NICK DRAKE - "the river man" Tablature
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The River Man - Nick Drake
contributed by members of the Nick Drake Mailing List
Steve Dondershine <steved@ti.com>
Harlan Thompson <harlant@hawaii.edu>
Bike <bike@xs4all.nl>
Mike Healey <michael.healey@balliol.ox.ac.uk>
capo 3 - 5/4 time
INTRO: starts with 4 measures of A/E
A/E
- - - - - - - - - -|- - - - - - - - - -|- - - - - - - - - -|- - - - - - - - - -
- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -
- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -
- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -
- - - - - - - - - -|- - - - - - - - - -|- - - - - - - - - -|- - - - - - - - - -
0 - - 0 - - 0 0 - -|0 - - 0 - - 0 0 - -|0 - - 0 - - 0 0 - -|0 - - 0 - - 0 0 - -
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 &
VERSES: note where the words come in
Am/E Gm
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- 1 - - 1 1 - - 1 -|- 1 - - 1 1 - - 1 -|- 3 - - 3 3 - - 3 -|- 3 - - 3 3 - - 3 -
- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 3 - - 5 5 - - 5 -|- 3 - - 5 5 - - 5 -
- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 5 - - 5 5 - - 5 -|- 5 - - 5 5 - - 5 -
- - - - - - - - - -|- - - - - - - - - -|- - - - - - - - - -|- - - - - - - - - -
0 - - 0 - - 0 0 - -|0 - - 0 - - 0 0 - -|3 - - 3 - - 3 3 - -|3 - - 3 - - 3 3 - -
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 &
Bet-ty came on by her way Said she had a word to say
Said she hadn't heard the news Hadn't had the time to choose
Gonna see the riverman Gonna tell him all I can
If he tells me all he knows 'Bout the way his river flows
Betty said she prayed today For the sky to blow away
For when she thought of summer rain Calling for her mind again
Gonna see the riverman Gonna tell him all I can
If he tells me all he knows 'Bout the way his river flows
F A/E
- - - - - - - - - -|- - - - - - - - - -|- - - - - - - - - -|- - - - - - - - - -
- 1 - - 1 1 - - 1 -|- 1 - - 1 1 - - 1 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -
- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -
- 3 - - 3 3 - - 3 -|- 3 - - 3 3 - - 3 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -
- - - - - - - - - -|- - - - - - - - - -|- - - - - - - - - -|- - - - - - - - - -
1 - - 1 - - 1 1 - -|1 - - 1 - - 1 1 - -|0 - - 0 - - 0 0 - -|0 - - 0 - - 0 0 - -
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 &
'bout things today and fallen leaves
A way to lose what she believes
About the plan for lilac time
And all night shows in summertime
Or maybe stay, she wasn't sure
She lost the pain, and stayed for more
About the ban on feeling free
I don't suppose it's meant for me
At the end:
A/E A(dim5)/E
- - - - - - - - - -|- - - - - - - - - -|- - - - - - - - - -|- 0 - - 0 0 - - 0 -|
- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 4 - - 4 4 - - 4 -|- 4 - - 4 4 - - 4 -|
- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|
- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- 2 - - 2 2 - - 2 -|- - - - 2 2 - - 2 -|
- - - - - - - - - -|- - - - - - - - - -|- - - - - - - - - -|0 - - 0 - - 0 0 - -|
0 - - 0 - - 0 0 - -|0 - - 0 - - 0 0 - -|0 - - 0 - - 0 0 - -|- - - - - - - - - -|
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 &
Oh how they come and go
Oh how they come and go
Notes: The last chord (Adim5/E) is also used at the end of verses 4 and 8
Use both forms but not necessarily in that order
-- steved@ti.com |"Chaco Chickens:
| Real People, Real Food" - X-Files
This musical interpretation has been removed due to a legal threat from Moses & Singer LLP,
representing the National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) and
The Music Publisher's Association of the United States (MPA).
Unfortunately, these threats are fueled by greed and being masked by a "copyright infringement." They claim tab sites are
"hurting the songwriters," but it's a known fact that the publishing companies garner most of the
revenue. Instead, they would prefer you to purchase the
official NICK DRAKE tablature
which is an option we've always given our users. And due to the highly error-prone nature of tabs on the internet, many choose to go this route.
These companies also do not realize that tablature sites help to promote their artists.
For more information on this onslaught, you can read the
NY Times Article.
We hope one of the larger tablature sites will have the money to fight this. Until then, we urge you all to keep tabbing songs and sharing them in any way you can.
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