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Rock Lobster Tab

by The B-52's
15,304 views, added to favorites 96 times
My version is composed for the Fender Six String Bass, or Bass VI as it's often called. It's basically a regular 4 string bass with 2 more high strings on it (B and high E), or like a regular guitar, but an octave down.Was this info helpful?
Difficulty: intermediate
Tuning: E A D G B E
Capo: no capo
Author unregistered_1189654 646. Last edit on Jun 28, 2017
We have an official Rock Lobster tab made by UG professional guitarists.
Check out the tab
This is actually an adaptation of the song "Rock Lobster" by the B-52's to be played on a six string (octave
below a six string guitar) bass guitar such as a Fender Bass VI, Eastman Sidejack, or some other variant
of "Deluxe Bass" or "Baritone Guitar" tuned EADGBE (but an octave lower).  It could also be played on a
regular guitar but it's an octave higher.
 
The whole reason I did this myself originally - was to not have to take 2 strings off one of my guitars
or retune to play this song, having a octave down six-string bass gets around that.  If you are using a
Fender/Squier Bass VI like I am, use the bridge pickup on a amp/modeler set to a clean, heavily reverbed
tone and it should get you close if not on the money tone wise.
 
 
(MAIN RIFF/VERSE RIFF)            (CHORUS)
 
E|---------------------------------||-------------------------------------------------------------------||
B|--------------------------------.||-------------------------------------------------------------------||
G|--------------1--0--1--0----(1)--||---------------------------------1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---||
D|----0-1-0------------------------||-----------------1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-----------------------------------||
A|--3-------3---------------------.||-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3---------------------------------------------------||
E|---------------------------------}|-------------------------------------------------------------------||
 
 
 
 
E|----4-3------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------||
B|--3----------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------||
G|------------------------------------1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0|-----------------1-1-1-1-0-0-0-0---||
D|--------------------1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1--------------------------------|---------1-1-1-1-------------------||
A|--------3-3-3-3-3-3------------------------------------------------|-3-3-3-3---------------------------||
E|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------||
 
 
                                        (2ND VERSE)               (CHORUS)
                                                                  10X
E|--------------------------------------||---------------------------||-----------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------||--------------------------.||-----------------------------------|
G|-----1-0-----1-0------1-0-1-0-1-0-1-0-||------------1-0-1-0---1----||-----------------------------------|
D|---1-------1--------1-----------------||---0-1-0-------------------||------------------1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1--|
A|-3-------3--------3-------------------||-3-------3----------------.||--3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3------------------|
E|--------------------------------------||---------------------------||-----------------------------------|
 
 
 
 
E|----------------------------------||---4-3--------------------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------.||-3------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--||------------------------------------1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|
D|----------------------------------||--------------------1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1---------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------.||--------3-3-3-3-3-3-------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
 
 
                                                                      (VERSE 3)
                                     2X                                                              10X
E|------------------------------------||---------------------------------||---------------------------||
B|-----------------------------------.||---------------------------------||--------------------------.||
G|------------------1-1-1-1-0-0-0-0---||-----1-0-----1-0-----1-0-1-0-1-0-||------------1-0-1-0----1---||
D|----------1-1-1-1-------------------||---1-------1-------1-------------||---0-1-0-------------------||
A|--3-3-3-3--------------------------.||-3-------3-------3---------------||-3-------3----------------.||
E|------------------------------------||---------------------------------||---------------------------||
 
 
(AFTER "GIANT CLAM")
 
E|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------|
B|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------|
G|--3--4--5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5|---------------------------------5-5-5-5-|----------5-5-5-5------------|
D|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------|
A|-----------------------------------|-3-3-3-3-3---3-3--3-3---3-3-3-3----------|-3-3-3-3----------3-3-3-3----|
E|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------|
 
 
                                            (DOWN DOWN PART)
 
