Songnotes
the hand-crafted music library of @davidpots
Intro
A (with riff, see below for tab)Verse
A Now, a Red Solo Cup is the best receptacle For barbecues, tailgates, fairs, and festivals Bm And you, sir, do not have a pair of testicles E If you prefer drinking from glass A Red Solo Cup is cheap and disposable In 14 years they are decomposable And unlike my home, they are not foreclosable Freddie Mac can kiss my ass... whooo!Chorus
A Red Solo Cup, I fill you up Bm E Let's have a party, let's have a party... I love you, A Red Solo Cup, I lift you up Bm E Proceed to party, proceed to party Now, I really love how you're easy to stack But I really hate how you're easy to crack 'Cause when beer runs down in front of my pack Well, that my friends is quite yucky But I have to admit that the ladies get smitten Admiring how sharply my first name is written On you with a Sharpie, when I get to hittin' On them to help me get lucky Red Solo Cup, I fill you up Let's have a party, let's have a party... I love you, Red Solo Cup, I lift you up Proceed to party, proceed to party Now, I've seen you in blue and I've seen you in yellow But only you, Red, will do for this fellow 'Cause you are the Abbot to my Costello And you are the fruit to my loom Red Solo Cup, you're more than just plastic You're more than amazing, you're more than fantastic And believe me, that I'm not the least bit sarcastic When I look at you and say...Break
(spoken) Red Solo Cup, you're not just a cup... (no, no, God no!) You're my, you're my... (friend?) friend... (life long!) Thank you... for being my... friend (all chords are moved up one whole step) B Red Solo Cup, I fill you up C#m F# Let's have a party, let's have a party... I love you, B Red Solo Cup, I lift you up C#m F# Proceed to party, proceed to party (repeat chorus as desired)
As shown above, I personally prefer to play this song without a capo (in standard tuning). Many other tabs / videos you'll see online show this played with a capo on the 2nd fret, which allows you to play with chords in the key of G. You can do this if you want, but I prefer to use A becomes the bass possibilities (of alternating from an A to E bassline) are more satisfying. It is up to you -- play what works for you.
Here's how to play the guitar chords used in this song. Basically, it is the same progress used throughout the entire song -- for both the verse and the chorus. To fully emulate the album version, you'll want to modulate up a whole step for the final round of choruses -- so move everything from the key of A to B (A becomes B, Bm becomes C#m, and E becomes F#).
e-|----0----2----0----------------4----2----- B-|----2----3----0-----------4----5----2----- G-|----2----4----1-----------4----6----3----- D-|----2----4----2-----------4----6----4----- A-|----0----2----2-----------2----4----4----- E-|--------------0---------------------2----- A Bm E B C#m F#
The distinctive riff heard during the intro (and in the chorus) can be played as follows. This shows a few ways to play it, in fact -- the first being the most simple / straightforward. The second and third versions are tougher to pull off, but can be done inline with your full chord strumming -- which lets you keep the full sound while also getting the riff to be heard.
The simplest way to play the riff is shown here.
e-|---5--5------3--3-------2--3--2--0------ B-|---------------------------------------- G-|---------------------------------------- D-|---------------------------------------- A-|---------------------------------------- E-|---------------------------------------- A
Full strumming version, as heard here. Listen along for rhythm -- this is approximate, but the idea here is to play the A chord within the usual timing while also playing the riff.
e-|---5--5------4--4------2--4--2-----0---- B-|---2---------2---------2-----------0---- G-|---2---------2---------2-----------1---- D-|---2---------2---------2-----------2---- A-|---0---------0---------0-----------2---- E-|-----------------------------------0---- A E
Alternate full-strumming version. This one walks down the chords from A to E/G# to F#m to E. It is a bit heretical when it comes to the exact way the song is recorded on the album, but I enjoy playing it this way.
e-|---5--5------4--4------2--4--2-----0---- B-|---5---------5---------2-----------0---- G-|---6---------4---------2-----------1---- D-|---7---------6---------4-----------2---- A-|-----------------------------------2---- E-|-----------------------------------0---- A E/G# F#m E
For a desired bit of swagger, I like to employ an alternating bassline when playing this song. Here is roughly what I play. Listen along for rhythm and all that, as always.
e-|------0-0-----0-0-----0-0-----0-0---|------0-0-----0-0-----0-0-----0-0---|- B-|------2-2-----2-2-----2-2-----2-2---|------2-2-----2-2-----2-2-----2-2---|- G-|------2-2-----2-2-----2-2-----2-2---|------2-2-----2-2-----2-2-----2-2---|- D-|------2-2-----2-2-----2-2-----2-2---|------2-2-----2-2-----2-2-----2-2---|- A-|---0---------------0----------------|---0---------------0----------------|- E-|-----------0---------------0--------|-----------0---------------0--------|- A -|------2-2-----2-2-----2-2-----2-2---|------0-0-----0-0-----0-0-----------|- -|------3-3-----3-3-----3-3-----3-3---|------0-0-----0-0-----0-0-----------|- -|------4-4-----4-4-----4-4-----4-4---|------1-1-----1-1-----1-1-----------|- -|------4-4-----4-4-----4-4-----4-4---|------2-2-----2-2-----2-2-----------|- -|---2---------------2----------------|-----------2------------------------|- -|-----------2---------------2--------|---0----------------0--------3~~~~--|- Bm E
Want to hear the song in its entirety? Here you go. This is the official music video.
Here is a very straightforward cover that uses the chords I show above (i.e., played without a capo in the key of A). This isn't a lesson per se, but is super helpful to watch if you want to see a solo acoustic rendition of this song. Note that he does note modulate up a whole step at the end -- but again, this is not a vital element to playing the song.
| A . . . | . . . . | . . . . | . . . . |
| A . . . | . . . . | . . . . | . . . . | | Bm . . . | . . . . | E . . . | . . . . |
| A . . . | . . . . | . . . . | . . . . | | Bm . . . | . . . . | E . . . | . . . . |
Song: Red Solo Cup
Artist: Toby Keith
Album: Clancy's Tavern
Year: 2011
Label: Show Dog-Universal
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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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