Babylon Sisters - Steely Dan ---------------------------- From the album Gaucho Transcribed by Howard Wright hakwright (at) gmail (dot) com This is one of Steely Dan's finest moments - a sublime song! The chords I've written out are mostly based on the keyboard parts, but they work pretty well on the guitar. As usual you have to make a few compromises to get playable guitar shapes, but you can still get an authentic sound. The main elements that are lost when playing this song on the guitar are the clustered notes that feature in a lot of Gaucho and Aja songs. The keyboards often use voicings that add an extra dissonant note to what is a fairly standard jazz chord, but on the guitar it's usually not possible to keep all these notes so you have to simplify just a little. The only other difficulty on guitar comes in the intro and chorus sections, with the chords for "... shake it!". What you have here is a bass part playing the root and fifth (a "5 chord"), and the keyboard right hand playing two rising triads ("shake it"). This part works much better on two instruments, with one person playing the root + fifth bass part, and the other playing the triads. On one guitar you've basically got a choice of either just sticking to the 5 chords, or playing the triads higher up then coming back to the 5 chord to fill in the gap till the next chord. Note that the studio version of this song starts in F# with the verse in Bb minor. This is what I've followed for this transcription. A lot of the live versions (e.g Alive in America) play it a semitone lower, starting in F with the verse in A minor. All chord shapes are given at the end. Intro: ------ The tablature here is for the keyboard melody (really a mixture of melody and chords) - the chords that are written above give the basic accompaniment. Although the 5 chords on their own sound rather bare, when combined with keyboard part (tablature) the effect is to create fuller chords (majors, minor 7ths etc) F#5 B5 G#5 E------------------------------------- B-----4--7--4------------------------- G--------------6--8----5h8p5---5------ D-------------------(8)------8-------- A------------------------------------- E------------------------------------- E5 G#5 D#7sus4 E---------------------------------------------- B--------4--7---4---7---4----7---4----7----4--- G------4----4-------4--------10--6----10---6--- D----6----------6-------6----8---6----8----6--- A---------------------------------------------- E---------------------------------------------- F#5 B5 G#5 B5 E------------------------------------------- B----7p4---4---4---------------------------- G--------6---6----5h8p5---5----8h11p8----8-- D-----------------------8-------------11---- A------------------------------------------- E------------------------------------------- E F#/E E5(VII) A7b5 D#7sus4 E------------------------------------------- B--9---11------------4------7---4----7---4-- G--9---11------------6------10--6----10--6-- D--9---11------------5------8---6----8---6-- A------------------------------------------- E------------------------------------------- E F#/E E5(VII) A7b5 D#7sus4 Bbm7 E---------------------------------------------------- B--9---11-------------4-----7---4---7---4---------6-- G--9---11-------------6-----10--6---10--6--8------6-- D--9---11-------------5-----8---6---8---6----8----6-- A----------------------------------------------6----- E---------------------------------------------------- VERSE 1: -------- Bbm7 Cm7 Eb9 Drive west on Sunset to the sea Ab/Db Ab13 F#maj6/7 Bbm7 Turn that jungle music down, just until we're out of town Cm7 Dm11 Bbm7 This is no one night stand it's a real occasion Cm7 Eb/F Bbmaj7 Close your eyes and you'll be there, it's everything they say E7b5 Ebmaj6/7 A7#5 D5 The end of a perfect day, distant lights from across the bay NB There are two shapes for the E7b5 and Ebmaj6/7 chords (see below) that are a bit of a stretch, but sound just right to me. If you find these too awkward, try the simpler E7 and Ebmaj7 shapes I've put in as alternatives. CHORUS: ------- D5 Dm7 Eb F/Eb Eb5 Babylon sisters shake it D5 Dm7 Eb F/Eb Eb5 Babylon sisters shake it C9(VIII) F9 Bbmaj7 Bbm7 Eb9 So fine, so young, tell me I'm the only one Dm7 C9 Eb F/Eb Eb5 B/E F#/E C#/F# G#/F# Bb7b9 Ebm7 Db6 Bmaj7 B7 E6/9 A7b5 Here come those Santa Ana winds again