Sulky Girl Chords

Standard (EADGBE)

EmShe wears a wedding ring

 Her sister lent to throw them off Am

the scent

Just let them guess, is what they expect

 Who in the world has bittenEm her neck?

 She4s discovered Am

wearing last night4s dress

The carnal and cunning, she couldn4t express

DWho do G C

you think she4s trying to impress?

D G

 I thCink you4d better hold your tongue

D G

 Although you4ve nevCer been that strong

 I4m sDorry to sGay that I knew alCl along

 You were no Am7match for D Am Bm

that sulky girl

EmShe left her European town

 Before she leAmt that family down

She couldn4t stand the

Massacre game

 She Em

dyed her hair and adopted another name

 With thAme evidence of passing out

Stamped on her hand, she glows

in the dark

D G C

He thinks she4s from another planet, oh

D G

 I thCink you4d better hold your tongue

D G

 Although you4ve nevCer been that strong

 I4m sDorry to sGay that I knew alCl along

 You were no Am7match for D Am Bm

that sulky girl

C G Am Em C

 SulkyG girFl, IA♯4m suFre you look a picture when you cry

C G Am Em C G F A♯ F

But threatening the silent treatment doesn4t qualify

C

 It4s like money inF theA♯ bankF

C

 Your expression is blanFk A♯ F

C

 But while the chance appears F A♯ F

G

You4ll be nearer to tears

 Sulky girl C A♯ F

G C

A♯SulkyF girEml

EmHe said "Hello, my pretty flower,"

 Just trying out his tycoon powAmer

Avoiding the mirror, her pitying stare

 She said, "You4re mistaken, your Emmoney4s

no good in here."

 Just some Am

stupid little know-it-all

Who thought she looked easy; he4s not that

astute

DHe4ll pay for G C

the distance between cruelty and beauty

D G

 I think yCou4d better hold your tongue

D

GAlthough you4ve never beCen that strong

 I4m sorry Dto say thGat I knew all aloCng

 You were no matcAm7h D G C

for that sulky girl

DI G C D

won4t tell you again, what do you gain

 By G C

blackening her name?

D G

 SChe4s smarter than you, oh, isn4t it a shame

Am7

 YoDu4re going tAmo lose tBmhat sulky girl

C G Am

 Sulky girl, Em C G F A♯ F

I saw you practicing your blackmail faces

C G Am

 SuddenEmly, C G F A♯ F

your talking lika a duchess, but you4re still a waitress

C

 I saw through your preFtencA♯e F

C

 But in my defence F A♯ F

C

 There are a few eventsF A♯ F

GI think we4ll

spare the censor

 Sulky girl C A♯ F

G C A♯ F

Sulky girl

GSulky girCl A♯ F

This is my first posting of chords, please be gentle. :)

Really, though, if you would like to debate any of my decisions, any input is

appreciated.

SULKY GIRL

Verses

She wears a wedding ring her sister lent

 TBmo throw them off the scent

 JEmust let them guess, it's what they expect

Who in the world has bitten her neck?

 SBmhe's discovered wearing last night's dress

 TEmhe carnal and cunning, she couldn't express

Who do you think she's trying to impress?

A D G

Chorus

I think you'd better hold your tongue

 AAlthough you've never bBmeen thAat stroGng

 IA'm sorry to say thDat I knew all aloBmng

 YGou were no matAch for that Dsulky girlBm

G (

  Em?)

A Em F♯m

Verse 2

see verse 1

Chorus

Bridge 1

Sulky girl

 IG'm sureD you look a picture when you cry

 BEmut threatenBming the silent tGreatment Ddoesn'Ft qCualFify

 IGt's likeD money iEmn the bank Bm G D F C F G

(hold

G)

 YFourC exFpressiGon is blank

(hold

G)

 BFut CwhiFle theG chance appears

(you get the idea)

 YFou'Cll Fbe neaDrer to tears

(still

D)

Sulky girl (2x)

G F C D

Verse 3

Chorus

Bridge 2

same as bridge 1 except fade out on

Sulky girl

G F C D

20% Amnesiac "Albatross!" Middle Class Twit

EC loves to take a regular chord and play it with the third in the bass

instead of the root-like a D with an F# on the bottom. I once read an

interview with Paul McCartney where they asked him what it was about Brian

Wilson's Pet Sounds that he drew on for inspiration during his Sgt. Pepper

period, and he said "Brian would take a C chord and play a G in the bass."

