One of the weirdest and darkest of the prog bands. Before there was Nine inch nails and Marylin Manson, there was VDGG. Great stuff, but it can be a little hard to get into if you are new to prog.
If you find it hard to get into their longer, less commercial songs, check out these two songs. My two favorite Vandergraaf Generator songs are Wondering and House with no door. I like these songs so much, I have included the TAB music notation for them.
First is Wondering. I love this song because it has such a long, sophisticated, almost classical sounding chord progression. If you are a composer, or interested in musical theory, you will find this VDGG chord progression very fascinating.
VdGG - Wondering (chords)
From: "Pushing E. Thirty"
Subject: Van Der Graaf World Record
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 1999 14:31:53 GMT
Wondering
(Banton / Hammill)
Intro:
[ F#+A, C (x4) G+E, C (x4) ] (x2)
Verse A1:
D A D
I will arise:
Am G B D A7 D
in the depths, I will open my eyes;
Em/G G Am/E G Em D D/A A
as my breath almost fails me, survive.
Verse B:
D C
Wait--there's something unclear,
B E A
there's something I fear now drawing close.
C#m A/E
Could it be you? Whose is that voice?
F#m7 B
Is it now time to make a choice?
E E6 D
Ah--that irrational pain!
Bm/D F A/E F#
This ridiculous brain now bursts with joy.
D Bm Bm7 Bm6
Could it be me? Could it be now?
A/E E/B D/A E
Should I begin to take my vows?
Interlude1:
the organ notes are: E A D, E A C# in a loop. Bass is a constant A.
Verse A2:
D A D
I will return:
Am G B D A7 D
as I live, as I breathe, as I burn
Em/G G Am/E G Em
I swear I will come through,
Verse C:
D
with my hands stretching out in the dark,
A
with my eye pressed up tight to the glass,
D D/A A D
wondering if it's all been true.
Coda:
D A7 D Em/G B Ebdim6 Em G/D D A A7 (and repeat).
This chord chart was taken from
http://www.hammill.ru/index_e.html
And here are the chords and TAB for house with no doors.......
Guitar tabs for
Peter Hammill: House with no door
House With No Door / Peter Hammill
----------------------------------
>From H to He, Who am the Only One
This can take some time to learn... A good friend of mine, Raviv Raich,
transcribed the chords, and not me. This is originally for piano, as you know,
so you'll have to work hard to make it sound OK on a guitar - but Raviv plays
it very good on the guitar, so don't give it up easily!
Chords:
C - x-3-2-0-1-0 the second C (i'm LEAVING there) is:x-3-5-5-5-3
G - 3-2-0-0-0-3
G7/D - x-x-0-7-8-7
Dm7/A - x-0-0-2-1-1
G6 - 3-2-0-0-0-0
Bb - 1-1-3-3-2-1
F - 1-3-3-2-1-1 Somewhere near the end of the song I think the F turns
into Fm but I'm not sure where. Fm - 1-3-3-1-1-1
C/B - x-2-2-0-1-0
C/A - x-0-2-0-1-0
C/G - 3-x-2-0-1-0 -- I prefer to play G instead!
D - x-x-0-2-3-2
Dsus5 - x-x-0-2-3-3
You may play is like this:
C G G7/D C Dm7/A
e -------0-------|------3----|-3-3----0-|-7----3-----|-1-----1-----|-1-1----1--|
b -------1---1---|------0----|-0-0----0-|-8----5-----|-1-----1-----|-1-1----1--|
g -----0-------0-|------0----|-0-0----0-|-7----5-----|-2-----2-----|-2-2----2--|
d ---------------|-----------|----------|-0----5-----|-----------0-|-----------|
a -3-------------|-----------|----------|------3-----|-0-----------|------0----|
e ---------------|-3-------3-|------3---|------------|-------------|-----------|
There'... door ........ and ....
Gm6 Bb F
------0----|-0-0----0-|------1----|-1-1----1-|-----1----|-1-1----1---|
------0----|-0-0----0-|------3----|-3-3----3-|-----1----|-1-1----1---|
------0----|-0-0----0-|------3----|-3-3----3-|-----2----|-2-2----2---|
-----------|----------|-----------|----------|----------|------------|
---------2-|----------|-1-------1-|------1---|--------1-|------------|
-3---------|------3---|-----------|----------|1---------|------1-----|
night it... ...the days ...
C G G7/D C Dm7/A
There's a house with no door ...
Gm6 Bb F
at nights it gets so cold and ...
C G G7/D C Dm7/A
There's a house with no ...
Gm6 Bb F
falling through my head as I ...
C C/B C/A
I don't know you, you say you know ...
C/G F
there is so much ...
C C/B C/A
You call my name but it sounds ...
C/G F
my body's ...
D D Dsus4 D
Have fun!
And this one was taken from....
http://www.fretplay.com/tabs/h/hammill_peter/house_with_no_door-tab.shtml
Enjoy these two great song and look them up on Youtube if you have time. I have seen both of them there.