E|-------------------------------------------||-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-|11-11-11-11-|
B|-------------------------------------------||-------------------------------------------------|------------|
G|-5--------5--------5---5---5---5-5------0--||-------------------------------------------------|------------|
D|-------------------------------------------||-------------------------------------------------|------------|
A|-----3---------3-----3---3---3------3------||-------------------------------------------------|------------|
E|-------------------------------------------||-------------------------------------------------|------------|
 
 
 
 
E|-11-11-11-11-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-|-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-|-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-|
B|-------------------------------------|---------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
G|-------------------------------------|---------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
D|-------------------------------------|---------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------|---------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------|---------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
 
 
 
 
E|-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-|-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-|-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-0-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-0-1-1-1-|
B|---------------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
 
 
                                (GONG!!!)
                                                                        10X
E|-1-1-1-1-0-1-1-1-0-1-1-1-0-1-0-1-0-1-0-1-||----------------------------||---------------------------------|
B|-----------------------------------------||---------------------------.||---------------------------------|
G|-----------------------------------------||-------------1-0-1-0---(1)--||---------------------------------|
D|-----------------------------------------||----0-1-0-------------------||----------------1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1--|
A|-----------------------------------------||--3--------3---------------.||--3-3-3-3-3-3-3------------------|
E|-----------------------------------------||----------------------------||---------------------------------|
 
 
                                    3X
E|-----------------------------------||----4--3--------------------------------------------------------------|
B|----------------------------------.||--3-------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---||--------------------------------------1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|
D|-----------------------------------||----------------------1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1---------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------.||---------3-3-3-3-3-3-3------------------------------------------------|
E|-----------------------------------||----------------------------------------------------------------------|
 
 
                                                                       (VERSE 4)
                                   2X                                                                10X
E|----------------------------------||-----------------------------------||---------------------------||
B|---------------------------------.||-----------------------------------||---------------------------||
G|-----------------1-1-1-1-0-0-0-0--||------1-0------1-0-----1-0-1-0-1-0-||------------1-0-1-0---1----||
D|---------1-1-1-1------------------||----1--------1-------1-------------||---0-1-0-------------------||
A|-3-3-3-3-------------------------.||--3--------3-------3---------------||-3-------1-----------------||
E|----------------------------------||-----------------------------------||---------------------------||
 
 
 
 
(AFTER "FLIPPERS FLIPPIN" - OCTAVE PART AGAIN)
 
E|------------------------------------|--------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
B|------------------------------------|--------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
G|--3--4--5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-|--------------------------------|-5-5-5-5-----------5-5-5-5-----------|
D|------------------------------------|--------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
A|------------------------------------|-3-3-3-3-3---3-3--3-3---3-3-3-3-|----------3-3-3-3----------3-3-3-3---|
E|------------------------------------|--------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
 
 
                                            (DOWN DOWN PART)
 
E|-------------------------------------------||-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-12-11-11-11-11|
B|-------------------------------------------||-------------------------------------------------------------|
G|-5--------5--------5---5---5---5-5------0--||-------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-------------------------------------------||-------------------------------------------------------------|
A|-----3---------3-----3---3---3------3------||-------------------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------||-------------------------------------------------------------|
 
 
 
 
E|-11-11-11-11-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-|-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-|-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-|
B|-------------------------------------|---------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
G|-------------------------------------|---------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
D|-------------------------------------|---------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------|---------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------|---------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
 
 
 
 
E|-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-|-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-|-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-0-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-0-1-1-1-|
B|---------------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
 
 
                                (GONG!!!)
                                                                        2X
E|-1-1-1-1-0-1-1-1-0-1-1-1-0-1-0-1-0-1-0-1-||----------------------------||
B|-----------------------------------------||---------------------------.||
G|-----------------------------------------||-------------1-0-1-0----1---||
D|-----------------------------------------||----0-1-0-------------------||
A|-----------------------------------------||--3--------3---------------.||
E|-----------------------------------------||----------------------------||
 
 
Now Comes the famous breakdown section - this will require some careful and well placed string muting as,
unlike the way Ricky Wilson originally played it in CFxxFF tuning on a regular guitar, we have all six strings
here.
 
