Wilco › I Am Trying To Break Your Heart Guitar Tab

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Tabs:

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Send "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" Ringtone to your Cell Phone

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	            Wilco - I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
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Tabbed by: Tyler Estes
Email: ohdarn323@hotmail.com

Tuning: Standard

It's just B F#m E throughout the whole song


[B]I am an American [F#m]aquarium [E]drinker
[B]I assassin down the [F#m]avenue[E]
[B]I'm hiding out in the [F#m]big city [E]blinking
[B]What was I thinking when I [F#m]let go of [E]you

Let's forget about the tongue-tied lightning
Let's undress just like cross-eyed strangers
This is not a joke so please stop smiling
What was I thinking when I said it didn't hurt

I want to glide through those brown eyes dreaming
Take you from the inside, baby hold on tight
You were so right when you said I've been drinking
What was I thinking when we said good night

I want to hold you in the Bible-black predawn
You're quite a quiet, domino, bury me now
Take off your band-aid 'cause I don't believe in touchdowns
What was I thinking when we said hello

I always thought that if I held you tightly
You'd always love me like you did back then
Then I fell asleep in the city kept blinking
What was I thinking when I let you back in

[B]I am trying to [F#m]break your [E]heart
[B]I am trying to [F#m]break your [E]heart
[B]But still I would be lying if I [F#m]said it wasn't [E]easy
[B]I am trying to [F#m]break your [E]heart

Disposable Dixie cup drinker
I assassin down the avenue
I've been hiding out in the big city blinking
What was I thinking when I let go of you

(Loves you)

I'm the man who loves you


Here's the keyboard riff in between verses:
e|-------------------------0--|
B|-0-------0-3---0-------0----|
G|---2-0-2---------2-0-2------|
D|----------------------------|
A|----------------------------|
E|----------------------------|

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Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques


No Picture GRIM Professional	#1 by GRIM at Feb 4, 1970 at 9:28 PM EST
	awesome song

No Picture sebastian Average	#2 by sebastian daalmeijer at Nov 19, 1973 at 8:21 AM EST
	Awesome song awesome band Pretty straight forward meanings.

No Picture Turd Fergeson Lead Player	#3 by Turd Fergeson Fergeson at Mar 4, 1975 at 1:25 AM EST
	i assumed the "assasin down the avenue" part meant drinking and driving. i mean, if he just drank an aquarium's volume in alcohol, it makes sense. to quote icy40oz: I like the "I assassin down the avenue" line. he doesn't just shuffle, walk or stalk...he assassins. i like that interpreation a lot, but in my mind if he's assasining (um, pretend its a word), it really implies a sense of recklessness and disregard for anyone you might hurt, and for me that line is the one that gets across the alcoholism in this song the most strongly. i can just see a guy shitfaced and careening around in a car he can barely control

No Picture Green Day rocks Average	#4 by Green Day rocks!!!! at Mar 21, 1977 at 2:13 PM EST
	I don't think this is about lost love in the traditional sense. It seems that he was in love with a woman, they broke up, and now they're back together, but there's no love between them anymore. The last verse I think brings it all together "I always thought if I held you tightly, you'd always love me like you did back then . . . what was I thinking when I let you back in."

No Picture jo_silverhawk Average	#5 by jo_silverhawk at Aug 16, 1977 at 4:39 AM EST
	What does this song mean to me? A fucking lot. It's possibly Wilco's most ingenius song to date. I definitely agree with the idea that this song has to do with alcoholism, especially with just the way it's arranged, with sort of sloppy beats and of course Jeff's lazy (but PERFECT) voice, but i think it might also be referring to another type of overindulgence - American consumerism. It's just a thought, and it's unlikely since the rest of the song so obviously is more about a romance. But the fact that he uses the word "American" might be a statement to the fact that he thinks Americans are all, well, pigs. Including himself. We Americans don't realize how many things we take for granted, and here, that could even mean water (hence the use of "aquarium"), one of the most abundant resources on the planet. And when he says DISPOSABLE dixie cup drinking, he could be implying that we waste a lot of shit. Just because the label says it's disposable doesn't mean we should so carelessly toss it out. I don't know. Maybe he's talking about the fact that alcoholism is more predominant in America than any other country. Or maybe "American" and "aquarium" just sounded right together (and oh, they do). I love when Jeff throws in the consonance. Mm mm. Whatever he's trying to say here, he sure is acheiving what he's undoubtedly trying to do: break my heart with his brilliant work.

