Pure and Easy | guitar tab
By The Who, 1971 (second version)
>From Odds and Sods, 1974
Written by Pete Townshend (c)1974 Fabulous Music Ltd.
original transcription by Andy Dennis
==============
transcribed by Whotabs
litgo@aol.com
==============
Note: All leads and timing are approximate. (I took this tab from thewho.net and all
goes to the people listed above. I put it here so people could find it easier.)
C x35553 and xxx553 and x32010 (chorus only)
G/C xx5433 and xxx433
Fadd9/C xx3213 and xxx213
Fmaj7 xx3555
Dm6 xx3435
F6 xx3231
Dm xx0231
F x33211
G x55433
Em 022000
Am x02210
G5 3x0033
C/G 3x2013
G7 xx3033
Fmaj9/A x03553
Emsus4 022200
E 022100
A/G 3x222x
G/D xx0033 (D implied by bass)
[intro]
|[drums] ||:C G/C |F9/C G/C :||[organ]
||:C | :||[12-str acoust guitar]
|C G/C |Fadd9/C G/C |
There once was a note, pure and easy
|C G/C |Fadd9/C G/C |
Playing so free like a breath rippling by
|C G/C |Fadd9/C G/C |C G/C |Fadd9/C G/C|(by)[additional gtr from version 1 (Who's Next reissue)]|-3--3----|-3-----/3---|-3--3----|-3-----/3---||--5--4---|--1------4--|--5--4---|--1------4--||5--5-----|2--2------5-|5--5-----|2--2------5-||---------|------------|---------|------------||---------|------------|---------|------------||---------|------------|---------|------------|
|Fmaj7 |Dm6
The note is eternal, I hear it, it sees me
|Fmaj7 |F6 |C G/C |Fadd9/C G/C|C G/C |Fadd9/C G/C|
Forever we blend and forever we die
[chorus] |C C Dm Dm|F F GI listened and I heard music in a word-|-----------------------|-------------------|-|-----------------------|-------------------|-|-----------------------|-------------4/7---|-|-----------------3-5/7-|3--------3-5-------|-|3------------3-5-------|-------------------|-|-----------------------|-------------------|
G |C C Dm Dm|F F Gand words when you played your guitar---|-----------------------------|-------------------|---|-----------------------------|-------------------|---|-----------------------------|---------4/7-------|---|----------------------3--5/7-|3----3-5-----------|---|3----------3---5-------------|-------------------|---|-----------------------------|-------------------|
G |Dm Dm Em Em|G G Am Am|The noise that I was hearing was a million people cheering, then a---|------------------------------|-------------------------------|----|---|------------------------------|-------------------------------|----|---|------------------------------|------------------5------7^(9)-|-7~-|---|--------------------5-7/9-----|5-----------5--7---------------|----|---|5------------5---7------------|-------------------------------|----|---|------------------------------|-------------------------------|----|
|G5 |C/G |G7 |C/G |
Child flew past me riding in a star
|Dsus4 |D Dsus2 DAs people assemble, civilization |3------3-3--3---|2---2-2-0/2---| |3------3-3--3---|3---3-3-3/3---| |2------2-2--2---|2---2-2-2/2---| |0------0-0--0---|0---0-0-0----0| |----------------|--------------| |----------------|--------------| [slight palm mute ]
|G5 |G7 G6 |G |G7 C/G GIs trying to find a new way to die (but) |3---------------|--3-------|3----|--3---------| |3---------------|---3--3---|3----|---3-3--3---| |0---------------|---0---0--|0----|---0-0--0---| |0--------------2|/3--2-----|0---2|/3---2--0---| |----------------|----------|-----|------------| |3---------------|----------|3----|------------|
|Am |Emsus4 E
But killing is really merely scene changer
|Am |Fmaj9/A F6/A |Am |Fmaj9/A F6/A Am All men are bored with other men's lives|0-----------------|3--------1----------|0------|3-------1--------||1-----------------|5--------3----------|1------|5-------3----1-1-||2-----------------|5--------2----------|2------|5-------2----2-2-||2-----------------|3--------3----------|2------|3-------3----2-2-||0----------------0|----0---------------|0-----0|------0----------||------------------|--------------------|-------|-----------------|