This is also the trickiest part of the entire tab as I am trying to capture every nuance of what Ricky does on
this part of the song, as each small fill of lead notes leads into the next section, especially during
the Surfboards/Bikini's/Sea Animal noises part of the song.
 
 
 
                         (LOBSTER!!)                   (ROCK!!)   (FIRE ALARM SOLO)
                                                             2X
E|------------------------------------------------------------||-------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------6--6---------------------------6--||-------------------------------------------|
G|------6---8----8---6-6-6-------------6---8-------6-(6)------||-------------------------------------------|
D|--8---6---8----8---6-6-6---------8---6---8-------6-(6)------||-------------------------------------------|
A|--8------------------------------8--------------------------||--(6)-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6----|
E|------------------------------------------------------------||------8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8----------------------|
 
 
                                                                                                  (LET'S ROCK)
 
E|-----------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
B|-----------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
G|-----------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
D|-----------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
A|--8-8-8---8-8-8-8--6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-|-8-8-8---8---8-8-6---6---6---6-|-8-8-8-8---8-8-8-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-----|
E|--8-8-8---8-8-8-8------------------|-8-8-8---8---8-8---------------|-8-8-8-8---8-8-8---------------------|
 
 
 
 
E|----------------------------------|-------------------------------|----------------------------------------|
B|--9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-|-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9---3---|-6-----6---6---------6-----6---6--------|
G|----------------------------------|-------------------------------|----------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------|-------------------------------|----------------------------------------|
A|--8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-8-|-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-|---8-8---8---6-6-8-6-8-8-8---8---8-6-6--|
E|----------------------------------|-------------------------------|----------------------------------------|
 
 
 
E|-----||-----------------------------|-------------------------|----------------------|---------------------|
B|-----||-6-----------6---------------|-6---------6-------------|-6----------6-----9-8-|-6----------6-------6|
G|-----||-----------------------------|-------------------------|----------------------|---------------------|
D|-----||-----------------------------|-------------------------|----------------------|---------------------|
A|-8-6-||----8-8-8-8----8-6-6-6-6-6-6-|---8-8-8-8----8-6-6--8-6-|----8-8-8-8---8-6-----|----8-8-8-8----6-6---|
E|-----||-----------------------------|-------------------------|----------------------|---------------------|
        Boy's in Bikini....           Girls in Surf Boards....Everybody's Rockin....Everybody's Frugin...
 
 
 
E|----|----------------------------|----------------------|----------------------|---------------------------|
B|-6-6|-6----------6---------------|-6--------6-------9-9-|6---------6-------9-8-|6---------6----------------|
G|----|----------------------------|----------------------|----------------------|---------------------------|
D|----|----------------------------|----------------------|----------------------|---------------------------|
A|----|----8-8-8-8----6-6-6-6-6-6-6|---8-8-8-8---6-6------|--8-8-8-8----6-6------|--8-8-8-8----6-6-6-6-6-6-6-|
E|----|----------------------------|----------------------|----------------------|---------------------------|
  Twistin' round the fire having fun......                Baking Potatoes...      Put on your nose guard...
 
 
 
E|-----------------------|--------------------------|-----------------------|-------------------------------|
B|--6---------6-----9--8-|-6---------6--------------|-6-----------6------9-9|-6-----------6-----------------|
G|-----------------------|--------------------------|-----------------------|-------------------------------|
D|-----------------------|--------------------------|-----------------------|-------------------------------|
A|----8-8-8-8---6-8------|---8-8-8-8---6-6-6-6-6-6-6|---8-8-8-8-8---6-6-----|---8-8-8-8-8----8--6--8--6--8--|
E|-----------------------|--------------------------|-----------------------|-------------------------------|
  Head on the....       Pass The.....                                      There goes a sting ray....
 
