Crimes Of Paris Chords

Standard (EADGBE)

Intro

G

 I Gthought it was Cyou and your Doptimist's view of the GclockC G

 And Ghow it's always aG/Fnother day

EJust after twelve o'clock's Amstruck

 You Amsaid "Now I only want Am/G♯you so I don't have to Dpromise"

 But Amtiny children in Cgrown-up clothes

C/EWhispered all the Crimes of ParDis D/C D/B D/A

Chorus

 You're not the Ggirl next-Cdoor or a Dgirl from France

 Or the Gcigarette-G/Fgirl in the C/Esizzle hot-C/Dpants

 All the Cwords of G/Blove seem D/Acruel and Gcrass

  C G/B D/A E (possibly G)

When you're tough and transparent as armoured glass

 You're Ceverywhere G/Bgirl in an D/Aeveryday Emess

AmWho'll pay for the Crimes ofC PariGs C G

I heard that you fell for the "Hell or to Hammersmith Blues"

In the tiny torn up peices of his mind he's irresistible too

Now it's hard to say now if he's only stupid or smart

When he crawled through the door

And poured out more of his creeping-Jesus heart

Chorus

EAnd it's all E7here and now

 She Amhit him with that Am/Bpaper-weight Am/CEiffel ToweA/Er

DmAnd I tried to Ghold on to you Dmbut I don't know Ghow

 And I Cfind it hard to C/Bswallow C/A♯good adviceC/A

 Like Amgoing down Am/Bthree times to only Am/Ccome up twicAm/De

AmComD♯e up twiceAm/E G C G

She's so convenient, he's always stiff as hair-laquer

It's hard to discover now he's in love with her

It was her way of getting her own back

You never did anything she couldn't do on her own

You're as good as your word and that's no good to her

You'd better leave that kitten alone

Chorus

Fade out:

(repeat last four bars of chorus)

Am C G C G G C G

The tough thing about Crimes of Paris (as in many EC songs) is that he's

actually only playing five chords on the guitar, but the changes in the

bass notes and the vocals are what you really hear. So, if you play it by

yourself the way EC does on the album, it sounds like you're missing a lot

of important changes- and you are. Luckily, it's not too tough to work the

bass notes into the chords on this one...I imagine that's how Elvis played

it as he was writing it, and if he ever performed it by himself.

Mark's chords were on the right track, but his choruses and a few other

parts were off. There are a few frustrating things about playing this song

on guitar. One is the pesky G with F bass (there's no F major in the song)

in the verses, which is tough to play on guitar. It sounds *okay* if you

play a G7 there- the F will be in the chord, just on top instead of on the

bottom. A similar problem is the Am with G# bass- which can be solved by

flatting the A on the G string (what the hell chord is that anyway?

Ammaj7?????) As for chords like C/E and G/B, well, the bass notes are in

the normal major chords anyway, but I included the bass notation for

fingerpicking purposes- or if any bass players want to give it a shot.

[...]

Whew! I guess that's it. Only Costello could make such a mess out of G,

C, D, Am, and E. I mean that as a compliment.

If anyone thinks I messed up, feel free to add corrections. And if anyone

thinks this is on target and wants other transcriptions, just ask. I don't

have the time to do this every night, but if I have the time, I'll figure

any Costello song out. I've even been trying to put together some guitar

arrangements for songs from "The Juliet Letters" to play with my sister

(no way my voice can handle some of that stuff...). It's easy to hear the

notes clearly with the Brodskys, but trying toactually play that stuff on

guitar is a different matter. Even the occasional stuff that resembles

good ole Costello pop melodies ("Why must I always apologize...") is way

more complex than it sounds.

You know, I said I was going to study tonight...

-Clyde

(use Monaco font for proper chord alignment)

 And Ghow it's always aG/Fnother day

E7Just after twelve o'clock's sAmtruck

 You sAmaid "Now I only want yAm9ou sG♯o I don't have to promisDe"

 Or the ciGgarette-gG/Firl in the sC/Eizzle hot-panCts

 All the wCords of lG/Bove seem cD/Aruel and crG/Bass

 When you're Ctough and transG/Bparent as aD/Armoured gG/Blass

 You're Ceverywhere G/Bgirl in an D/Aeveryday mE/G♯ess

EAnd it's all E/Dhere and now

 She Amhit him with that Am/Bpaper-weight Am/CEiffel Tower A/E

DmAnd I tried to Ghold on to you Dmbut I don't know Ghow

 And I Cfind it hard to C/Bswallow C/A♯good adviceA

 Like Amgoing down tAm/Bhree times to only cAm/Come up twice D D♯

A/ECome up twice

***analysis***

The recurring device here is a major chord with the flat 7th in the bass.

It happens on "another day" "cigarette girl" and "here and now" and "good

advice".

Also lots of 1st & 2nd inversion chords. The most original part is the

bridge with the bassline walking up beneath the Am chord. Ami/B is, by

itself very dissonant, as the B isn't part of an Am or Am7, but in context

it sounds great. The end of the bridge is really strange with the same line

continuing through D D# E with the Beatles-like chanting going on against

it-I don't know what to call those chords.

Anyone care to analyze the lyrics? I like the line about going down 3 times

to only come up twice.