Babylon Sisters - Steely Dan
------------------------------
From the album Gaucho
Transcribed by Howard Wright
Howard@jmdl.com
This is one of Steely Dan's finest moments - a sublime song!
The chords I've written out are mostly based on the keyboard
parts, but they work pretty well on the guitar. As usual you
have to make a few compromises to get playable guitar shapes,
but you can still get an authentic sound.
The main elements that are lost when playing this song on the
guitar are the clustered notes that feature in a lot of Gaucho
and Aja songs. The keyboards often use voicings that add an
extra dissonant note to what is a fairly standard jazz chord,
but on the guitar it's usually not possible to keep all these
notes so you have to simplify just a little.
The only other difficulty on guitar comes in the intro and
chorus sections, with the chords for "... shake it!". What you
have here is a bass part playing the root and fifth (a
"5 chord"), and the keyboard right hand playing two rising
triads ("shake it"). This part works much better on two
instruments, with one person playing the root + fifth bass part,
and the other playing the triads. On one guitar you've basically
got a choice of either just sticking to the 5 chords, or playing
the triads higher up then coming back to the 5 chord to fill in
the gap till the next chord.
Note that the studio version of this song starts in F# with the
verse in Bb minor. This is what I've followed for this
transcription. A lot of the live versions (e.g Alive in America)
play it a semitone lower, starting in F with the verse in A
minor.
All chord shapes are given at the end.
Intro:
------
The tablature here is for the keyboard melody (really a
mixture of melody and chords) - the chords that are written
above give the basic accompaniment.
Although the 5 chords on their own sound rather bare, when
combined with keyboard part (tablature) the effect is to
create fuller chords (majors, minor 7ths etc)
F#5 B5 G#5
E-------------------------------------
B-----4--7--4-------------------------
G--------------6--8----5h8p5---5------
D-------------------(8)------8--------
A-------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------
E5 G#5 D#7sus4
E----------------------------------------------
B--------4--7---4---7---4----7---4----7----4---
G------4----4-------4--------10--6----10---6---
D----6----------6-------6----8---6----8----6---
A----------------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------------
F#5 B5 G#5 B5
E-------------------------------------------
B----7p4---4---4----------------------------
G--------6---6----5h8p5---5----8h11p8----8--
D-----------------------8-------------11----
A-------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------
E F#/E E5(VII) A7b5 D#7sus4
E-------------------------------------------
B--9---11------------4------7---4----7---4--
G--9---11------------6------10--6----10--6--
D--9---11------------5------8---6----8---6--
A-------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------
E F#/E E5(VII) A7b5 D#7sus4 Bbm7
E----------------------------------------------------
B--9---11-------------4-----7---4---7---4---------6--
G--9---11-------------6-----10--6---10--6--8------6--
D--9---11-------------5-----8---6---8---6----8----6--
A----------------------------------------------6-----
E----------------------------------------------------
VERSE 1:
--------
Bbm7 Cm7 Eb9
Drive west on Sunset to the sea
Ab/Db Ab13 F#maj6/7 Bbm7
Turn that jungle music down, just until we're out of town
Cm7 Dm11 Bbm7
This is no one night stand it's a real occasion
Cm7 Eb/F Bbmaj7
Close your eyes and you'll be there, it's everything they say
E7b5 Ebmaj6/7 A7#5 D5
The end of a perfect day, distant lights from across the bay
NB There are two shapes for the E7b5 and Ebmaj6/7 chords (see below)
that are a bit of a stretch, but sound just right to me. If you find
these too awkward, try the simpler E7 and Ebmaj7 shapes I've put in
as alternatives.
CHORUS:
-------
D5 Dm7 Eb F/Eb Eb5
Babylon sisters shake it
D5 Dm7 Eb F/Eb Eb5
Babylon sisters shake it
C9(VIII) F9 Bbmaj7 Bbm7 Eb9
So fine, so young, tell me I'm the only one
Dm7 C9 Eb F/Eb Eb5
B/E F#/E C#/F# G#/F# Bb7b9
Ebm7 Db6 Bmaj7 B7 E6/9 A7b5
Here come those Santa Ana winds again
Ebm7 Bbm7
E---------------------------------------------------
B--------------7----7----4---4---4----4----6--------
G----------8---10---8----6---7---6----3----6--------
D---8---11-----11---10---7---8---7----6----6--------
A---------------------------------------------------
E------------------------------------------6--------
There's no way that you can sustain the Eb bass note while playing
the above chords - you need someone else to fill in the bottom Eb.
