XTC - "the ballad of peter" Tablature
Official XTC Tablature & Sheet Music »
From jws5@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu
~Subject: XTC - The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead
Here it is, long awaited (?) and hopefully accurate.
Some notes:
(1) I figured this out without having the tape player going, so though the
chord pattern is accurate (pretty much all I-IV-V) I've put this in the key of
G, which may be different from that on the album. The important thing is that
_I_ can sing it in this key. So there.
Seriously, though, transposing this would not be a big deal.
(2) There is a surprise A chord (or II chord, made major) in the last
chorus. I really feel like there is another "surprise" chord in the rest of
the choruses, but I can't quite put a finger on it (ha, ha). The way I've
printed it here sounds pretty good, though.
-------------------------------
The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead
-------------------------------
by Andy Partridge
Album: XTC "Nonsuch"
-------------------------------
G C
Peter Pumpkinhead came to town
G C
Spreading wisdom and cash around
G G/B C
Fed the starving and housed the poor
G G/B C
Showed the Vatican what gold's for
C D Em
CHORUS: But he made too many enemies
C D Em
Of the people who would keep us on our knees
C D
Hooray for Peter Pumpkin,
C D
Who'll pray for Peter Pumpkin-
G D/F# C/E D C G/B D/A D/F#
head?
Peter Pumpkinhead pulled them all
Emptied churches and shopping malls
When he spoke it would raise the roof
Peter Pumpkinhead told the truth
(CHORUS)
Peter Pumpkinhead put to shame
Governments who would slur his name
Plots and sex scandals failed outright
Peter merely said, "Any kind of love is all all right"
(CHORUS)
Peter Pumpkinhead was too good
Had him nailed to a chunk of wood
He died grinning on live TV
Hanging there he looked a lot like you, and an awful lot like me!
C D Em
(CHORUS)But he made too many enemies
C D Em
Of the people who would keep us on our knees
C D
Hooray for Peter Pumpkin,
C D
Who'll pray for Peter Pumpkin-
G D/F# C/E D
head? Ah-ah-ah
C D
Hooray for Peter Pumpkin
C D
Who'll pray for Peter Pumpkin
C Dsus4 D C/D D
Hooray for Pe - ter - Pump - kin -
G D/F# C/E D
Head!
C G/B A D/F#
Oh my, oh my, don't it make you want to cry, oh!
G
(ending)
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 XTC 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.
Return to XTC Tablature »
Official XTC Tablature & Sheet Music »