Ebm7 Bbm7 E--------------------------------------------------- B--------------7----7----4---4---4----4----6-------- G----------8---10---8----6---7---6----3----6-------- D---8---11-----11---10---7---8---7----6----6-------- A--------------------------------------------------- E------------------------------------------6-------- There's no way that you can sustain the Eb bass note while playing the above chords - you need someone else to fill in the bottom Eb. A slightly simpler version of these chords that includes the bass note is: x6x66x x6x54x x676xx x687xx x676xx x663xx VERSE 2: -------- We'll jog with show folk on the sand Drink kirschwasser from a shell San Fransisco show and tell Well I should know by now that it's just a spasm Like a Sunday in TJ, that it's cheap but it's not free That I'm not what I used to be And that love's not a game for three CHORUS: ------- (Same as before, except for last line) D5 Dm7 Eb F/Eb Eb5 Babylon sisters shake it D5 Dm7 Eb F/Eb Eb5 Babylon sisters shake it C9(VIII) F9 Bbmaj7 Bbm7 Eb9 So fine, so young, tell me I'm the only one Dm7 C9 Eb F/Eb Eb5 B/E F#/E C#/F# G#/F# Bb7b9 Ebm7 Db6 Bmaj7 B7 E6/9 F7#9 Here come those Santa Ana winds again SOLO SECTION: ------------- (over first part of verse chords) Bbm7 Cm7 Eb9 Ab/Db Ab13 F#maj6/7 Bbm7 Cm7 Dm11 Bbm7 My friends say no, don't go for that cotton candy Cm7 Eb/F Bbmaj7 Son you're playin' with fire, the kid will live and learn E7b5 Ebmaj6/7 A7#5 D5 As he watches his bridges burn, from the point of no return CHORUS: ------- D5 Dm7 Eb F/Eb Eb5 Babylon sisters shake it D5 Dm7 Eb F/Eb Eb5 Babylon sisters shake it C9(VIII) F9 Bbmaj7 Bbm7 Eb9 So fine, so young, tell me I'm the only one Dm7 C9 Eb F/Eb Eb5 D5 Dm7 G/F Fmaj7 Ebmaj7 Dm7 OUTTRO: ------- Dm7 Eb F/Eb Eb5 Ab7b5 E---------------------------------------------- B------------10--10---8--10----------------3--- G------------10--10---8--10----------------5--- D-----10-12--10--10---8--10----------------4--- A--12------------------------------------------ E---------------------------------------------- D5 Dm7 G/F Fmaj7 Ebmaj7 Dm7 E------------------------------------------------------------- B------------10--10---12--13---------------------------------- G------------10--10---12--14----12h14-12-10h12-10----10-12---- D-----10-12--10--10---12--14-----------------------12------12- A--12--------------------------------------------------------- E------------------------------------------------------------- (repeat last two lines to fade) Chord Shapes: -------------- EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE 24xxxx x24xxx 46xxxx 02xxxx F#5 B5 G#5 E5 EADGBE EADGBE E A D G B E EADGBE x6664x 07999x 0 x 11 11 11 x x79xxx D#7sus4 E F#/E E5(VII) EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE 5x564x 6x666x 8x888x x6566x A7b5 Bbm7 Cm7 Eb9 EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE x46544 4x456x 2xx341 x9886x Ab/Db Ab13 F#maj6/7 F#maj6/7 (alt.) E A D G B E EADGBE EADGBE 10 x 10 10 8 x x8x886 6x776x Dm11 Eb/F Bbmaj7 EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE x7633x x767xx x6553x x657xx E7b5 E7 Ebmaj6/7 Ebmaj7 (If you find the E7b5 or Ebmaj6/7 a bit of a stretch, use the simpler E7 and Ebmaj7 shapes as alternatives). EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE 5x566x x57xxx x57565 x6888x A7#5 D5 Dm7 Eb E A D G B E EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE 11 x 10 10 10 x x68xxx 8x8780 x8788x F/Eb Eb5 C9(VIII) F9 Although the overall sound for "shake it" uses an F/Eb chord, it works best on guitar if you forget the Eb bass and just play the Eb and F triads. EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE E A D G B E x3233x x7x877 x7x676 x 9 x 10 9 9 C9 B/E F#/E C#/F# EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE x9x898 6x6777 x68676 x46666 9x866x G#/F# Bb7b9 Ebm7 Db6 Db6 EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE 7x887x 7x787x x7667x x8789x Bmaj7 B7 E6/9 F7#9 E A D G B E E A D G B E E A D G B E 13 x 12 12 12 x 13 x 14 14 13 x 11 x 12 12 11 x G/F Fmaj7 Ebmaj7 As on the chorus, you can't get a clean change from the G/F to the Fmaj7 (equivalent to "... shake it!") if you play the bass note as well so you'll probably want to drop the F bass.Back to Steely Dan and Donald Fagen guitar tabs
Last updated: July 2020
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