Crimes Of Paris from Blood and Chocolate tabbed by
Intro: G
I thought it was you and your optimist's view of the clock
And how it's always another day
Just after twelve o'clock's struck
You said "Now I only want you so I don't have to promise"
But tiny children in grown-up clothes
Whispered all the Crimes of Paris
CHORUS
You're not the girl next-door or a girl from France
Or the cigarette-girl in the sizzle hot-pants
All the words of love seem cruel and crass C G/B D/A E (possibly G) When you're tough and transparent as armoured glass
You're everywhere girl in an everyday mess
Who'll pay for the Crimes of Paris
I heard that you fell for the "Hell or to Hammersmith Blues" In the tiny torn up peices of his mind he's irresistible too Now it's hard to say now if he's only stupid or smart When he crawled through the door And poured out more of his creeping-Jesus heart
Chorus
And it's all here and now
She hit him with that paper-weight Eiffel Tower
And I tried to hold on to you but I don't know how
And I find it hard to swallow good advice Am/D Like going down three times to only come up twice Am/D# Come up twice
She's so convenient, he's always stiff as hair-laquer It's hard to discover now he's in love with her It was her way of getting her own back You never did anything she couldn't do on her own You're as good as your word and that's no good to her You'd better leave that kitten alone
The tough thing about Crimes of Paris (as in many EC songs) is that he's actually only playing five chords on the guitar, but the changes in the bass notes and the vocals are what you really hear. So, if you play it by yourself the way EC does on the album, it sounds like you're missing a lot of important changes- and you are. Luckily, it's not too tough to work the bass notes into the chords on this one...I imagine that's how Elvis played it as he was writing it, and if he ever performed it by himself.
Mark's chords were on the right track, but his choruses and a few other parts were off. There are a few frustrating things about playing this song on guitar. One is the pesky G with F bass (there's no F major in the song) in the verses, which is tough to play on guitar. It sounds *okay* if you play a G7 there- the F will be in the chord, just on top instead of on the bottom. A similar problem is the Am with G# bass- which can be solved by flatting the A on the G string (what the hell chord is that anyway? Ammaj7?????) As for chords like C/E and G/B, well, the bass notes are in the normal major chords anyway, but I included the bass notation for fingerpicking purposes- or if any bass players want to give it a shot.
[...]
Whew! I guess that's it. Only Costello could make such a mess out of G, C, D, Am, and E. I mean that as a compliment.
If anyone thinks I messed up, feel free to add corrections. And if anyone thinks this is on target and wants other transcriptions, just ask. I don't have the time to do this every night, but if I have the time, I'll figure any Costello song out. I've even been trying to put together some guitar arrangements for songs from "The Juliet Letters" to play with my sister (no way my voice can handle some of that stuff...). It's easy to hear the notes clearly with the Brodskys, but trying toactually play that stuff on guitar is a different matter. Even the occasional stuff that resembles good ole Costello pop melodies ("Why must I always apologize...") is way more complex than it sounds.
You know, I said I was going to study tonight...
-Clyde
(use Monaco font for proper chord alignment)
And how it's always another day
Just after twelve o'clock's struck
You said "Now I only want you so I don't have to promise"
Or the cigarette-girl in the sizzle hot-pants
All the words of love seem cruel and crass
When you're tough and transparent as armoured glass
You're everywhere girl in an everyday mess
And it's all here and now
She hit him with that paper-weight Eiffel Tower
And I tried to hold on to you but I don't know how
And I find it hard to swallow good advice ?/D ?/D# Like going down three times to only come up twice
Come up twice
***analysis***
The recurring device here is a major chord with the flat 7th in the bass. It happens on "another day" "cigarette girl" and "here and now" and "good advice".
Also lots of 1st & 2nd inversion chords. The most original part is the bridge with the bassline walking up beneath the Am chord. Ami/B is, by itself very dissonant, as the B isn't part of an Am or Am7, but in context it sounds great. The end of the bridge is really strange with the same line continuing through D D# E with the Beatles-like chanting going on against it-I don't know what to call those chords.
Anyone care to analyze the lyrics? I like the line about going down 3 times to only come up twice.
