Home » R » R.E.M. »

R.E.M. - Rockville Chords

Artists:  A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z # 

Rockville Chords

(ver. 1)
R.E.M.
#

# For the latest collection of R.E.M. chords & tab, go to
#
# If you have any corrections or additions to this file, please email them
#

(DON'T GO BACK TO) ROCKVILLE  (2 Versions)


(DON'T GO BACK TO) ROCKVILLE  (Version 1)

 {intro : E / / /  E / / / E / /  /  Esus4 E EaddF# E}

  E                                                                 A/Asus4
 Looking at your watch a third time waiting in the station for a bus
  E                                                                 A/Asus4
 Going to a place that's far, so far away and if that's not enough
  B             A     G#m  C#m                              Bm        A/Asus4
 Going where nobody says hello, they don't talk to anybody they don't know

         E                                                                  A
 You'll wind up in some factory that's full time filth and nowhere left to go
  E                                                   A/Asus4
 Walk home to an empty house, sit around all by yourself
     B                       A      G#m   C#m
 I know it might sound strange, but I believe
                           Bm       A/Asus4   A A/G#bass   A/F#bass
 You'll be coming back before too long

  E                F#m    B
 Don't go back to Rockville
  A                                      (B)  3-2-0---0-2--3-2-0--0
 And waste another year     riff:        (G)  ------2------------2

{same as above}
At night I drink myself to sleep and pretend
I don't care if you're not here with me
'Cause it's so much easier to handle
All my problems if I'm too far out to sea
But something better happen soon
Or it's gonna be too late to bring you back

  E                           D    B     A  B
 It's not as though I really need you
  E                           F#m  B     A  B
 If you were here I'd only bleed you
  F#m      C#m          F#m         C#m               A
 But everybody else in town only wants to bring you down and
                             B
 That's not how it ought to be

{same as before}
I know it might sound strange, but I believe
You'll be coming back before too long


Riff that comes in during the later verses of "Rockville":

E

(E)------0------5----4--2--0----
(B)-----------------------------
(G)-----------------------------  play twice
(D)--2--------------------------
(A)-----------------------------
(E)-----------------------------

A(sus4)

(E)------5-----7-----9----7----5-------
(B)------------------------------------
(G)---/6---6/7---7/9---\7---\6---------  play twice
(D)------------------------------------
(A)------------------------------------
(E)------------------------------------




--------------

(DON'T GO BACK TO) ROCKVILLE  (Version 2)

Corrections/additions always welcome.

This is my first post.  I transcribe for myself quite frequently (solo or 
duo acoustic arrangements), but don't usually put it down on paper (or 
computer).  I decided that it was time to share!  Here's a tune that was 
re-done by 10,000 Maniacs -  further evidence of it's _timelessness_, in my 
opinion.


* = fretted note        play all strings marked "o", mute (or don't 
@ = add for 4th                play) strings marked "x"
% = add for 2nd
                                    
E oooooo  A. oooooo  A.. xooooo  B. xooooo  B.. oooooo  C#m xooooo
  ======     ======      ------     ------      ------      ------
  |||*||     ||||||     5||||*|    2|*||||     7*|||||     4|*|||*
  |**@||     ||***|      |||*||     ||||||      |||*||      ||||*|
  ||||||     ||||@|      ||*@||     ||**||      |**|||      ||**||
  ||%|||     ||||||      ||||||
                         ||%|||

G#m oooooo  F#m oooooo  Bm4 xooooo
    ------      ------      ------
   4*||***     2*||***     2|*||||
    ||||||      ||||||      ||||*|
    |**|||      |**|||      ||**||

(see end for performance notes)

INTRO:
E                E4   E
E                E4 E E2 E
A                A4   A2
A                A4   A2 A

VERSE 1:
E                E4    E
Look-in' at your watch at the ti-ime
               E4  E    E2  E             
Waitin' in the sta-tion for the
A.    A4 A2  A.    A4 A2 
Bus
E          E4           E
Goin' to a place that's far, so
             E4 E      E2
Far away and if that's not 
  A.    A4 A2  A.    A4 A2 
E-nough


BRIDGE 1:
B.             A.   G#m
Goin' where no-body says hi
C#m                    C#m    Bm4        A.
No, they don't talk to no-one they don't know


VERSE 2:
You'll wind up in some fac-tor-y that's 
Full time there'll be no-where left
To go
Walk home to an emp-ty house
Sit around al-l by
Your-self


BRIDGE 2:
  B.                  A.           G#m
I know it might sound strange, but I
   C#m                    C#m     Bm4      A.
Be-lieve you'll be coming back be-fore too long


CHORUS:
E                F#m     B..(or B.)
Don't go back to Rockvil-le
E                F#m     B..(or B.)
Don't go back to Rockvil-le
E                F#m     B..(or B.)
Don't go back to Rockvil-le
(Riff)
.....  Waste another year...


VERSE 3:
At night I drink my-self to sleep and 
Pre-tend I don't care that your not
Here with me
'Cause It's so much eas-ier to hand-le
All my problems if I sleep on
'Em you see


BRIDGE 3:
B.                A.      G#m
Some-thin' better hap-pen soon
     C#m          C#m     Bm4       A.
It's gonna be too late to bring you back


-CHORUS-

REFRAIN (bar chords):
E                           A     B    A    B
It's not as though I didn't ne-ed you
E                           A     B    A    B
If you were here  I'd only  bleed you
F#m             C#m
 -   But ever-y bod-y  else in
F#m             C#m      Bm4
Town -     only wants to bring you
A                                     B.    (Tacet 1 bar)
Down -     That's not how it ought to be...


-BRIDGE 2-

-CHORUS- (then repeat)



Riff (play just ahead of the beat)

     A.. - then tacet (drift off) N.C.

e |--0~-----------------------|-----------------------------------|
B |--5~-----------------------|-----------------------------------|
G |--6~-----------------------|-6/7--6-----------6--7--6----------|
D |--7~-----------------------|----------9---7-9-----------9--7-9-|
A |--0~-----------------------|-----------------------------------|
E |--0~-----------------------|-----------------------------------|

     1  +  2  +  3   +  4  +      1   +   2    +    3   +   4   +

              ...Waste another   year

Performance Notes:

        I play this with many open strings except in the REFRAIN, which is 
really straight bar chords.  The F#m in the chorus is probably a straight 
F#m bar chord - Mike Mills plays the low F# on bass.  BUT, I prefer to play 
the following F#m7add4 chord (because it "jangles" and sounds fuller than 
the bar chord):
                        F#m7+4 xooooo
                               ------
                              6|||*||  <--  These two notes slide up 
                               ||*|||  <--    from the E chord...
                               ||||||
   finger with your pinky  --> |*||||

[If you use this chord, you will definitely want to play the "B.."]

        In order to play this all on guitar (there is a piano in the 
verses) you need to add notes to the E and A. chords - the E chord bounces 
off-and-on an A note (the 4th) and an F# note (the 2nd) in the verse.  The 
A. does likewise with a D note (4th) and the open B string/note
(2nd).
        This song is NOT that complicated.  To start out, play the song 
without all the 4th's, 2nd's, etc., and get a feel for it (stress the 2nd 
and 4th beats).  Then, play around with it until _YOU_ like the way that it 
sounds.
            
Submit corrections

↑ Back to top | Tablatures and chords for acoustic guitar and electric guitar, ukulele, drums are parodies/interpretations of the original songs. You may use it for private study, scholarship, research or language learning purposes only