 
 
 
E|------------------------------|--------------------------|-----------------------|------------------------|
B|-6---------6------------------|-6---------6--------------|-6---------6-------9-8-|6---------6-------------|
G|------------------------------|--------------------------|-----------------------|------------------------|
D|------------------------------|--------------------------|-----------------------|------------------------|
A|---8-8-8-8----8--6----6---8-6-|---8-8-8-8---6-6-6-6-6-6-6|---8-8-8-8----6-6------|--8-8-8-8---8--6-6--8-6-|
E|------------------------------|--------------------------|-----------------------|------------------------|
  There goes a Manta Ray...     In Walks a Jellyfish...   ...Dogfish...         ..Catfish...
 
 
 
E|---------------------------|----------------------------|--------------------|----------------------------||
B|-6---------6---------------|-6---------6----------------|-6---------6-----9-8|-6---------6----------------||
G|---------------------------|----------------------------|--------------------|----------------------------||
D|---------------------------|----------------------------|--------------------|----------------------------||
A|---8-8-8-8----8--6--8-6-8-8|---8-8-8-8---6--8--6-8--6-8-|---8-8-8-8---6-6----|---8-8-8-8----6-6-6-6-6-6-6-||
E|---------------------------|----------------------------|--------------------|----------------------------||
 ...Sea Robin..            ....Piranha....             ...Narwhal...         ...BIKINI WHALE....
 
 
 
E|--------------------|-------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-|-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-|-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-8-8-6--------8---------------6---------6---|
G|--------------------|-------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|--------------------|-------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|--8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-6-|-6-6-6-6-6-6-8-8-8-|-8-8-8-8-8-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6---8-8-8-8--8-6-6-6-6-8-6---8-8-8-8-----|
E|--------------------|-------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|
 
 
 
                                                              2X                             4X
E|----------||-------------------------------------------------||-----------------------------||
B|------9-9-||--6---------6-----9-8-6---------6---------------.||--6-----------6------0-9--6-.||
G|----------||-------------------------------------------------||-----------------------------||
D|----------||-------------------------------------------------||-----------------------------||
A|--6-6-----||----8-8-8-8---6-6-------8-8-8-8---6-6-6-6-6-6-6-.||-----8-8-8-8-----6-6--------.||
E|----------||-------------------------------------------------||-----------------------------||
 
 
 
There is no need for any sort of Tab legend here as there is no actual string bending or ghost notes
or anything in the entire song.  Aside from the muting aspect of the last half of it, it's all pretty much
simple single note lines.
 
LYRICS
------
We were at a party
His earlobe fell in the deep
Someone reached in and grabbed it
It was a rock lobster
 
Rock lobster
Rock lobster
 
We were at the beach
Everybody had matching towels
Somebody went under a dock
And there they saw a rock
It wasn't a rock
It was a rock lobster
 
Rock lobster
Rock lobster
Rock lobster
Rock lobster
 
Motion in the ocean
His air hose broke
Lots of trouble
Lots of bubble
He was in a jam
S'in a giant clam
 
Rock rock
Rock lobster
 
Down, down
 
Lobster rock
Lobster rock
 
Let's rock!
 
Boy's in bikinis
Girls in surfboards
Everybody's rockin'
Everybody's fruggin'
Twistin' 'round the fire
Havin' fun
Bakin' potatoes
Bakin' in the sun
Put on your noseguard
Head on the Lifeguard
Pass the Tanning Buttah'
 
Here Comes a Sting Ray
There goes a Manta Ray
In walks a Jellyfish
There goes a Dog Fish
Chased by a Cat Fish
In to a Sea Robin
Watch out for that Piraha
There goes a Narwhal
There goes Bikini Whale
 
Rock Lobster
Rock Lobster
Rock Lobster
Rock Lobster

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Rock Lobster – The B-52's
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"Rock Lobster"
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