You can find these "5th in the bass" chords all through the songs of

McCartney and Brian Wilson. I haven't transcribed that much EC yet, but I

know he likes the 3rd and 7th quite a bit. Steely Dan & Co. take the whole

thing even farther by putting notes in the bass which aren't even in the

chord at all, like an F chord with a G in the bass going to a G chord with

a C in the bass. Or an A chord with a G in the bass.

But I digress! The chord is Sulky Girl is a D chord, but with an F# in the

bass. At the beginning of the Bridge he sings: "Sul...ky Girl" and right on

"Girl" he plays the D/F# chord. So D IS the right chord, but putting that

F# in the bass is what makes it sound so cool. Then he does it again on

"cry" in "when you cry". What happens after that is wild, and I'm not sure

what the guitar is doing, but the bass is going C C E C F E C. I think the

guitar is just playing C to F to C, switching to F when the bass does.

What a great song-and as with most great songs, the bassline is a melody,

not just a bunch of chord roots. The next part is great.

It's like money in the bank (bass:

C E C F E

C)

Your expression is blank (bass:

C C E F E

C)

But while the chance appears (bass:

C C F C

F)

I think your chords are right, except maybe it goes C F C instead of F C

F-my mail program has everything so mixed up that I can't tell what goes

with what anyway.

But I digress-when it goes to the little vamp on sulky girl, the bass

player does the third in the bass trick again, this time on the C chord.

The bass goes: G G F F E D C, with the E hitting right when the C chord

comes in.

Earlier in the song, on the chorus there's another hint of 3rd in the bass.

On "hold your tongue" the bass plays F# D G.

The hardest part for me to hear is "never been that strong". The bass here

is just wicked! My trick for picking out hard basslines is to record the cd

onto a 2 speed tape deck at the slow speed and then listen to it at the

fast speed. This makes Mssr. Costello sound like Alvin the Chipmunk, but it

also brings the bassline up exactly one octave into the guitar's range and

makes the pitches very clear. The only problem is when the bass starts

playing really fast, like he's playing here.

Oh-wait-there's the McCartney chord! On the "though" of "although" the bass

is running up off of an E, so at the moment the guitar hits A, the bass is

on E, the fifth.

Here's another trick: rest your finger on pause and hit it right after he

says "although" and let the sound of it roll around in your head in the

ensuing silence. God I love Elvis Costello! Have you ever heard that song

that Prince wrote called "I Love You More Than I Did When You Were Mine"?.

It was covered by Cindy Lauper on her first album. Not that I'm a giant CL

fan, mind you, but what she said "I know" in "I know....that you're goin'

with another guy..." it killed me. I love that song. Anyway, "I know" is

the exact same rhythm, notes and rhyme as "Although" in this song, but EC

takes it a step further by putting the E in bass.

But I digress. On "never been that strong" the bass player, I think, goes D

D C B A G, so we've got D, D/C, G/B, and then he runs down to the root of

the

G

This is that 7th in the bass I was talking about. A D chord with a C in the

bass. This kind of chord loves to have the bass go down one fret to a chord

with the third in the bass: D/C to G/B. EC loves this progression and does

all sorts of exceedingly clever things with it.

But i digress-there's one more third in the bass chord right at the end of

the chorus. When he sings "I'm sorry to say that you knew all along" the

chords are like you have them, G A D G, but after the 2nd G chord comes the

D/F# again, on its way down to Emi A Emi F#mi.

But wait! If anyone has actually read this far, HOW WOULD YOU INTERPRET THE

LYRICS???