The Airborne Toxic Event is an alternative rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California, United States in 2006. The band consists of Mikel Jollett (vocals, guitar), Steven Chen (guitar, keyboards), Anna Bulbrook (viola, keyboards), Noah Harmon (bass) and Daren Taylor (drums). The band is best known for their single "Sometime Around Midnight", which was a hit in the U.K. as well on American alternative radio in 2008 and 2009.
Four years of hard work!This month of May we celebrated four years on the air. We continue working on the dissemination of this wonderful instrument, thank you for participating in our story!
You can play a nice simple version of this with a capo on 3 and the substitutions Bb=G, Gm=Em, F=D, and Dm=Bm, which I've put in parenthesis in the song. See notes at the end for solos and other info. (look up the acoustic version of this song on youtube-it’s good)
Intro Bb (G if capoed) (strum low strings then middle strings to get the effect)
Five, six, seven, eight! EbFGmBb (CDEmG if capoed) EbFBb (CDG)
Bb(G) All the time, awake--You're still on my mind. Gm(Em) F(D) But we were on our own--Almost all the time. Bb(G) And she'll step away--For a second or two. Gm(Em) F(D) And I close my eyes. And I think of you.
Eb(C) F(D) Gm(Em) Bb(G) We were only seventeen, we were holding in our screams Eb(C) F(D) Gm(Em) Bb(G)) like we'd torn it from the pages of some lipstick magazine Eb(C) F(D) And you scratch and turn and say, Gm(Em) F(D) Eb(C) Bb(G "let's burn ourselves up 'til we scream"--like gasoline
Solo over Bb (similar to intro Bb)
Bb(G) Those tender days--at your mother's house Gm(Em) F(D) And your father would find my hand inside your blouse Bb(G) But they tell me that--you're married now Gm(Em) F(D) Oh my dear, I fear, I can't understand how
Eb(C) F(D) Gm(Em) Bb(G) We were only seventeen, we were holding back our screams Eb(C) F(D) Gm(Em) Bb(G) like we'd torn our lives from the pages of some girly magazines Eb(C) F(D) And you scratch and turn and say, Gm(Em) F(D) Eb(C) Bb(G) "let's burn these sheets down to the seams"--like gasoline
Solo BbDmGmF x2 (GBmEmC if capoed)
Eb(C) F(D) Gm(Em) Bb(G) I was only twenty one, I wasn't having any fun Eb(C) F(D) Gm(Em) Bb(G) And the words you said tore through my head like bullets from a gun Eb(C) F(D) And I shoulda just shown up and said, Gm(Em) F(D) Eb(C) "Get in this car, let's run"
Eb(C) F(D) Gm(Em) Bb(G) And these years have seen so many imitations turning green Eb(C) F(D) Gm(Em) Bb(G) Each like the last, they go right past like credits on a screen Eb(C) F(D) But your memory blazes through me Gm(Em) F(D) Eb(C) Bb(G) Burning everything--like gasoline
---------------- First solo
(these are all tenth fret 10’s below. No ones or zeroes) Bb(G) --------------------------------------------------------| --------------------------------------------------------| --------------------------------------------------------| ----------------------------------------------------8---|x2 -8-88-888--8h10-1010-101010-----------------88-1010-----| ----------------------------10-1010-101010--------------|
Finally, I think this is how the chords are played on the album BbGmFEbFGmBb -10--10--8------------10--6--| -11--11--10---8---10--11--6--| -10--12--10---8---10--12--7--| -12--12--10---8---10--12--8--| --------------6---8---10--8--| --------------------------6--|
I've been playing it like this, simpler, and sounds fine
Watching them live, I see one guy plays the chords this way while the other plays with a capo on 3. So if you’re playing alone just fool with the placement of the chords to get the sound you want. I really over-did the tab for a song probably ten people have heard.