How do you make it sound like the recording?:
Tune all strings a half-step down if you want to match the recording.
(The hardest part of this song is setting up the tuning. Otherwise
it's three pretty standard chords.) Pretty fun song!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRUh8OQ4fp8
What chords should I play?:
Sounds great with straight chords or power chords. Chris seems to
play Em-shape-power chords all the way up the neck of the guitar
on frets 8 & 3 (for showmanship? Maybe some guitar gurus can help
me out here), but you can just play Em-shape-power on fret 3 and
A-shape-power on fret 3. (I'm tabbing out the latter.)
Cool transition tip:
In either case, you can then slide down from Em-shape-power-3 to
Em-shape-power-2 to Em-shape-power-1 to Em for a cool transition.
Tabbed-Out Chords:
Em G C
(Em-shape-power-3) (A-shape-power-3)
Eb|--0-----------x-------------------x----------|
Bb|--0-----------x-------------------x----------|
Gb|--0-----------0-------------------5----------|
Db|--2-----------5-------------------5----------|
Ab|--2-----------5-------------------3----------|
Eb|--0-----------3-------------------x----------|
======================================================================
Song:
Em
Truckstop butterfly
G
Covered in gasoline
Em
Truckstop butterfly
G
Kiss you till you're clean
C G C G
Me and a man with a mohawk on his head
C G Em Em
Found a dirty butterfly half dead
C G C G
Rainbow of shiny oil slick and stuck on wing
C G Em Em
Helpless in a puddle muddy thing
C G C G
Seven-eleven, cherry soda and a pie
C G
30-ton steel grey cloud and the
C G
sky is dark and dripping though we
C G
stop and wonder why
C G Em Em
You're running late but what a great alibi
Em
Truckstop butterfly
G
Covered in gasoline
Em
Truckstop butterfly
G
Kiss you till you're clean
(get gone!)
[Instrumental / Harmonica solo]
C G C G
C G Em
C G C G
C G Em
C G C G
Far out east in deserts there's a vein of inky gold
C G Em
Here out west you wear it like a coat
C G C G
Me and the man with a mohawk watch you go
C G Em Em Em Em
Follow sun and leave the melting snow
C G
Man, how I miss you
C G
Truckstop butterfly
C G
Fly so I can't see you
C G
Truckstop butterfly
C G
I hope you made it,
C G
and you didn't die
C G
Still, I do miss you
C G
Truckstop butterfly
C G
Truckstop butterfly
C G
Truckstop butterfly
-----------------------------
Tip: Every once in a while, songs will be a half-step down, which helps with singing sometimes.
If your guitar has good intonation (ie doesn't sound out of tune with a capo on, basically),
you can put a capo on 1 to put your guitar back into standard tuning for some songs, then take
the capo off for these half-step songs to switch quickly during a set. Don't store your guitar
with the capo on the strings though. The downside is that the fret markings might throw you
off for a bit while you get used to it.
peace