City Bird Tab

by of Montreal
9,830 views, added to favorites 118 times
Difficulty: advanced
Capo: no capo
Author pixiesrule73 [a] 1,045. Last edit on Feb 13, 2014
This song could be played with the capo off, making some of the chords a lot easier, but
making some of them a lot harder.
So I'll stick with a capo on the first fret. All chords are relative to the capo.
 
Some of the fingering can hurt your hand, so you might be able to find better fingerings
the trickier chords, but I've tried to make them as painless as possible.
 
Also, try to let most of the notes ring, especially the highest notes of each chord.
 
Where the chord has one less note than the others, it is usually a spot where you slide
the notes of the next chord.
 
Capo on first:
 
Intro:           Verse:
e|-3-(flute)----||-1-----1-0-------|---------------|-1-----1-0-------|
b|-----------1--||-----------------|-3-----3-------|-----------------|
g|-----------0--||---0-------0---0-|---3-------3---|---0-------0---0-|
d|-----------2--||-----2-------2---|-----3-------3-|-----2-------2---|
a|-----------3--||-3-------3-------|-5-------5-----|-3-------3-------|
e|--------------||-----------------|---------------|-----------------|
             C     Cadd4   C         Bb/D            Cadd4   C
 
e|-0-----0---------|---------3--------|-----------------|-----------------|
b|---0-------0-----|-6----------------|-4-----4---------|-4-----4---------|
g|-----0-------0-0-|---3---3----3-----|---5-------5-----|---4-------4---0-|
d|-2-------2-------|-----5--------5-5-|-----7-------7---|-----6-------6---|
a|-----------------|-6-------6--------|-8-------8-------|-7-------7-------|
e|-----------------|------------------|-----------------|-----------------|
   Em                Ebadd2  Eb         F7                Emaj7
 
e|---------0-----0-|-------------||
b|-3-----3---------|--1---3---1--||
g|---0-------0-----|--0---0---0--||
d|-----2-------2---|--2---3---2--||
a|-3-------3-------|--3---3---3--||
e|-----------------|-------------||
   Cadd2   C          C(strum these with your fingernail or a pick)
 
Chorus:
e|----------------|-4-----4--------|-----------------|-------------------|
b|-3-----3--------|---3-------3----|-4-----4---------|-1-------3---------|
g|---2-------2----|-----3-------3--|---3-------3---0-|---2-------4---(5)-|
d|-----4-------4--|-3-------3------|-----5-------5---|-0---4-------5-----|
a|-5-------5------|----------------|-6-------6-------|---------5---------|
e|----------------|----------------|-----------------|-------------------|
   D                Bb7              Eb                D7       G
 
e|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------||
b|-5-----5---------|-4-----4-------4-|-------4---------||
g|---5-------5-----|---3-------3-----|---3-------3---0-||
d|-----5-------5-5-|-----5-------5---|-----5-------5---||
a|-7-------7-------|-6-------6-------|-6-------6-------||
e|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------||
   C/E               Eb
 
Solo: (flute over verse chords, and with a capo on first fret)
e|-----|-3-1---|----------|----------|-----|-3-1-----|---------|-------|-|
b|-1---|-------|-1--3-5---|----------|-----|------1--|-----3-5-|-------|-|
g|-----|-------|----------|-0--2-4---|-3---|---------|-1-------|----0--|-|
d|-----|-------|----------|----------|-----|---------|---------|-2-----|-|
a|-----|-------|----------|----------|-----|---------|---------|-------|-|
e|-----|-------|----------|----------|-----|---------|---------|-------|-|
 
 
Structure:
 
Intro
 
Verse
City bird haven't you heard
hasn't anybody told you?
These city blocks can't hold you
Your place is in the sky how can I show you?
 
Verse
City bird haven't you learned
of the boundlessness of your freedom
The sky is your blue kingdom
You neglect your wings like you don't need them
 
Chorus
City bird maybe these hands that feed you need you
Maybe you understand that city bird
 
Solo (over verse chords)
 
Chorus
City bird maybe these hands that feed you need you
Maybe you understand that city bird
 
Verse
City bird haven't you heard
hasn't anybody told you?
These city blocks can't hold you
Your place is in the sky how can I show you?
 
Outro: last two bars of verse again.
 
Cheers.
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3 comments
HipsterDoucheba
Haha yeah. I can get to the F7 fine but then I just lose. I can't play the F7, my hands are too small. Great tab though regardless.
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pixiesrule73
It's always troubled me that some of the chords are a bit of a stretch. Luckily, someone else has tabbed the song out in a different tuning and it becomes very easy. (I haven't seen any videos of the song, but it seems right). Google 'Erik Nilsson city bird'
0
Ryo_Sanada
Great tab. But i cant play some of those chords
0