ARTIST : John Cougar Mellencamp
ALBUM : American Fool (Track 2)
TRANSCRIBED BY : Mike Cole ([email protected])
SONG STRUCTURE
GUITAR GUITAR PART REPEAT LYRICS AT START
—— ———– —— —————
I Riff 1a 3x
II Rhythmn 1a 2x Little ditti about Jack…
III Rhythmn 2 1x
II Rhythmn 1a 2x Suckin’ on a chili dog…
II Rhythmn 1b 1x Oh yeah, life goes on…
I Riff 1a 2x
II Rhythmn 1a 2x Jackie sits back; collects…
II Rhythmn 1b 1x
Tacit
III Rhythmn 2 1x
II Rhythmn 1b 1x Oh yeah, life goes on…
II Fill 1 1x Little ditti about Jack…
I Riff 1b 4x
Let all chords ring, unless noted.
GUITAR I
——–
Distorted electric guitar.
Riff 1a:
A E/A A E/A D
e-|————————–|————————–|—–|—–|
B-|-10———————–|–9———-10—–9—–|–7–|—–|
G-|–9———————–|–9———–9—–9—–|–7–|—–|
D-|-11———————–|–9———-11—–9—–|–7–|—–|
A-|–0———————–|–0———–0—–0—–|–0–|—–|
E-|————————–|————————–|—–|—–|
*
Riff 1b:
A E/A A E/A A E/A D
e-|————————–|————————–|——–|—–|
B-|-10——–9——–9—–|-10——–9—-10—–9–|-(9)-7–|—–|
G-|–9——–9——–9—–|–9——–9—–9—–9–|-(9)-7–|—–|
D-|-11——–9——–9—–|-11——–9—-11—–9–|-(9)-7–|—–|
A-|–0——–0——–0—–|–0——–0—–0—–0–|-(0)-0–|—–|
E-|————————–|————————–|——–|—–|
*
* = Deaden after 1 beatGUITAR II
———
This is an acoustic guitar capoed at the 2nd fret. A good clue for
figuring this out is the recognizable D-Dsus4-D chord progression,
which happens to be a whole-tone sharp. As usual for capoed guitar
parts, I have given fret numbers relative to the capo and named chords
as if they were being played in standard tuning.
Rhythmn 1a:
G D Dsus4 D C D Dsus4 D
f#|–3–3–3–2—–3–2—–|–0—–0—–2—–3–2–|
C#|–3–3–3–3—–3–3—–|–1—–1—–3—–3–3–|
A-|–0–0–0–2—–2–2—–|–0—–0—–2—–2–2–|
E-|–0–0–0–0—–0–0—–|–2—–2—–0—–0–0–|
B-|–2–2–2—————–|–3—–3—————–|
F#|–3–3–3—————–|————————–| G D Dsus4 D C D G
f#|–3–3–3–2—–3–2—–|–0—–2—–3—–3–3–|
C#|–3–3–3–3—–3–3—–|–1—–3—–3—–3–3–|
A-|–0–0–0–2—–2–2—–|–0—–2—–0—–0–0–|
E-|–0–0–0–0—–0–0—–|–2—–0—–0—–0–0–|
B-|–2–2–2—————–|–3———–2—–2–2–|
F#|–3–3–3—————–|————–3—–3–3–|
Rhythmn 1b:
Same as above except that the first two bars are played 3 times
before playing bars 3 & 4 (i.e. 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 4).Fill 1:
This may not be 100% accurate, but it’s pretty close. I find it
easiest to play this part using my thumb and fingers on my right hand
(no pick).
f#|————————–|————————–|
C#|–3—–D—–3—–3—–|–3—–D—–3—–3—–|
A-|–0—–D—–2——–2–|–0—–D—–2——–2–|
E-|————————–|–0—–D—————–|
B-|–2—–D—–0———–|————–0———–|
F#|————————–|–3—–D—————–|
f#|————————–|————————–|
C#|–3—–D—–3—–3—–|–3—–D—–3———–|
A-|–0—–D—–2—–2—–|–0—–D—–0———–|
E-|————————–|–2—–D—–0———–|
B-|–2—–D—–0———–|————————–|
F#|————————–|–3—–D—–3———–|
D = Deaden string with right handGUITAR III
———-
This acoustic guitar is playing the same chords used in the Riffs.
The open A string is definitely present, which means the guitar is not
capoed. If you want to play this part on guitar II, I would suggest
playing the low A chord using a standard barre shape, 5776xx (these
are actual frets, not relative to the capo). For the rest of the
chords, play what’s given below without the open A string.
Rhythmn 2:
A E/A A E/A D E/A A E/A
e-|————————–|————————–|
B-|–2–2–2–2-/9—-10–9–|–7—–7—–9—-10–9–|
G-|–2–2–2–2-/9—–9–9–|–7—–7—–9—–9–9–|
D-|–2–2–2–2-/9—-11–9–|–7—–7—–9—-11–9–|
A-|–0–0–0–0-(0)—-0–0–|–0—–0—–0—–0–0–|
E-|————————–|————————–|
A E/A A E/A D A
e-|————————–|————————–|
B-|–2–2–2–2-/9—-10–9–|–7—–7—–2——–X–|
G-|–2–2–2–2-/9—–9–9–|–7—–7—–2——–X–|
D-|–2–2–2–2-/9—-11–9–|–7—–7—–2——–X–|
A-|–0–0–0–0-(0)—-0–0–|–0—–0—–0——–X–|
E-|————————–|————————–|
X = Left hand muting