No Picture dylan Average	#6 by dylan markus at Oct 14, 1980 at 10:40 PM EST
	I am a very new Wilco fan. This song is awesome - so complex but about such a common thing. First I thought the 'assassin' was clever because he's walking around drunk like an assassin would - zig zagging back and forth; probably leaning against a building for support every once in a while. But the band aid throws me off a little too. If the song is going backward and that's the verse where he's remembering their first hello, maybe it's him telling her to let down her guard (i.e. she's wearing a "band aid" from a being hurt before) because he's not just trying to score with her (i.e. touchdown)?

No Picture zach Wanna Be	#7 by zach lilly at Mar 3, 1981 at 6:01 PM EST
	ah ... this is the song that got me hooked on wilco. this is an incredible song. this song breaks MY heart ... it's just so beautiful and so perfect, really. I think tubesocks hit the nail on the head there in regards to the meaning.

No Picture drw Average	#8 by drw drw at Jan 26, 1983 at 6:08 PM EST
	Second thoughts about love.

No Picture Eric Average	#9 by Eric Zinkhon at Mar 27, 1983 at 11:06 PM EST
	I agree about the backwards bit. I think that before he met this girl he was not drinking very much and then she stressed him out soo much he was drinking an 'aquarium'. I dunno. just my interperetation

No Picture cody Average	#10 by cody champion at May 30, 1987 at 10:23 PM EST
	When Tweedy refers to being an "aquarium drinker" he is using it as a figure of speech for saying that he is a heavy drinker, seeing that an aquarium contains lots of liquids he is a person that drinks as much as an aquarium, then at the end of the song he refers to himself as a dixie cup drinker, now thorugh the whole song he has changed himself from being a heavy drinker to somewhat of a social "dixie cup" drinker. Feel free to email me if any of you have any questions or if you are tottaly confused on what the hell I just said!

No Picture Dakota Average	#11 by Dakota Keyes at Sep 26, 1994 at 11:08 AM EST
	Ok, this song is obviously about a man trying to cope with a recent breakup. He's driving around drunk in the city and decides to pay his ex a visit. "Tounge-tied lightning" is an awesome way to say they had a fight. He wanted to have sex (undress like cross-eyed strangers) and she laughed. I think he thought he would get her back for something she did to him by breaking her heart. But his plan backfired and he doesn't think he scored a heartbreak(take off your band aid because I don't believe in touchdowns) could mean that she wasn't really hurt and plays that she is but he doesn't believe he scored that one against her. He did end up as mental at the end where he repeats himself over and over. Regret ate him alive.

No Picture Sarah McKagan Musical Genius	#12 by Sarah McKagan (AKA - Lady Rock 'n' Roll) at Aug 21, 1999 at 7:22 PM EST
	Hasn't anyone ever heard the phrase, "He drinks like a fish," before?

No Picture James Rhythm Player	#13 by James T.H. at Jan 23, 2000 at 3:23 AM EST
	Piecing together most of these other ones, I think this is a song with a long timeline: He breaks up, he is driven to drink, he tries to get her back, then they do get back and all the love is lost, and now he's trying to break it off again, hence I am Trying to Break Your Heart

No Picture mike Average	#14 by mike duncan at Oct 31, 2000 at 10:18 PM EST
	SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME...... What does, "Take off your bandaid cuz i dont beleive in touchdowns" mean? whattt does it mean..........if it was just i dont beleive in touch downs then maybe hey, he doesnt like football, but what about the bandaid?

