"Bullet the Blue Sky"
This song can be played with a quick series of chords Dm and C:
1 2 2 4 1 2 2 4
Dm Dm Dm Dm Dm Dm Dm Dm Dm C Dm Dm Dm Dm Dm Dm Dm Dm Dm C
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
In the howling wind comes a stinging rain
See it driving nails into the souls on a tree of pain
From the firefly a red-orange glow
I see the face of fear
Running scared in the valley below
Bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue sky
In locust wind comes a rattle and hum
Judith wrestled the angel
And the angel was overcome
She had a demon seed
She rase flower of fire
I see her burning crosses
I see the flames higher and higher
Bullet the blue sky
Bullet the blue sky
And I see her come up to me
Her dress red
Like a rose on a thorn bush
Like all the colors of a royal flush
And she's pealing off those dollar bills
And slapping them down
One hundred
Two hundred
And I can see those fighter planes
And I can see those fighter planes
Across the mud huts where the children sleep
Through the alleys and quiet city streets
Up a staircase to the first floor
I turn the key and slowly unlock the door
A man breathes into a saxophone
Through the walls we hear the city groan
Outside it's America
Outside it's America
"So I'm back in my hotel room,
With Johnnie Coltrane and the love supreme,
In the next room I hear some woman scream out,
That her lover's turning off,
Turning on the television,
I can't tell the difference between :-
ABC news, Hill Street Blues
And some preacher in the old time gospel hour
Stealing money from the sick and the old
Well the God I believe in ain't short of cash Mister !!"
See across the view
See the sky ripped open
See the rain pounding the women and children
Who run
Into the arms of America......
-----
Bullet the Blue Sky (original version) by U2, transcribed by Richard Zangoli
There was no complete transcription to this fantabulous (don't look that
word up, I don't think it's in the dictionary) song in its original form so
I decided to do it. I transcribed it from the Rattle and Hum CD version but
the studio version is pretty similar. Tune down half a step.
Intro (after Star Spangled Banner)-
Slide this up the fretboard
E-----------------------------------------
B----9(hold)-------12s/------------12s/---
G------------------12s/------------12s/--- etc... and then play an open big
D------------------12s/------------12s/--- E string
A-------------------- --------------------
When Bono sings "driving nails into the.." hold the note on the 9th fret,
second string, as in the very beginning.
After Bono sings "the red orange glow" Edge plays some mute strings.
This is the chorus riff-
E-------------------------------------------
B----7--7------------------------------------
G----7--7----------------------------------- play this a few times and play this
D----7--7------------------------------------ to finish off-
A--------------7----5--5--5-----5--7--5--7--
E---------------------------------------------
E--------------------------------------
B----7--7------------------------------
G----7--7------------------------------
D----7--7------------------------------
A-------------7----5--5--5----5h7-----
E----------------------------------------
After Bono sings "rattle and hum", play this (the notes are to be bent
together)-
E-------------
B-----5b----
G-----4b----
D------------
A------------
E-------------
After Bono sings "the angel was overcome", scape the edge (no pun intended)
of your pick all the way up the big E string.
When Bono sings "you plant a demon seed" play this(slide this all the way up
the
fretboard)-
E---------------
B------20s/----
G------21s/----
D---------------
A---------------
E----------------
After the chorus play some 12th fret harmonics on first the big E and then
the A string and then play this (which is similar to the intro)-
E--------------------------
B----12s/---12s/---12s/---
G----12s/---12s/---12s/---
D----12s/---12s/---12s/---
A---------------------------
E----------------------------
And then comes the solo. I prefer to play it without the slide so that's the
way that I'll tab it. If you want to play it with the slide, then you'll
have to play it further down the fretboard starting at the 12th fret.
E---s/7-----------7-------------7-----------------7-----------------------------
B--------8------------8--------------8------------------8-----------7s/10 (hold)
G------------7------------7----------------7------------------7-----8s/9--(hold)
D-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E--------------9---------------s/7------------------7----------------7----------
B---7s/10----------10------------------8------------------8---------------8----
G---8s/9------------------9--------------------7-----------------7-------------7
D-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E--7-----------------7s/9-----9-------9-------9---------9s/10---------10-------
B-------8------------8s----------10-------10--------10-----------11---------11--
G-------------7------7s/9------------------------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-------------10--10--10s/----------------15--------15--------15--------------14
B----11s/12---12--12--12s/---------s/17---------17--------17---------17---17---
G-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E----------14----------14s/-----------------------------------------------------
B----17---------15--------------------------------------------------------------
G------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------7---7--------------7---7s/9s/7----
B-----------7---7--------------7---7s/9s/7-----
G-----------7---7--------------7---7s/9s/7----- play this last bit twice and end
D------------------------------------------------ with hitting the big E string
A------------------------------------------------
E----0-------------------0-----------------------
Edge then plays around with the tremolo bar (which I don't have because Les
Pauls generally ain't got them) and then he plays (I think)-
Bend this note and then gradually release it
E------------------
B--------9b-------
G-----------------
D-----------------
A-----------------
E------------------
