distance" theme is really obvious throughout the album in the mixing, the way all the instuments sound so broken apart and hollow, and the 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' lo-fi radio at the end of Poor Places. To me, subjectively, this song is about the loneliness the narrator feels from himself. 'All my lies were always wishes' and 'I would die if I come come back new' are the most prominent (and my personal favorite lyrics in the song). The song starts and ends with lyrics about consuming--he spends his money on cigarettes and Diet coke, and at the end he salutes all the 'fallen leaves', or currency, that's just being tossed away on things that even he wastes his money on. Maybe that's what makes us countrymen. Just some thoughts, nothing is black-and-white with Tweedy. He says very often his music is about interpretation, both by musician and listener. Some of his lyrics are just word association, but watching people apply meaning to them is part of the fun. | |
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No Picture
kewl Wanna Be |
#11 by kewl dude at Feb 23, 1998 at 7:53 PM EST |
| READ THE ABOVE POST. Wow. I think that nailed it. | |
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phil Average |
#12 by phil gdfgr at Aug 12, 1999 at 1:57 AM EST |
| i was thinking about the leaves falling at the end... could be that the leaves are soldiers that have died and the shopping bags are their coffins | |
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Trevor Average |
#13 by Trevor fun with drugs at Jul 4, 2007 at 5:01 AM EST |
| This song reminds me of summers with me and my best friend; driving around aimlessly. Broke. Wanting good things to happen to us and come our way. Wanting to make something of ourselves. Something better. But still just driving around and hoping for something to fall into our lap. | |
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