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Requiem For The Masses

Association

Text File

#----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE--------------------------------#
#This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the#
#song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research.#
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------#
                          "Requiem For The Masses"
                              (Terry Kirkman)

Jim Yester, in the liner notes to the Japanese _From The Original Master
Tapes_ CD (Warner/Pioneer WPCP-3536):

  Written during the peak of the Vietnam War, this flip side of "Never My
  Love" soon became an underground hit, and its stark dramatic tone and
  shockingly beautiful requiem mass parts [became] a favorite at live
  concerts.


Note: guitar is capoed at 4th fret; chords are notated in brackets

Intro:

	Snare roll [2X]

	(acapella w/military drums; chords implied):

	C#m                    B   G#m F# F#sus2
	Requiem aeternam, requiem aete...rnam

Verse:

	F#            F#6
	[D]           [D6]
	Mama, mama, forget your pies
	      F#7                  F#
	     [D7]                  [D]
	Have faith they won't get cold
	     F#                    F#6
	     [D]                   [D6]
	And turn your eyes to the bloodshot sky
	      F#7            F#
	      [D7]          [D]
	Your flag is flying full

	   F#		(octaves in piano l.h; guitar enters gradually)
	   [D]
	At half-mast
	For the matadors
	Who turned their backs
	To please the crowd
	And all fell before the bull

Bridge 1:

	 B           A#m G#m      F#
	[G]         [F#m][Em]     [D]
	Red was the color of his blood flowing thin
	         B            A#m  G#m     F#
	        [G]          [F#m] [Em]    [D]
	Pallid white was the color of his lifeless skin
	 B           A#m  G#m      F#
	[G]         [F#m] [Em]     [D]
	Blue was the color of the morning sky
	    A
	   [F]
	He saw looking up from the ground where he died
	                 G#m        F#
	                 [Em]      [D]
	It was the last thing ever seen by him

	(acapella w/military drums and sustained F# on bass; chords implied):

	F#m E  C#m B  F#
	Kyrie elei...son

	(flugelhorn and military drums)

[repeat verse]

Bridge 2:

	Black and white were the figures that recorded him
	Black and white was the newsprint he was mentioned in
	Black and white was the question that so bothered him
	He never asked, he was taught not to ask
	What was on his lips as they buried him

	(acapella w/military drums; chords implied:)

	F#
	Rex tremendae majestatis

Coda:

	(acapella w/military drums; chords implied:)

	C#m                    B   G#m F# F#sus2
	Requiem aeternam, requiem aete...rnam

	(flugelhorn and military drums to fade)


-- another ace 60's tab from Andrew Rogers