Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2022 14:41:45 -0500
From: Doug Downing <groove25 (at) execpc dot com>
Subject: Some ideas on Vanishing Girl
Message-Id: <C3CD5566-95FE-404B-93EF-3A0304844330 (at) execpc dot com>

Some ideas on Vanishing Girl:

This song is in the key of A.

The intro riff outlines A and Dm triads, up the neck, with ornamental
notes from the melody. A distinctive part of the Verse melody is that
it lands on an F note, which is a little sour to the key. A close
listen to the acoustic rhythm part suggests the progression A-Dm-A-F,
in open position.

A - Dm - A - F
A - Dm - A - F

That said, the chord F6 comes awfully close to Dm and might be an
appropriate voicing for both Dm and F chords. I play this chord with a
‘lazy barre’, with my thumb on the bottom string.

F6: 1-X-3-2-3-1

This voicing doesn't match what I hear near the song's beginning, but
it seems to feel more appropriate as the song continues. It's an
option anyway.

(To dig a little deeper, the Dm chord is a bold harmonization of a
melody that initially dances around A and D notes, A-B-C#-D. When the
melody lands on F, the harmony ventures even further out of key, with
the C note of an F chord being audible. You wouldn't want to play this
F triad over the first part of the melody, but it works in this later
position. Flexibility regarding voicings is always an option, of
course, as long as that C note is handled carefully. For instance, an
interesting alternative to Dm is Dm(add9): X-X-3-2-3-0. I wouldn't use
it to start, but it's a colorful variation you might explore later on.
Note that my F6 voicing avoids C, which makes it a reasonable voicing
or substitute for Dm.)

The Pre-Chorus moves to an F#m-E turnaround that's repeated 3 1/2
times. Actually, that E is played as an E6, but I don't think that
note is particularly strong or crucial to the overall harmonic
movement. (It makes the progression sound more static and slightly
recalls the swishy jazz break of Colin's ‘The Affiliated’.) If it's
easier, I think it sounds fine to use an open E.

F#m - E6
F#m - E6
F#m - E6
F#m

The Chorus gets even easier: G-D-A, played twice. To get back to the
Verse, an E chord is inserted at the end. There's a strong feeling of
a suspension resolving to that E, which could almost be an Esus4;
however, A is the IV of E, so it's more likely an A-to-E movement
(over an E bass), and there is definitely a sus4 ornamental figure on
the A chord. To summarize, the progression seems to be:

G - D - A - A
G - D - A(sus4) - E

The Bridge ("When she's here, it makes up for…") kind of fleshes
out the see-saw between D and Dm within the song (and even the G#-to-G
alternation!). The declarative rhythm and stepwise harmonic movement
(A-G-F#-F) give it a distinctive feel:

A - A7 - D - Dm
A - F6 - A F6 - A

That last half will be recalled at the song's end. This is also where
I use the F6 chord voicing mentioned earlier.

To wind things up, the final chorus takes advantage of its three-chord
progression (G-D-A) by dropping the last bar, accelerating or
collapsing the structure a bit. This is played three times (G-D-A x3),
eliding to the last four bars of the Bridge, which act as a sort of
Outro.

G - D - A
G - D - A
G - D -
A - F6 - A F6 - A

Pretty cool, huh?

As I said, the song is in the key of A, but it plays around a bit. The
Verse adds the F note, the b6; this gets reflected in the harmonies of
Dm (iv) and F (bVI). The Prechorus restores our basic key sense with
F#m-E6 (vi-V). The Chorus twists things again, this time flatting the
seventh, to G, which leads to what might be considered a Mixolydian
progression of bVII-IV-I. Despite all the changes, it always feels
fairly rooted in the tonic A. Each section has its own sort of logic.

The way bits are jigsawed together is also interesting, with the
Prechorus dropping its last bar to seque to the Chorus. And the Chorus
later dropping its last bar for the extended Chorus at the end—which
is further elided to (or extended with) the bit from the Bridge.

Oh, I almost forgot, it ends on a final A6 chord! This note is added
by the lead guitar. It's an appropriate resolution to that
slightly-off flatted sixth—from F to F#—almost a humorous choice,
given the context. It's not necessary, but it's an extra finishing
touch. (You could try playing this chord by bringing the F6 voicing up
to the 5th position, perhaps taking advantage of open 5th and 1st
strings. But I find a plain open A much easier to pull off
rhythmically.)

P.S. I'm using the terms Verse, Pre-Chorus, and Chorus because it's
what I'm most comfortable with for designating the three repeating
sections that typically form a pop song. It might be better to use the
letters A, B, and C (with D for the Bridge). The reason I say this is
that what I'm calling the Pre-Chorus is really the song's Chorus from
a lyrical standpoint, and what I'm calling the Chorus may not have a
suitable alternate term (the Post-Chorus?). This is a minor detail
where the musical structure and lyrical structure vary a bit from what
I consider boilerplate. But maybe I'm just using the wrong terms.

P.P.S. Anyone with a ‘surround sound’ version of this song might have
a much more accurate take on guitar specifics than me! I apologize for
that. I sure wish I had one of those remix reissues right about now,
to shore up some of my guesswork.

P.P.S.S. Looking over earlier Chalkhills entries regarding this song,
I'm now second-guessing my chord voicings for Dm and F in the Verse.
For me, the essence of the progression remains the same. But there's
more dissonance in that F chord than I can account for. I hear it
particularly when the rhythm guitar enters over the last note of the
Intro. So I'm now thinking of something like A-Dm(add9)-A-Fmaj7/A, as
one possibility:

A: X-0-2-2-2-0
Dm(add9): X-0-3-2-3-0
Fmaj7/A: X-0-3-2-1-0

I'm not saying this is correct, I'm just trying to figure out how it's
getting that murky, complex sound. The minor 6th at the bottom of the
F voicing above has more dissonance than a straight F chord would.

