Wrecking Ball
by Mother Mother
from O My Heart (2008)
Transcribed by Jason Florentino
June 2012
The last few tabs I've put together have been for the punk side of me who's craving a
solid jam (See Polar Bear Club's Pawner and Living Saints). But I'm a man of many musics*
and I've been itching to jam this wicked tune for the last two weeks.
When I first heard this song some time ago, I knew I liked this song. But I didn't give
it much more notice than a few stars on my iTunes. Recently it came up on my iPod's
shuffle and I've been setting the needle back ever since. Grab your acoustic guitar (or
any other guitar, I guess) and your capo (but I guess you don't HAVE to) and let's break it
down! (haha.)
*(Yes, musics; I thought it sounded better.)
CAPO 7
Real quick pickin'; if you're feeling jaunty.
C
e|-------------0-----------0-----------0-----------0----|
B|-------1-----------1-----------1-----------1----------|
G|----------0-----2-----4-----2-----0-----------0-------|
D|----------------------------------------4-------------|
A|----3-------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------------|
FH: 3 1 2 1 4 2 1 4 1
PH: p 2 p 3 p 2 p 3 p 2 p 3 p 2 p 3
Now I know what you're thinking—- "Jason, I thought you said this would be fun!?"
Firstly, no I didn't. And secondly, trust me--it is! Once you get the hang of it.
You'll be doing this for a fair bit of the tune so listen up:
Chicken-pick a C: While fingering a basic C chord, pluck the melody with your pick (p)
and the other notes with your middle (2) and ring (3) fingers.
I've indicated the fingering I use for both my fretting hand (FH) and my picking hand
(PH) below the above tab. This (ideally) keeps that root note ringing throughout.
Remember, this is how I'm jamming the tune and not necessarily how Ryan does or how you
have to. Please feel free to figure out and play what works/sounds best for you!
So play that twice:
C
e|-------------0-----------0-----------0-----------0----|
B|-------1-----------1-----------1-----------1----------|
G|----------0-----2-----4-----2-----0-----------0-------|
D|----------------------------------------4-------------|
A|----3-------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------------|
FH: 3 1 2 1 4 2 1 4 1
PH: p 2 p 3 p 2 p 3 p 2 p 3 p 2 p 3 (pretty much always like this)
Then this:
G
e|-------------0-----------0-----------0-----------0----|
B|-------0-----------0-----------0-----------0----------|
G|----------0-----2-----4-----2-----0-----------0-------|
D|----------------------------------------4-------------|
A|------------------------------------------------------|
E|----3-------------------------------------------------|
FH: (pretty much always corresponds with the fret #)
And then this:
D
e|-------------0-----------0-----------0-----------0----|
B|-------0-----------0-----------0-----------0----------|
G|----------------------0-------------------------------|
D|----0-----2-----4----------4------2----/2-----0-------|
A|------------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------------|
And do that whole thing twice before doing it twice again, but with singing!
"I made a wreck out of my hand..."
Now let's do some staccato strumming!
Am7 |x-0-2-0-1-0|
I am unruly in the stands
F |1-3-3-2-1-1| (Though I only hit the lower half)
I am a rock on top of the sand
C |x-3-2-0-1-0|
I am a fist amidst the hands
Dadd9sus4? |x-5-4-0-3-0| (Just move that C up a couple frets)
And I break it just because I can
Back to the first figure:
C
e|-------------0-----------0-----------0-----------0----|
B|-------1-----------1-----------1-----------1----------|
G|----------0-----2-----4-----2-----0-----------0-------|
D|----------------------------------------4-------------|
A|----3-------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------------| x2
G
e|-------------0-----------0-----------0-----------0----|
B|-------0-----------0-----------0-----------0----------|
G|----------0-----2-----4-----2-----0-----------0-------|
D|----------------------------------------4-------------|
A|------------------------------------------------------|
E|----3-------------------------------------------------| x1
Except end with this slight variation
D
e|-------------0-----------0-----------0-----------0----|
B|-------0-----------0-----------0-----------0----------|
G|----------0-----------0-----------0-----------0-------|
D|----5-----------4----------3------------2-------------|
A|------------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------------| x1
And again, do the whole thing twice once more, but with singing!
"It takes a dedicated hand..."
Sometimes I like to slam that C chord to reflect the accents in the start of the second
half of this verse..
C
/ / / /
1 + & + 2 + & + 3 + & + 4 + & +
"You got-ta wan-na be the drummer in the band"
Back to staccato strumming:
Am7 |x-0-2-0-1-0|
I am unruly in the stands
F |1-3-3-2-1-1| (Though I only hit the lower half)
I am a rock on top of the sand
C |x-3-2-0-1-0|
I am a fist amidst the hands
Dadd9sus4? |x-5-4-0-3-0|
And I break it just because I can
Now sing it, gang!
G Em D5 G
Let's break it (Just because we can)
Em D5 G
Deface it (Just because we can)
Em
Let's break it
F Am7
Juuuhhuhhhuhhhst, Just because
F Am7
Just because, Just because
Am7/F#** Am7/G**
Just be-cuhhhhhhh-uhhhhse
**(Just take the finger fretting that 4th string E and move it to the
6th string F# then G)
Now chicken-pick these chords like you did the verse:
C
e|-------------0-----------0-----------0-----------0----|
B|-------1-----------1-----------1-----------1----------|
G|----------0-----------0-----------0-------------------|
D|------------------------------------------------------|
A|----3-----------3-----------3-----------3-----2-------|
E|------------------------------------------------------|
"I am unruly in the stands"
Am7
e|-------------0-----------0-----------0-----------0----|
B|-------1-----------1-----------1-----------1----------|
G|----------0-----------0-----------0-----------0-------|
D|------------------------------------------------------|
A|----0-----------0-----------0-----------0-------------|
E|------------------------------------------------------|
"(I am a rock on top of the sand)"
F
e|-------------0-----------0-----------0-----------0----|
B|-------1-----------1-----------1-----------1----------|
G|----------2-----------2-----------2-----------2-------|
D|----3-----------3-----------3-----------3-------------|
A|------------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------------|
C (Keep pickin'!)
I am a fist amidst the hands
Am7
And I make a wreck out of my hand
F
(I make a fist and not a plan)
C x Am7 (Staccato chord time again!)
And I break it just because I can
F C Am7
Because I can, because I can, because I can,
F C Am7
Because I can, because I can, because I can,
Am7/F# Am7/G
Because I caaahhhhhaahhhhhhn
Now back to fig. 1! Twice.
And on that last bar, instead of stepping down to the D, step the melody back up to end
on a nice open G string.
(Context is everything)
And that's it!
Thanks kindly for reading and rocking along. Hats off to Mother Mother. I hope you enjoy
playing this song as much (and as often) as I do.
Best wishes,
Jason
