From: Mario Kefalopoulos
It took this song to make me find my forgotten 12-string Eko which was deep
buried in a closet for quite some time. I had it serviced and sat down to
learn the song. Here are the results:
Fist, the general outline. The intro and a couple more licks are after it.
|A |E7 |F#min |D7
|/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / /
|Hello there |my old friend, |not so long ago it was |still the end
|A |E7 |F#min |D7
|/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / / |/ / / /
|late outside|in the pouring rain|on our way up the road|we started over again
|F#min |D7 E7
|/ / / / |/ / / /
|living a dream |as though you’re on top (?)
|F#min |D7 E7
|/ / / / |/ / / /
|my mind is aching |Lord it won’t stop
|F#min D7 |E7 |A |A
|/ / / / |/ / |/ / / / |/ / / /
|that’s how it happened living |life by the |drop |
^—- only 2/4 here
|Up and down the road in our |worn out shoes
|talking about good things and |singing the blues
|you went your way and |I stayed behind
|we both knew it was just a |matter of time
|living a dream as |though you’re on top
|my mind is aching |Lord it won’t stop
|that’s how it happens living |life by the |drop / / /| / / / /|
|No waste of time we |??…?? the day
|turning up the past, there’s no |easier way
|time’s been between us a |means to an end (???)
|God, it’s good to be here, walking |together my friend
|living a dream |
|my mind starts thinking|
|that’s how it happened living |life by the |drop / / /|
|that’s how it happened living |life by the |drop / / /|
/ / / / | F#min
—————————————|——-2-
—————————————|——-2-
—————————————|——-3- …
0—2—2h4——2———-2-2h4—2—-|——-4-
————————————-4-|——-4-
—————————————|—2—2—
Intro:
/ / / / |/ / / / | A
———————————|—————————-|——-
———————————|—————————-|——-
————0—————0-h2-|0————————-2-|——- …
——0-1-h2—0-h1-p0—0———|—2-1-0-h1-0—0—0———|—2—2h4-
0-h3——————3—3——|————-3—3—3-p0—|—0—0-0-
———————————|—————————-|————
Rythm:
D7
A / / / /
/ / / / G -2—2h4—4—2—2h4—4-|
D -2—2h4—4—2—2h4—4-| D -0—0-0—0—0—0-0—0-|
A -0—0-0—0—0—0-0—0-|… A —————————|
E —————————| E —————————|
E7
/ / / / F#min: 244222
A -2—2h4—4—2—2h4—4-|
E -0—0-0—0—0—0-0—0-|
For the D7 he’s using both xx0212 and xx7575 (EADGBE)
For the E7, I’m not sure, but probably the x7675x.
That’s it. There are a couple of licks missing but with a little messing
around with the chords you’ll be able to get them.
Have fun.
From: Paul D
Subject: SRV’s «Life By the Drop»…
The intro is just some ‘A pentatonic’ stuff:
(this may not be exact)
E-|——————————————————|
B-|——————————————————|
G-|———-0————2—0———0—————2—|
D-|——0h2—0h2p0————2—0h2—-0h2p0———-|
A-|—0h3————-3p0————————3—0——|
E-|——————————————————|
Then there’s this thing that I call «standard blues riff» (because I’m
basically musically illiterate) throughout the verses:
A E F#m D
E-|——————————————-2-2—2-2————————|
B-|——————————————-2-2—2-2————————|
G-|——————————————-2-2—2-2—2-2-4-4—2-2-4-2—:-|
D-|-2-2-4-4—2-2-4-2—————————4-4—4-4—0-0-0-0—0-0-0-0—:-|
A-|-0-0-0-0—0-0-0-0—2-2-4-4—2-2-4-2—4-4—4-4—4-4————————|
E-|——————-0-0-0-0—0-0-0-0—2-2—2-2—2-2————————|
Here’s the chorus part («Livin’ your dreams, wo’ you on top.»):
(there’s some words at the bottom to help keep up)
E-|——2-2—2-2—————————2-2—2-2————————-|
B-|——2-2—2-2—————————2-2—2-2————————-|
G-|——2-2—2-2—2-2-4-2—————-2-2—2-2—2-2-4-2—————|
D-|——4-4—4-4—0-0-0-0—————-4-4—4-4—0-0-0-0—————|
A-|-4-4—4-4—4-4————2-2-4-2—4-4—4-4—4-4————2-2-4-2——|
E-|-2-2—2-2—2-2————0-0-0-0—2-2—2-2—2-2————0-0-0-0——|
Livin’… Wo’… My mind… Lord…
Then here’s where he says «That’s how it happens livin’ life by the drop»:
E-|———-2—————2————————|
B-|———-2—————3————————|
G-|———-2——2—2—-2——————2—-|
D-|———-4——0—0—-0——2————2—-|
A-|-4-4——4———————2————0—-|
E-|-2-2——2———————0—————-|
That’s how it happens livin’ life by the drop.
I hope that helped some. Sorry I don’t know any other SRV songs. I just
figured this one out as a favor to a friend of mine who is kinda tone-deaf. You
You’re own with some of the lyrics though, they’re hard to hear.
Good luck…
Paul D. (s3bz%[email protected]) OR ([email protected])