Here's something else: A listen to Colin's original demo, ‘No One at
Home’, makes me think that F chord may not have the C note I thought
it did. Instead, I hear a more dissonant but easy-to-play chord, with
an open B string.

Fmaj7#11/A: X-0-3-2-0-0

It's interesting how Colin's demo hits the F note so hard in the intro
melody, giving the song a real sluggish, gloom-and-doom feel, where
the later version saves that note and maintains a much brighter feel
with Dave's dancing arpeggios. (And Colin's bass defines entirely
different harmonies for the verse.) Such a world of difference! But
the structure is all there.

I should have mentioned, for the Bridge, I move to the 5th position
and play straight barre chord voicings, to get a change in sound and
because it feels like a more rote section compositionally. In light of
my ‘No One at Home’ discoveries, I'd be inclined to substitute Colin's
Dm(add9) voicing for the F6 I'd been playing previously. This gives
the song an economy of chord shapes. Also, I hear Colin playing the A6
at the very end of his demo, probably as a partial barre in open
position: X-0-2-2-2-2. Along the same lines, I neglected to mention
that I play my open A chords here with a partial barre, which makes it
extremely easy to transition from A to Dm(add9).

What the heck, I may as well recant my earlier Verse progression and
replace it with this one:

A - Dm(add9) - A - Fmaj7#11/A
A - Dm(add9) - A - Fmaj7#11/A

This puts it more in line with previous contributions.

And my Bridge would be:

A - A7 - D - Dm
A - Dm(add9) - A Dm(add9) - A

And the final ending tag would be:

A - Dm(add9) - A Dm(add9) - A6

I hope this has been an interesting walk-through! It took me a while
to get there, but I think I've got the makings of a solid acoustic
version of this song. The unique, distinctive colors of the Verse
chords hopefully add some sparkle that my earlier interpretations had
been lacking.

Sincerely,
Doug Downing

Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2017 17:29:08 +0100
From: Florian Decros <flodecros (at) gmail dot com>
Subject: Bass tabs for Black Sea
Message-ID: <CAPtZtiMEot5AHL_+cxMcr+04FpjkfeJhrP8+8hK7B15ycOk_KA (at) mail dot gmail dot com>

Hi !
Here's the bass tablatures for the 11 (great) songs from the classic "Black Sea". A lot of repetitive bass lines, but also some tricky parts. Sorry if there's any mistakes, and I hope you'll enjoy those basslines as much as I do.
Cheers,
Florian.

Date: 22 Sep 98 07:25:03 +0000
From: Dan Pinder <dpinder (at) inreach dot com>
Subject: Vanishing Girl bits
Message-Id: <199809221413.HAA28810 (at) mail dot inreach dot com>


Intro
      ^   ^    ^    ^    ^     ^   ^   ^
----|--------9----------|10----9---------------|--
----|-10--12-----12-----|--------12-10---------|--
--9-|---9------9----9-10|---10---------10--9---|--
----|-------------------|----------------------|--
----|-------------------|----------------------|--
----|-------------------|----------------------|--


  ^     ^  ^    ^    ^
--9---------------|----10-------------------------
-----12--10--9----|---10--------------------------
------------------|--10---------------------------
------------------|-------------------------------
------------------|-------------------------------
------------------|-------------------------------


acoustic guitar first two chords:

   Amaj      Dmin9/A
---0-----------0------------------------------------
---2-----------3------------------------------------
---2-----------2------------------------------------
---2-----------3------------------------------------
---0-----------0------------------------------------
---X-----------X------------------------------------

Dan Pinder (dpinder (at) inreach dot com)

Date: Mon, 20 May 91 9:46:14 PDT
From: John M. Relph <relph (at) presto dot ig dot com>
Subject: chords to Vanishing Girl

    (verse)
    A                  F7+13
    Someone's knocking in the Distance
    But I'm deaf and blind
    She's not expected home this evening
    So I leave the world behind

    (chorus)
                      F#m
    for the Vanishing Girl
    E6                F#m
        The Vanishing Girl
    E6                   F#m
    Yes she'd give you a twirl
    E6                   F#m
        But she vanishes from my world
       G                         D
    So burn my letters and you'd better leave
                    A
    Just one pint a day
        G
    The whole street's talking about my
    D                       A+11  E
    White shirts looking so grey

    (verse)
    People gossip on the doorstep
    Think they know the score
    She's giving him the runaround
    The man from number four

    (chorus)
    Has a Vanishing Girl
    a Vanishing Girl
    Yes she'd give you a twirl
    But she vanishes from my world
    Yes the paint is peeling and my
    Garden is overgrown
    I got no enthusiasm to even answer the phone

    (bridge)
    A                  A7               D
    When she's here it makes up for the time she's
                 F7+13
    not and it's all forgotten
        A                 F7+13          A    F7+13   A
    But when she goes I'm putting on the pose

    (chorus)
    For the Vanishing Girl
    (end on) A6

Unfortunately my music theory is not very good.  On guitar I'm playing
a barred A (5th fret), F7+13 (F7 1st fret, +13 2nd string 3rd fret), E6
(open, +6 2nd string 2nd fret), barred A11 (A 5th fret, +11 3rd string
7th fret).  The F#m might be an F#m7 but it sounds fine plain.

        -- John