• Song:

    Sweet Thing

  • Artist:

    David Bowie

#----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE--------------------------------#
#This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the#
#song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research.#
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------#

Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 20:56:40 -0400
From: riley.90@osu.edu (Bo Riley)
Subject: b/bowie_david/sweet_thing.crd

Song: "Sweet Thing" from the album "Diamond Dogs" (1974)
Artist: David Bowie
Words and Music by: David Bowie
Transcribed and Submitted by: Bo Riley (riley.90@osu.edu)

This post contains the chords to the song "Sweet Thing" by David Bowie.
The version, below, is from the "Diamond Dogs" album, on which the song
"Sweet Thing" is divided into three parts, "Sweet Thing," "Candidate,"
and "Sweet Thing (reprise)." The song also appears on the "David Live"
album, where it is referred to as simply "Sweet Thing." This post contains
chords for the entire "Sweet Thing" sequence. A special thanks to the
lyrics archive at Teenage Wildlife (www.etete.com/Bowie) for help with
some of the lyrics.

Any questions? Email me. (riley.90@osu.edu)
(www.freeyellow.com/members2/glendor/domain.html)

* Special note: The big, extended chords towards the end can be
substituted with the following chords:

Bbmaj13#11     play Bb
Fmaj13         play F
C6/9           play C
Dadd9        play D


"SWEET THING" (Sweet Thing, Candidate, Sweet Thing (reprise))

(INTRO)
C          D/C          C          D/C               C

(VERSE 1)
                 D/C  C             D/C              C
It's safe in the city, to love in a doorway
               D                 Em                  D
To wrangle some screens from the door
             C  D/C          C                       D/C
And isn't it me, putting pain in a stranger?
                   C          D           Em
Like a portrait in flesh, who trails on a leash
D        C  D/C             C            D/C
Will you see that I'm scared and I'm lonely?
                    C         D         Em
So I'll break up my room, and yawn and I
           D        Bm
Run to the center of things,

Where the knowing one says

(CHORUS)
Dm    Am           G
Boys, boys, it's a sweet thing
Dm    Am           F                                 G
Boys, boys, it's a sweet thing, sweet thing
       Dm         Am/C       G/B                     G
If you want it, boys, get it here, thing
       Dm         Am    F                      G     C
'Cause hope, boys, is a cheap thing, cheap thing

(VERSE 2)
                     D/C                             C
I'm glad that you're older than me
                D/C                                  C
Makes me feel important and free
                   D                Em               D
Does that make you smile, isn't that me?
            C   D/C            C                     D/C
I'm in your way, and I'll steal every moment
                  C                D
If his trade is a curse, then I'll bless you
   Em           D             Bm
And turn to the crossroads of hamburgers, and

(CHORUS)
Dm    Am           G
Boys, boys, it's a sweet thing
Dm    Am           F                                 G
Boys, boys, it's a sweet thing, sweet thing
       Dm         Am/C       G/B                     G
If you want it, boys, get it here, thing
       Dm         Am    F                      G
'Cause hope, boys, is a cheap thing, cheap thing

(GUITAR SOLO)
D          F#m        Bm         Bb

D          Gm/D       D          Gm/D

D          F#m        Bm         Bb

D          Gm/D       D          Gm/D       D

"CANDIDATE"

(SAX AND GUITAR SOLOS)
Dm         Am         G

Dm         Am         G

Dm         Am         G

Dm         Am         G

Dm         Am         G

                Dm             Am
I'll make you a deal, like any other candidate
         G
We'll pretend we're walking home 'cause your future's at stake
   Dm                      Am
My set is amazing, it even smells like a street
          G
There's a bar at the end where I can meet you and your friend
Dm                                        Am                        G
Someone scrawled on the wall "I smell the blood of les tricoteuses"

Who wrote up scandals in other bars
          Dm                    Am
I'm having so much fun with the poisonous people
          G
Spreading rumours and lies and stories they made up

Dm                      Am
Some make you sing and some make you scream
G
One makes you wish that you've never been seen
              Dm                                Am
But there's a shop on the corner that's selling paper mache
       G
Making bulletproof faces, Charlie Manson, Cassius Clay
       Dm       Am           G
If you want it, boys, get it here, thing

       Dm                    Am
So you scream out of line "I want you! I need you!
G
Anyone out there? Any time?"
Dm                                   Am
Tres butch little number whines "Hey dirty, I want you
          G
When it's good, it's really good, and when it's bad I go to pieces"
       Dm       Am           G
If you want it, boys, get it here, thing

             Dm                                Am
Well, on the street where you live I could not hold up my head
      G
For I put all I have in another bed
           Dm            Am
On another floor, in the back of a car
       G
In the cellar like a church with the door ajar
        Dm                             Am
Well, I guess we must be looking for a different kind
       G
But we can't stop trying 'til we break up our minds
         Dm                     Am
'Til the sun drips blood on the seedy young nights
    G
Who press you on the ground while shaking in fright
   Dm                        Am
I guess we could cruise down one more time
     G
With you by my side, it should be fine
      Dm                 Am
We'll buy some drugs and watch a band
      G
Then jump in the river holding hands

"SWEET THING (reprise)"

(SAX SOLO)
Dm         Am         G

Dm         Am         G

       Dm         Am/C       G
If you want it, boys, get it here, thing
       Dm         Am    F                      G     C
'Cause hope, boys, is a cheap thing, cheap thing

VERSE 3
                   D/C        C              D/C     C
Is it nice in your snow storm, freezing your brain?
                       D              Em             D
Do you think that your face looks the same?
            C  D/C              C                    D/C
Then let it be, it's all I ever wanted
                     C           D
Its a street with a deal, and a taste
         Em              D           G               A/G
Its got claws, its got me, its got you

(OUTRO)
G          A/G        G        A

Bbmaj13#11*           Fmaj13*

Bbmaj13#11*           Fmaj13*

Bbmaj13#11*           C6/9*           Dadd9*

E (more or less, there are alot of #9's, dominant 7's, and
such in the bass. E5 would be the safest bet here).


Any questions? Email me. (riley.90@osu.edu)
(www.freeyellow.com/members2/glendor/domain.html)

Bo Riley
        riley.90@osu.edu
                www.freeyellow.com/members2/glendor/domain.html
                        Oh, rain-BOWS. Yeah, I like those. Those are coo.
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