Poor Tom
! (Page/Plant)
! Here's a bit for you about Poor Tom. I don't have the tab
! either written down or typed in, and I'm too lazy, but there's
! not much to tell you. The key is the tuning. Low to high,
! it's [C-G-C-G-C-E]. So you end up tuning your fourth, fifth and
! sixth strings down, and you tune your second string up. Leave
! the first and third string at concert pitch. Once you do that,
! you just strum the strings without any fingering, and you've
! got an open-<C> chord (which is 95% of the song). Now here's how
! to play the rest:
! For the parts during the verses such as "Worked for thirty
! years, sharin' hopes and fears" you strum the open <C>-chord
! while noodling that little ditty on the first and second
! strings. FYI, here are two variations of that "noodle." I
! only show the tab for the first and second strings [b/c] the
! other four are strummed open.
[1st: 2-0 0 3
2nd: 3 0
1st: 2-0 0 2
2nd: 3 0]
! The dash in between the [2] and the [0] on the first string
! indicates a pull-off. Does this make sense? Last thing to
! tell you about this part--you strum the third, fourth, fifth
! and sixth strings open throughout this passage, but it's up to
! your sense of which ones to strum and when (use your own
! judgment).
! Next figure: this figure is played during the lines "People
! think that you can hide from Tom," etc. Basically, this figure
! has two variations from my "open-string" rule on this song.
! First, you have a periodic pull-off from the <G> to the <E> (from
! the third fret to open) on the first string. Second, you have
! a descending "bass" type line from <A> to <Ab> to <G>. Now here's
! the deal. Technically on record, I think the <A>-<Ab>-<G> descending
! part is only played on the third string, _BUT_ I find you get a
! much beefier sound (particularly if you're playing by yourself
! (i.e. no drums, etc)) if you double that <A>-<Ab>-<G> "bass" figure
! on the fifth string as well. So you use your index and middle
! fingers to fret the fifth and third strings, respectively, and
! you move down from the 2nd fret to the 1st fret to open, all
! the while doing periodic pull-offs (with your pinky) on the
! first string. Here's my best attempt to describe it on paper.
[1st 0 0 0 3-0 0 0 0|0 0 0 3-0 0 0 0|0 0 0 3-0 0 0 0|
2nd 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|Ф h)0*0*0*°° ФЊ3rd 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2|1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1|0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|
4th 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|
5th 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2|1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1|0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|
6th 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|]
! Lest I confuse you, I've only showed the first three (out of
! four) measures [b/c] the fourth measure is all open strummed.
! Again, I used a dash to indicate a pull-off. Lastly, those are
! all eighth note strumming patterns--each column has an equal
! time value.
! Finally, here's the third figure you have to learn. This
! figure has no vocals to it. The only way to describe it is you
! play it after you've played the last figure twice. The lyric
! "What about that grandson(?) on your knee" is the only lyric
! ever sung over this figure. Here's how it is played:
[1st 0 0 0 0 0 0|0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|0 . 0 0 ....
2nd 3 3 3 3 3 3|3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3|4 . 0 0 ....
3rd 2 . 2 2 2 2 2 2|2 2 2 2 2 2/4 4|5 . 0 0 ....
4th 0 . 0 0 0 0 0 0|0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|0 . 0 0 ....
5th 2 . 2 2 2 2 2 2|2 2 2 2 2 2/4 4|5 . 0 0 ....
6th 0 . 0 0 0 0 0 0|0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|0 . 0 0 ....]
! Again, I've given you only two and a half (out of four)
! measures this time because the rest are strummed open. As
! before, each column is equal in time. I have used periods to
! indicate places where the string should be left to ring (except
! for the four periods at the end of each line, which are meant
! as ellipses, to indicate continuation of the open strumming).
! The strumming is again eighth-note strumming, the regular ol'
! down-up variety. Lastly, here's the way to play this figure.
! For the first [0-2-0-2-3-0] chord, finger the [2], [2] and [3] with
! your middle, fourth and pinky fingers so that when it comes
! time to make the quick slide to the [0-4-0-4-3-0] chord, your
! middle and fourth fingers slide up, and your index finger is
! used to fret the [3] on the second string. Make sense? I hope
! so. Oh, and of course, you also slide from the [0-4-0-4-3-0]
! chord to the [0-5-0-5-4-0] chord. (If you haven't noticed by
! now, the "/" signs are for upward slides).
! As for the rhythm figure that goes on under the harp solo, I
! seem to recall that it follows the open-chord rule. The
! problem with this is, if you don't have a harp, etc., it sounds
! boring if you just play open the whole time. Here's my
! solution. The sixth and fourth strings are tuned in octaves,
! as are the fifth and third strings. You can get nice easy bass
! figures by doubling those strings with each other, and playing
! blues rip-off lines such as:
[1st 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|0 ....
2nd 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|0 ....
3rd 3 3 X 2 X 3 X X|0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|0 ....Ф h)0*0*0*°° ФЊ4th 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|3 3 X 2 X 3 X X|0 ....
5th 3 3 X 2 X 3 X X|0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|0 ....
6th 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0|3 3 X 2 X 3 X X|0 ....]
! Here, the X's indicate muted strings, and the columns are again
! of equal time value. Of course I've given you only two-plus
! (out of four measures); the rest should be open-strummed (you
! can throw in some 12th, 7th and 5th fret harmonics on all of
! the strings at once to help you punctuate the open strumming
! parts during the harp solo. Lastly: (Whew!) Play the ending
! chord so that you get octaves of <C>. Play it (low to high):
[0-5-0-5-0-0]
! Well, I hope this helps you out. In fact, I'm so satisfied of
! its completeness that maybe I'll post it someday. Well, before
! I go, I'll let you know that Bron-Yr-Aur (the instrumental from
! Physical Graffiti) was recorded using the same [C-G-C-G-C-E]
! tuning. Pretty cool, eh? I think Friends from III was also
! recorded in this tuning.
! Well, I gotta go. Enjoy!
-
Text: Here's a tale of Tom
Who worked the railroads long
His wife would cook his meal
As he would change the wheel
Poor Tom, Seventh Son, Always knew what's goin on
Ain't a thing that you can hide from Tom
There ain't nothing that you can hide from Tom
Worked for thirty years
Sharing hopes and fears
Dreamin' of the day
He could turn and say
Poor Tom, work's done, been lazin' out in the noonday sun
Ain't a thing that you can hide from Tom
His wife was Annie Mae
With any man a game she'd play
When Tom was out of town
She couldn't keep her dress down
Poor Tom, Seventh Son, always knew what's goin on
Ain't a thing that you can hide from Tom
And so it was one day
People got to Annie Mae (?)
Tom stood, a gun in his hand
And stopped her runnin' around
Poor Tom, Seventh Son, gotta die for what you've done
All those years of work are thrown away
To ease your mind is that all you can say?
But what about that grandson on your knee?
Them railroad songs, Tom would sing to me
Ain't nothing that you can hide from Tom
Keep-a Truckin'