[repeat chorus]
I listened and I heard music in a word
And words when you played your guitar
The noise that I was hearing was a million people cheering, when a
|G |C/G |G7 |C/G |
Child flew past me riding in a star
|------------------|--8----8---|--7---7----|--8---8---8\--||------------------|----8----8-|----8---8-8|----8---8-----||7~----------------|-----------|-----------|--------------||------------------|-----------|-----------|--------------||------------------|-----------|-----------|--------------||------------------|-----------|-----------|--------------|
Gas on the hillside, oil in the teacup
Watch all the chords of life lose their joy
Distortion becomes somehow pure in its wildness
|Am |Fmaj9/A F6/A |Am |Fmaj9/A F6/A |
The note that began all can also destroy
|Am |C |Fmaj7 |G6 | (We)|0------|0-----|0-------|0-------||1------|1-----|1-------|3-------||2------|0-----|2-------|4-------||2------|2-----|3-------|5-------||0------|0-----|0-------|0-------||-------|------|--------|--------|
|Am |C |Fmaj7 |G6
We all know success when we all find our own dreams
And our love is enough to knock down any wall
And the future's been seen as men try to realize
|Am |C |Fmaj7 |G6 |
The simple secret of the note in us all
|Am |C/A |Fmaj7/A |G6/A |(all)|0------|0--------|0-------|0-------||1------|1--------|1-------|3-------||2------|0--------|2-------|4-------||2------|2--------|3-------|5-------||0--0-0-|3----0-0-|3---0-0-|5---0-0-||-------|---------|--------|--------|
|Am |C/A |Fmaj7/A |G6/A ||0------|---------|--------|-------------||1------|5~-------|10~-----|(12)~--------||2------|5~-------|10~-----|(12)~--------||2------|5~-------|10~-----|(12)~--------||0--0-0-|0----0-0-|0---0-0-|-----0-0/0/0-||-------|---------|--------|-------------|
[solo]|Am |C |Fmaj7 |G6 ||-------------|-------------|--------------------------|---------------||-------------|-------------|--------------------------|-------------10||--5-----5----|-------------|--------------------------|------5---7h9--||7---7/7---5h7|7------------|--------------------------|---5h7-7~------||-------------|--7\-0h3~-0--|0---------------------3p0-|5h7------------||-------------|------------3|-3-5-0h3h5-0h3h5-0h3h5----|---------------|
|Am |C ||--------------------8--8-12p|8--12p8--12p8--12p8--12p8--12p8--8---||10-10/10/10-10/10/10-10-----|-10----10----10----10----10----10--10||----------------------------|-------------------------------------||----------------------------|-------------------------------------||----------------------------|-------------------------------------||----------------------------|-------------------------------------|
|Fmaj7 |G6 | (I)|8------------------|---------||-10-/13-15^\13-----|---------||--------------12h14|14-------||-------------------|---------||-------------------|---12\---||-------------------|---------|
[repeat chorus]
I listened and I heard music in a word
And words when you played your guitar
The noise that I was hearing was a million people cheering and a
|G |C/G |G7 |C/G |
Child flew past me riding in a star
|-----------7------|--8--8-8h10|--7---7----|7h8---8-------||-------------8----|----8------|----8---8--|----8---8-----||------------------|0----------|0----------|--------------||(12)--------------|-----------|-----------|--------------||------------------|-----------|-----------|--------------||------------------|-----------|-----------|--------------|[harm]
[final verse from demo]
Today is the day when sound curdles mountains
Flowing and blowing each man it its wake
Destroying itself in the end with vibration
There's nothing on earth its challenge can take
Excepting one note...
