Almost Gothic - Steely Dan -------------------------- From the album "Two Against Nature" Transcribed by Howard Wright hakwright (at) gmail (dot) com As usual, I've tried to capture the basic harmonies in these chords, i.e the "essence" of the keyboard, bass, horn and guitar parts. In most cases, things work fine on just one guitar, but in a few places it's impossible to get exactly the right voicing on the guitar, or it's difficult to achieve a smooth chord change, so a little compromise is needed (e.g for the final two chords). All the chord shapes are given at the end. These are the voicings that I think work fairly well, but you might want to substitute slightly different shapes in some cases. Experiment! I've opted for mostly 4-note chords, which generally work well for Steely Dan songs. This song shows that, after an absence of 20 years, the Steely Dan mu-major chord is alive and well!!! INTRO: ------ To have the top note of the chords follow the intro melody, play the Amaj7 as a three-note chord: 5x66xx Amaj7 C#m7 Amaj7 C#m7 Amaj7 B7 Amaj7 C#m11 F#sus2/A# Badd9 VERSE 1: -------- There are a few alternative chords and voicings you might want to try for the verse: Instead of the opening Eb9, you could try x 6 10 6 6 x - this gives a less warm sound (no major 3rd) but a more interesting/dissonant sound. You could try playing C/D (x5555x) in place of the Am/D chords. It gives almost the same sound as the keyboard part, but gives a slightly smoother change from the Gm7 on the guitar. Also, for "a wise child walks ..." I've gone for a D7/Eb chord. The muted guitar plays a straight D/Eb at this point (x6777x) but the keyboard is playing a D7, so I thought the D7/Eb shape (x6x575) gives the right overall sound. If you prefer, you could try playing what the muted guitar plays here: D/Eb (x6777x) then Dm11 (x5556x). Eb9 Db6/9 Gm7 I'm working on gospel time these days Am/D Gm7 Am/D Gm7 Am/D Gm7 Am/D (The summer, the summer, this could be the cool part of the summer) Dbmaj7 Cm7 Bbmaj7 The sloe-eyed creature in the reckless room she's so severe D7/Eb Dm11 A wise child walks right out of here Dmaj7 Cmaj7 Bmaj7 Amaj7 I'm so excited I can barely cope, I'm sizzling like an isotope Emaj7 G#m7 Emaj7 I'm on fire so cut me some slack CHORUS: ------- G#m7 Gmaj7 Dmaj7 Gmaj7 Dmaj7 First she's way gone then she comes back Gmaj7 Dmaj7 Gmaj7 F#m11 She's all business then she's ready to play Bmaj7 Ebm11 Absus2/C Dbadd9 She's almost gothic in a natural way Amaj7 Emaj7 Amaj7 Emaj7 VERSE 2: -------- (Same chords as verse 1) This house of desire is built foursquare (The city, the city - the cleanest kitten in the city) When she speaks it's like the slickest song I've ever heard I'm hanging on her every word As if I'm not already blazed enough she hits me with the cryptic stuff That's her style - to jerk me around CHORUS: ------- (Same chords as before) First she's all feel then she cools down She's pure science with a splash of black cat She's almost gothic and I like it like that MIDDLE 8: --------- A9 D6 Aadd9#5 D6 A9 D6 Aadd9#5 D6 This dark place so thrilling and new Gm7 C9 Gm7 C9 B13sus4 It's kind of like the opposite of an aerial view Fmaj7 C9 Bb6/9 Am7 E9 D6/9 Unless I'm totally wrong I hear her rap and brother it's strong SOLO: ----- (Again, you can substitute Db/Eb for the Bbm/Eb and C/D for Am/D if you prefer) Abm7 Bbm/Eb Abm7 Bbm/Eb Abm7 Bbm/Eb Abm7 Bbm/Eb Gm7 Am/D Gm7 Am/D Gm7 Am/D Gm7 Am/D VERSE: ------ Dbmaj7 Cm7 Bbmaj7 I'm pretty sure that what she's telling me is mostly lies D7/Eb Dm11 But I just stand there hypnotized Ebmaj7 Dbmaj7 Cmaj7 Bbmaj7 I'll just have to make it work somehow I'm in the amen corner now Fmaj7 Am7 Fmaj7 It's called love - I spell L. U. V. CHORUS: ------- (Same chords as before) Am7 Abmaj7 Ebmaj7 Abmaj7 Ebmaj7 First she's all buzz then she's noise-free Abmaj7 Ebmaj7 Abmaj7 Gm11 She's bubbling over then there's nothing to say Cmaj7 Em11 Asus2/C# Dadd9 She's almost gothic in a natural way Bbmaj7 Fmaj7 Bbmaj7 Fmaj7 Abmaj7 Ebmaj7 Abmaj7 Ebmaj7 She's old school then she's like young Abmaj7 Ebmaj7 Abmaj7 Gm11 Little Eva meets the Bleecker Street brat Cmaj7 Em11 Asus2/C# Dadd9 She's almost gothic but it's better than that Bbmaj7 Fmaj7 Bbmaj7 Fmaj7 E9 D6/9 A/D Gm9 You need a nice clean change between the last two chords - unfortunately, this is impossible if you want to play the same chord as the keyboard and horns on the original! On the guitar, this last chord works out as 3x8565 - a great chord, but a bit tricky! The Gm9 shape I've chosen is a compromise - it gives more or less the right sound and makes the last chord change reasonably easy. Chord Shapes: ------------- EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE 5x665x x4645x 7x78xx x4445x Amaj7 C#m7 B7 C#m11 EADGBE E A D G B E EADGBE EADGBE 6x667x 7 9 11 8 x x x6566x x4334x F#sus2/A# Badd9 Eb9 Db6/9 EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE 3x333x xx0210 xx0555 x4656x x3534x Gm7 Am/D Am/D Dbmaj7 Cm7 EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE x1323x x6x575 xx0563 x5767x Bbmaj7 D7/Eb Dm11 Dmaj7 EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE x3545x x1323x x0212x 07644x Cmaj7 Bmaj7 Amaj7 Emaj7 EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE 4x444x 3x443x 2x2200 6x776x G#m7 Gmaj7 F#m11 Bmaj7 N.B Abm7 is the same as G#m7! EADGBE EADGBE E A D G B E x6667x 6x667x 9 11 13 10 x x Ebm11 Absus2/C Dbadd9 EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE x054xx x544xx x0345x x3233x A9 D6 Aadd9#5 C9 EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE x2x254 OR 7x799x x8755x 6555xx B13sus4 B13sus4 Fmaj7 Bb6/9 EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE 5x555x x7677x x5445x x6x666 x6666x Am7 E9 D6/9 Bbm/Eb Db/Eb EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE x6878x 4x554x 3x331x x7778x Ebmaj7 Abmaj7 Gm11 Em11 EADGBE E A D G B E EADGBE 6x667x 10 12 14 11 x x 6x776x Asus2/C# Dadd9 Bbmaj7 EADGBE EADGBE x5222x 3x3335 A/D Gm9