Songnotes
the hand-crafted music library of @davidpots
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Verse
C F G Do you like American music C F G I like American music C F G Don't you like American music C F G ...Baby... I want you to hold me I want your arms around me I want you to hold me Baby... Do you do too many drugs I did too many drugs Did you do too many drugs too Baby...Chorus
Am You were born too late E I was born too soon F G But every time I look at that ugly moon C F It reminds me of you C G It reminds me of you... Ahhh... I need a date to the prom Would you like to come along, but Nobody will go to the prom with me Baby... They didn't like American music They never heard American music They didn't know the music saved my soul Baby... You were born too soon I was born too late But every time I look at that ugly lake It reminds me of me (do you like American music) It reminds me of me (do you like American music) It reminds me of me (do you like American music) Ahhh... (solo) SINGER: Do you like American music CHORUS: We like American music SINGER: I like American music CHORUS: Baby... SINGER: Do you like American music CHORUS: We like all kinds of music SINGER: But I like American music best CHORUS: Baby... You were born too late I was born too late But every time I look at that ugly lake It reminds me of me It reminds me of me It reminds me of me (do you like American music) It reminds me of me (do you like American music) It reminds me of me (do you like American music) (repeat, build up, end)
Here is how to play the guitar chords used in this song. Everything is quite straightforward... really, the challenge is mustering a proper energy into your strumming pattern to match the rise & fall of the song's dynamics. Have fun with it!
e-|---0---1---3---0----0--- B-|---1---1---0---1----0--- G-|---0---2---0---2----1--- D-|---2---3---0---2----2--- A-|---3---3---2---0----2--- E-|-------1---3--------0--- C F G Am E
The main verse progression is simply C-C-F-G throughout the entire song. The timing is roughly as follows. Whether you're doing a single strum (as is heard in the initial verse) or a heavier strumming pattern (as heard for most of the song), the general timing stays the same. Listen along for the strumming pattern.
e-|---0----------------1-------3------|----0----------1-------3----|-
B-|---1----------------1-------0------|----1----------1-------0----|-
G-|---0----------------2-------0------|----0----------2-------0----|-
D-|---2----------------3-------0------|----2----------3-------0----|- ...etc
A-|---3----------------3-------2------|----3----------3-------2----|-
E-|--------------------1-------3------|---------------1-------3----|-
C F G C F G
"Do you like American music... ...I like American music..."
For your viewing and listening pleasure. Good for referencing the recorded album version of this song.
Here is a clip of Violent Femmes performing this song live on the Dennis Miller show. This may be helpful to watch so you can watch the (mostly) uncut guitar / drum / bass parts in action.
| C . . . | F . G . | (repeat)
| Am . . . | E . . . | F . . . | G . . . | . . . . |
| C . . . | F . . . | (repeat, then resolve to G)
Song: American Music
Artist: Violent Femmes
Album: Why Do Birds Sing?
Year: 1991
Label: Reprise
Want to support Songnotes? If you would like to donate a dollar or few, that would make my day. I've spent over 1000+ hours building this site and transcribing these songs -- and happily make everything available freely. Visit my PayPal page if you'd like to toss something back my way.
Thanks so much!
Here are some of the video lessons I have made recently. I typically aim to create 3-4 lessons per month. Subscribe on YouTube to be sure you never miss a new lesson.
View my notes & tabs for Dead Flowers →
View my notes & tabs for Issues →
View my notes & tabs for 2U →
View my notes & tabs for Uh Huh →
View my notes & tabs for Meet Me in the Hallway →
View my notes & tabs for Stairway to Heaven →
View my notes & tabs for Wish You Were Here →
View my notes & tabs for Shape of You →
View my notes & tabs for Simple Man →
View my notes & tabs for Highwayman →
View my notes & tabs for Audition (The Fools Who Dream) →
View my notes & tabs for Strangers →
View my notes & tabs for A Lovely Night →
View my notes & tabs for this song →
Here's a list of the 173 songs I've added to the site since December 2012. Each song was added by me personally.
Songs are grouped by the year they were released.
My name is David Potsiadlo, and I created Songnotes to share my collection of guitar tabs, chords, and lyrics for my favorite songs.
Since I started playing guitar over 10 years ago, I've often been frustrated by the preponderance of mediocre and incomplete song tabs littered across the internet. To combat this, I started keeping my own collection of notes for each song I learn -- always taking the extra time to make sure accuracy and completeness are never compromised. Years later, my collection grew to the point where I knew I had to share it online with fellow aspiring musicians.
In December 2012, I began designing & developing a website that became Songnotes. Here, I share my personal collection of hand-crafted music notation with all those online. I hope you enjoy.
You can also view my personal website or follow me on Twitter / Dribbble / GitHub / LinkedIn.
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