Chalkhills: Reel by Real: XTC: "Roads Girdle the Globe"

Date: Thursday, May 19, 2016
From: Jeff Truzzi <jefftruzzi (at) gmail dot com>
Subject: Roads Girdle The Globe (Tabs) by Andy Partridge

Roads Girdle The Globe chords - from Andy Partridge

Didn't I do this one already,somewhere? No idea what Dave plays, here are my parts, ears down for a full house....

INTRO:

7.7.0.0.7.7

7.7.0.0.8.8

7.7.0.0.10.10

7.7.0.0.7.7

7.7.0.0.8.8

same again,but substitute last chord with...

8.8.0.0.8.8

Around again

"roads riff" part=

ROADS x.2.4.4.4.4

GIR...... x.4.4.4.4.4 ...DLE....low E note

THE......Gb note

GLOBE 4.2.4.4.4.4

then

G note

WE'RE...3.2.2.4.x.x

SAFE.....3.2.2.2.x.x

IN YOUR..3.2.2.4.x.x

CONCRETE ROBE.....2.4.3.2.2.2

then the single line run on top E string 4-2-4-2

B string 3-2

x.2.4.4.4.4

x.0.4.4.4.4

3.2.4.4.4.4

1.1.0.0.1.1

then ROADS riff again

Tell you what,that took forever. First master that bit and then i'll post the verse bits.

VERSE:

Time to put you from your agonies. The verse chords of ROADS are.........

5.x.x.x.x.x.

5.4.4.6.x.x.

5.4.4.4.x.x.

5.4.4.6.x.x.

5.4.6.4.x.x.

Then all that down a tone

Then again down another tone

then...

2.4.3.2.x.x.

2.4.4.2.2.2.

2.4.2.3.2.2.

2.4.2.4.2.2.

Then hit the chorus.

* * * * * *

(JEFF TRUZZI) I DID post my guitar and bass transcriptions to Dave Gregory, and got a great response! I don't have his permission to post it all here, so I'll summarize and excerpt.

He said he was laughing out loud scrolling through it (not a good sign!) knowing how long I must have spent on it, and that it has been so long he couldn't remember it all without sitting down with a guitar for half an hour - but my effort was "jolly good," and "...there was quite a bit more to it than you have written down, that's for sure."

"Some of the chords I would certainly have trouble naming as they are somewhat ambiguous; that's the trouble with working in dissonance - it's not meant to make sense harmonically."

"I do remember a lot of augmented shapes and 'Wes Montgomery'-style octave playing. The 'steer me, Anna' section is definitely guitar, not synth; and I seem to remember playing an F with the bottom E string hanging open for the 'hail, wheel' chord..."

He agreed that the bass part was genius, and said he's looking forward to hearing "Drums & Wires" in 5.1 - as are we all!

Date: Wed, 15 Nov 1995 01:20:35 -0600
From: jh3 (at) ns dot cencom dot net (JH3 Unlimited, Ltd.)
Subject: The Chords to "Roads Girdle the Globe"
Message-Id: <9511150720.AA11568 (at) ns dot cencom dot net>

It seems I've been getting more active on this list lately. Hmmm...

Anyway, I can't resist a challenge, and someone DID ask. So here, ladies and
gentlemen, appearing for the very last time...

The Chords to "Roads Girdle the Globe"
--------------------------------------

As anyone who's tried this one knows, it's a doozy. I don't claim that these
chords are accurate, especially since they're not always playing actual
chords to begin with, and you'll have to excuse my unorthodox tabbing
method. Still, if you're sitting there by yourself with an acoustic guitar
trying to piece it together, this might help. Some.

THE INTRO:

For the guitar this is a fairly simple figure based on XXX777 moving up to
XXX988, moving up to XXX-12-12-12 and XXX-14-14-14 as punctuation.
Meanwhile, the bass guitar is sliding up and down on the low E string like
this: D-G-D-G-E-G-E-G. (This is why most bass players love this song.) The
basic chord pattern is just G, C (G bass), G, C (G bass). Later, this is
also the part between the choruses and verses where they're going "Whoa,
ho-ho, ho-ho"... Anyway, then you go into a chorus with no singing, followed
by the first verse.

CHORUS:
                        (Only need the 3 low strings
B     A   E   F#  G#     on those last three)
Roads gir-dle the globe

G  G      G    G       F#-F#-F#-F# (flourish)
...We all safe in your con-  crete  robe

B    B      A     A    G      G     F    F
Hail mother motor hail piston rotor hail wheel

B     A   E   F#  G#
Roads gir-dle the globe...

VERSE:

A  A  A  A  Amaj7  Amaj7  Amaj7  Amaj7
...Am I  a-sleep?

G  G  G  G  Gmaj7  Gmaj7  Gmaj7  Gmaj7
...Or am I  fast?

F  F     F  F  Fmaj7(add D) four times
...You  every  raaaaace...

F# (flourish, or...    F#7)
......You first you laaaast...

I play the Amaj7 as X02120,
the Gmaj7 as 354433,
and the Fmaj7 (add D) as 13223X.
(But that's just me.)

...Chorus;
"Whoa ho-ho, ho-ho";
Verse;
Chorus;
"Whoa ho-ho, ho-ho"...

And now for the rather complex MIDDLE BIT. This is picked, but the basic
chords are, as far as I can make out, these:

Bm7      E7       A6
...Steer me, Anna...Steer me, Anna

Bm7      E7       A6
...Steer me, Anna...Steer me, Anna

Dm7      G7       C6
...Steer me, Anna...Steer me, Anna

Dm7      G7       C6
...Steer me, Anna...STEER ME, ANNA!

I play the Bm7 as X2423X,
the E7 as 02010X,
and the A6 as X02222.
The other three are the same chords transposed upwards three frets.

And the rest you know. Good luck!
---------------------------------

--John H. Hedges

Roads Girdle the Globe

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