A slightly simpler version of these chords that includes the
bass note is: x6x66x x6x54x x676xx x687xx x676xx x663xx
VERSE 2:
--------
We'll jog with show folk on the sand
Drink kirschwasser from a shell
San Fransisco show and tell
Well I should know by now that it's just a spasm
Like a Sunday in TJ, that it's cheap but it's not free
That I'm not what I used to be
And that love's not a game for three
CHORUS:
-------
(Same as before, except for last line)
D5 Dm7 Eb F/Eb Eb5
Babylon sisters shake it
D5 Dm7 Eb F/Eb Eb5
Babylon sisters shake it
C9(VIII) F9 Bbmaj7 Bbm7 Eb9
So fine, so young, tell me I'm the only one
Dm7 C9 Eb F/Eb Eb5
B/E F#/E C#/F# G#/F# Bb7b9
Ebm7 Db6 Bmaj7 B7 E6/9 F7#9
Here come those Santa Ana winds again
SOLO SECTION:
-------------
(over first part of verse chords)
Bbm7 Cm7 Eb9
Ab/Db Ab13 F#maj6/7 Bbm7
Cm7 Dm11 Bbm7
My friends say no, don't go for that cotton candy
Cm7 Eb/F Bbmaj7
Son you're playin' with fire, the kid will live and learn
E7b5 Ebmaj6/7 A7#5 D5
As he watches his bridges burn, from the point of no return
CHORUS:
-------
D5 Dm7 Eb F/Eb Eb5
Babylon sisters shake it
D5 Dm7 Eb F/Eb Eb5
Babylon sisters shake it
C9(VIII) F9 Bbmaj7 Bbm7 Eb9
So fine, so young, tell me I'm the only one
Dm7 C9 Eb F/Eb Eb5
D5 Dm7 G/F Fmaj7 Ebmaj7 Dm7
OUTTRO:
-------
Dm7 Eb F/Eb Eb5 Ab7b5
E----------------------------------------------
B------------10--10---8--10----------------3---
G------------10--10---8--10----------------5---
D-----10-12--10--10---8--10----------------4---
A--12------------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------------
D5 Dm7 G/F Fmaj7 Ebmaj7 Dm7
E-------------------------------------------------------------
B------------10--10---12--13----------------------------------
G------------10--10---12--14----12h14-12-10h12-10----10-12----
D-----10-12--10--10---12--14-----------------------12------12-
A--12---------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------------
(repeat last two lines to fade)
Chord Shapes:
--------------
EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE
24xxxx x24xxx 46xxxx 02xxxx
F#5 B5 G#5 E5
EADGBE EADGBE E A D G B E EADGBE
x6664x 07999x 0 x 11 11 11 x x79xxx
D#7sus4 E F#/E E5(VII)
EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE
5x564x 6x666x 8x888x x6566x
A7b5 Bbm7 Cm7 Eb9
EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE
x46544 4x456x 2xx341 x9886x
Ab/Db Ab13 F#maj6/7 F#maj6/7 (alt.)
E A D G B E EADGBE EADGBE
10 x 10 10 8 x x8x886 6x776x
Dm11 Eb/F Bbmaj7
EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE
x7633x x767xx x6553x x657xx
E7b5 E7 Ebmaj6/7 Ebmaj7
(If you find the E7b5 or Ebmaj6/7 a bit of a stretch, use the
simpler E7 and Ebmaj7 shapes as alternatives).
EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE
5x566x x57xxx x57565 x6888x
A7#5 D5 Dm7 Eb
E A D G B E EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE
11 x 10 10 10 x x68xxx 8x8780 x8788x
F/Eb Eb5 C9(VIII) F9
Although the overall sound for "shake it" uses an F/Eb chord,
it works best on guitar if you forget the Eb bass and just play
the Eb and F triads.
EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE E A D G B E
x3233x x7x877 x7x676 x 9 x 10 9 9
C9 B/E F#/E C#/F#
EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE
x9x898 6x6777 x68676 x46666 9x866x
G#/F# Bb7b9 Ebm7 Db6 Db6
EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE EADGBE
7x887x 7x787x x7667x x8789x
Bmaj7 B7 E6/9 F7#9
E A D G B E E A D G B E E A D G B E
13 x 12 12 12 x 13 x 14 14 13 x 11 x 12 12 11 x
G/F Fmaj7 Ebmaj7
As on the chorus, you can't get a clean change from the G/F
to the Fmaj7 (equivalent to "... shake it!") if you play the
bass note as well so you'll probably want to drop the F bass.