• Song:

    Maybe Sprout Wings

  • Artist:

    Mountain Goats

  • Album:

    Get Lonely

Artist: Mountain Goats
Song: Maybe Sprout Wings
Tuning: Standard
Difficulty: Novice

Intro begins with some D chord progression... Not exactly sure of the name. I'll call it 
Anyway, it's the song's motif, so it's kind of important that you get it.

D* - x000231

The progression goes like this:
(For those who don't know the song all that well, I added John's Youtube video URL of 
song at the end)

Pluck open D string four times and let it ring;
x000231 (x2)(down)(up)
x000230 (x1)(down)
x000231 (x1)(up)
x000233 (x1)(down)

Repeat this twice more for a total of three times.
On the last time through (third), hit the x000233 chord and immediately return to the 
D* chord so it'll be a progression like this:

x000231 (x2)(down)(up)
x000230 (x1)(down)
x000231 (x1)(up)
x000233 (x1)(down)
x000231 (x1)(up)
Pluck open D string four times and let it ring.

This intro appears throughout the song. For this tab, you'll see (intro) and other times 
see (motif). The (motif) means to only play the first progression, and only do it once.

Other chords you'll need:
G5 - 320033
A* - x02031
C* - 133000
A - x02220

Before we get started, you should also know that John usually just strums the low four 
(EADG). It's a very light and remorseful song, your strumming should display that.

Verse:

D*                              G5
A bad dream shook me in my sleep
D*            A*      D*
And I woke up sweating.
                            G5
Ran through the dark to the shower,
C*      A
Already forgetting.
D*                  G5
Tried to think good thoughts.
A*                    D* (motif)
Trying to find my way clear.
D* (chord)             G5
Let the room fill with steam,
C*                     A
Traced pictures on the mirror.

Chorus:

G5                D*           G5
Ghosts and clouds and nameless things.
D*                   G5        A*
Squint your eyes and hope real hard,
             D* (intro)
Maybe sprout wings.

D*                                 G5
I clawed my way to the living room window,
A*                 D*
Stood there in the cold.
                               G5
The last bits of my dream like figures in the distance,
C*      A
Hard to hold.
D*
I thought of old friends,
                    G5
The ones who'd gone missing like you
A*                   D* (motif)
Said all their names three times.
                G5
Phantoms in the early dark,
C*              A   G5
Canaries in the mines.

Chorus

The outro is the intro again only louder and stronger; all of the strums are down except 
the last chord of each progression.

Ends on a D* chord.

Here's the Youtube URL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh-Gsk82ZuQ&feature=related

Thanks!
Tab by: amandalpierson
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