[repeat intro; acoustic and organ only]
|C G/C |Fadd9/C G/C |
|C G/C |Fadd9/C G/C |
There once was a note, pure and easy
|C G/C |Fadd9/C G/C |
Playing so free like a breath rippling by
|C G/C |Fadd9/C G/C |C G/C |Fadd9/C G/C|
(by)
[outro]||A A/G G D A A/G G D || There||[acoustic]||---------|3-2-------|---------|3-2----------||||---------|3-3-------|---------|3-3----------||||.--2-----|0-2-------|---2-----|0-2---------.||||.--2-----|0-0-------|---2-----|0-0---------.||||0--0-----|----------|0--0-----|-------------||||------3^-|----0-2-3^|------3^-|------0-2-3^-||
||[electric] |||---------|3-2~------|---------|3-2----------|||---------|3-3~------|---------|3-3----------|||---2~----|0-2~------|---2~----|0-2-4^4^-2---|||---2~----|0-0-------|---2~----|0-0--------4-|||0--0~----|--------0-|0--0~----|-------------|||------3^~|----------|------3^~|-------------|
[repeat acoustic as above]|A A/G |G D |A A/G |G D | once was a note, listen! There once was a note, listen! There[electric]|----------------|----5----------|----------------|3--2-----------||----------------|---------------|----------------|3--3--/13\-----||2~--------------|4^4^-4^\p2-----|----------------|0--2--/14\-----||----------------|---------------|2----2----------|0--0--0--------||----------------|----------3^---|0----0----------|---------------||----------------|---------------|--3^------------|---------------|
|A A/G |G D |A A/G |G D | once was a note, listen! There once was a note, listen! There|----------------|3--2------------|----------------|3--2~----------||----------------|3--3------------|----------------|3--3~----------||2----2----------|0--2-4p2--------|-----2----------|0--2~----------||-----2----------|0--0----4p2-0---|-----2----------|0--0------2----||-----0----------|--------------3^|~----0----------|----------0----||-----------3^~--|----------------|-----------3^~--|---------------|
|A A/G |G D |A A/G | once was a note, listen! There once was a note,|----------------|------------------------|----------8-----||----------------|------------------------|--------8--10-8-||-----2----------|--------5-7^\-5---5-----|-----/9---------||2----2----------|-----5h7--------7---7---|----------------||0----0----------|0-3h5-------------------|----------------||-----------3^~--|------------------------|----------------|
[drums in]|G D |A A/G |G D | listen! There once was a note, listen! There|--------10^-10p8-----------|----------------|3--2--------------||8/10~-----------10-10\-----|----------------|3--3--/13-13\-----||---------------------------|-----2----------|0--2--/14-14\-----||---------------------------|-----2----------|0--0--------------||----------------------0----|0----0----------|-------------0----||---------------------------|-----------3^~--|------------------|
|A A/G |G D |A A/G | once was a note, listen! There once was a note,|----------------|3--2----------------|----------------||----------------|3--3----------------|----------------||-----2----------|0--2---5-7^-7^7^\p5-|5---------------||-----2----------|0--0---------------7|--7-7-----------||0----0----------|--------------------|----------------||-----------3^~--|--------------------|----------------|
|G/D D | listen! There|-----------------------------------------------12p8-||8h10/10/10-8h10/10/10-8h10/10/10-8h10/10/10-10------||----------------------------------------------------||----------------------------------------------------||----------------------------------------------------||----------------------------------------------------|
|A A/G |G/D D | once was a note, listen! There|--10p8--12p8--10p8--12p8|--10p8--12p8--10p8---8----8--||10----10----10----10----|10----10----10----10---10----||------------------------|-----------------------------||------------------------|---------------------------12||------------------------|-----------------------------||------------------------|-----------------------------|
[begin fade....]|A A/G |G/D D |A A/G | once was a note, listen! There once was a note,|----------------|-----------------------|---------------------||-------14----14-|-----------------------|---------------------||----------------|-------------------2---|4^--\^-----4^\p2-2---||-12h14----14----|/12\-/12\--------------|----------------4----||----------------|----------0-3^-0-------|------------------3^\||----------------|-----------------3-----|---------------------|
|G/D D |A A/G |G/D D listen! There once was a note, listen! There|-----------------------|----------------|---------------||-----------------------|----------------|---------------||-----------------------|----------------|----------2----||-----------------------|----------------|----------2----||0---0------------------|--5^-3^/0-------|----------0----||-3^\--3-0/3/5-0/3/5----|----------------|5~-5~-5~-------|
|A A/G |G D |A A/G |G D once was a note, listen! There once was a note, listen! There|----------------|3--2-----------|----------------|---------------||----------------|3--3-----------|----2---2---2--/|15-15~---------||2---------------|0--2--------2--|4^--4^--4^--4^-/|14-14~---------||2---------------|0--0-----------|---------------/|16-16~---------||0----0----------|---------------|----------------|--------0-0----||-----------3^~--|---------------|----------------|---------------|
|A A/G |G/D D |A A/G |G D |A once was a note, listen! There once was a note, listen! There once was|----------------|3--2---------|12-12~---12---12|---12--12---12|--12---||----------------|3--3---3-----|14-14~-----10---|10---10---10~-|10--10-||-----2----------|0--2---------|14-14~--9----9--|--9-----------|-------||----------------|0--0---------|----------------|--------------|-------||0-------------0-|-------------|----------------|--------------|-------||----------------|-------------|----------------|--------------|-------|
=============
litgo@aol.com
