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EXPLORERS - Sky Sailing
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Tabbed by: Owen
This tab was used in my cover of the song on SoundCloud:
https://soundcloud.com/owen-cail/explorers
Tuning: standard
CAPO NOTE: to play these chords with the album you need to put your capo on the
SEVENTH fret.
Some of you may be thinking "why would you pick chords that need to be played
that far up the neck?!" Here's my answer:
Reason 1: it makes the song much easier to sing for my bass voice when these
chords are played with capo on 2nd (try it if you'd like).
Reason 2: it enables some little tricks that allow you to play chords and the
moving notes that you can hear in the background at the same time (see the end
of the tab for details on this).
If you want to play along with the album without a capo - just use that handy
transpose button that UG has. (The first chord in the first verse should be an A)
[Verse 1]
D
This old mountainside where we used to reside
D
Is slowly recalling
G
The things we discovered inside
A
Oh the crystal caves
D
We shed both our jackets, and I hammered brackets
D
From old metal chairs
G
To the walls for a crude set of stairs
A
To lead us down
D
And you tied a rope to the steepening slope
D
A jury-rigged harness
G
So we could descend in the dark
A
But the tide came in
[Chorus]
G D A
And we found ourselves in the sea
G D Bm A G
Deep underwater we both found that we could still breathe
A Bm
So we spent the day submerged
G A
And we swam the evening away
*instrumental break* (starts on the last word of the previous verse)
D D D D C C G G x2
[Verse 2]
D
The water was clear like the pure atmosphere
D
As we kicked and fluttered
G
Through caverns all cluttered with age
A
In the afterglow
D
We swam hand in hand over white satin sand
D
And you left a ribbon
G
To honor the pale gibboun moon
A G A D D
But that was years ago
G A
And we never came up for air
G A D G A
Down there, we can go anywhere
G A
D
The old world was dying while we took off flying
D
Like peregrine falcons
G
Beneath the transparent blue waves
A
Far below the surf
D
And we spent the hours with submarine flowers
D
I knew I’d remember
G
That day in November as we
A
Felt alive again
[Chorus]
G D A
Cause we found ourselves in the sea
G D Bm A G
Deep underwater we both found that we could still breathe
A Bm
So we spent the day submerged
G A
And we swam the evening away
*instrumental break* (starts on the last word of the previous verse)
D D D D C C G G x2
We swam the evening away
D
*let ring*
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If you're looking to get into some more advanced details of the song, then this
section is for you
REMEMBER: This section doesn't apply if you're using the transpose function
1) The moving notes on the G chord:
There are some sections in the song (most audibly at 2:49 "As we... felt alive
again") where there are moving notes while the G chord is being played.
NOTE: the notes that should be emphasized have asterisks (*) around them.
I reach down with my 2nd (pointer) finger to play the 2nd fret on the high e
string on the 3rd chord. That's the way I do it, you do it any way you like:
G1 G2 G2 G3
e|--x---*3*--*2*---x---------------------------------------------------------|
B|--x----3----3---*3*--------------------------------------------------------|
G|--0----0----0----0---------------------------------------------------------|
D|--0----0----0----0---------------------------------------------------------|
A|--2----2----x----x---------------------------------------------------------|
E|-*3*---3----3----3---------------------------------------------------------|
2) The moving notes on the D chord:
I'm not sure I like the way this sounds with these chords, but these moving
notes on the high e string can definitely be heard in his album version (an
octave down).
That said, this can be a good technique to make things more interesting in the
verse where there are no chord changes:
D1 D2 D3 D4
e|--3----2----0----2---------------------------------------------------------|
B|--3----3----3----3---------------------------------------------------------|
G|--2----2----2----2---------------------------------------------------------|
D|--0----0----0----0---------------------------------------------------------|
A|--0----0----0----0---------------------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
I will give one example in the song where both the chord changes take place.
Beyond that it is up to you to feel the changes in the other verses. It does
follow a pattern.
D1 D2
This old mountainside
D3 D4
Where we used to reside
D1 D2
Is slowly recalling
D3 D4 G1 G2 G3 G4
The things we discovered inside
A
Oh the crystal caves....
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THE END
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And there you have it!
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