No Picture john Average	#15 by john at Jun 28, 2006 at 11:35 PM EST
	so bleak yet so catchy in a wierd way.....awesome

No Picture floyd Lead Player	#16 by floyd lloyd at Jul 17, 2007 at 4:38 AM EST
	A near perfect song.

No Picture Håvard Average	#17 by Håvard Banne at Oct 3, 2007 at 10:49 PM EST
	well, thats certainly an interesting view on the take off your bandaid thing, and while i think its kind of loosely put together, it beats the hell out of anything i could think of. thanks paddler mainge.

No Picture Phillip Wanna Be	#18 by Phillip Doucette at Oct 4, 2007 at 12:51 PM EST
	i noticed that its all backwards... from verse 1 - letting her go (after thinking it wasnt gonna hurt) until the day he first said hi to her ("what was i thinking when we said hello"). its like its all over now and he is going thru it over again in his head... from now that shes gone back to the day he first said hi to her. i think thats pretty cool :)

No Picture Venti Average	#19 by Venti at Oct 7, 2007 at 4:38 AM EST
	At first I was perplexed by the introduction to this song, "I am an American aquarium drinker, I assasin down the avenue." What is an aquarium drinker? What is Jeff Tweedy talking about? But the line that clarified things for me, and makes this an ingenius song is the line "you were so right when you said i've been drinkin'." It makes it apparent that this isn't just a song about a longing for lost love, but instead it is seems to be the thoughts of someone writing in their journal at the end of a night of drinking confused about the feelings he has for someone that continually lingers in his mind. It seems as though he is uncertain about his love for this person, wondering am I in love with this person or am I in love with the idea of having someone to love. In the end he thinks she is not the one, that he is only trying to break her heart because he can ... but will he be thinking the same the morning after?

No Picture chris Average	#20 by chris ovari at Oct 9, 2007 at 7:12 AM EST
	the "aquarium drinker" line is about the quantity of alcohol consumed. of course it is strange that at the end of the song he says "disposable dixie cup drinker" which is a lot less than an aquarium. I like the "I assassin down the avenue" line. he doesn't just shuffle, walk or stalk...he assassins.

No Picture Toby Musical Thunder	#21 by Toby at Oct 11, 2007 at 1:32 PM EST
	what an absolutely gorgeous song. jeffs lazy, laid back voice is perfect for the whole "im a depressed drunk" mood he sets in this song. love it. as to the reference to the bandaid, i think the interpertaions here are very nice, and fairly acurate. :)

No Picture Austin Rhythm Player	#22 by Austin at Oct 11, 2007 at 3:00 PM EST
	for some reason, when i hear "take off your bandaid 'cause i don't believe in touchdowns ".. i always feel like he's just reassuring her that it'll maybe be better this time, with both of them stronger.. just a sort of strange reassurance

No Picture Adam Average	#23 by Adam Favro at Oct 12, 2007 at 4:43 AM EST
	"disposable dixie cup drinker" perhaps indicates that the man in the song has come so apart that he's way beyond "aquarium drinking" and visiting a methadone clinic on the avenue regularly where it's dispensed in juice in a dixie cup, or alternatively in a mental facility where meds are dispensed by dixie cup. I love this song, I love this album, I love this writer.

No Picture Avinash Average	#24 by Avinash Dutta at Oct 16, 2007 at 3:49 PM EST
	I only read like the first ten comments, but getting back to the aquarium drinker/dixie cup drinker thing. Nooklaer said that the song is backwards which totally explains the drinking thing. He starts out drinking from a dixie-cup ( a small amount) at the end of the song(whcih is really the beginning because the song is backwards) and by the end (which is the first line of the song) he is drinking from an aquarium aka alot of alcohol.

No Picture Damien Wanna Be	#25 by Damien Pritchard at Oct 18, 2007 at 12:52 AM EST
	dixie cups are used as shot glasses.... but yeah, awesome song.