IRIS/googoodolls
This is my own arrangement, a combination of strumming and finger-picking. I play a lot of solo gigs and playing the exact arrangement from the recording is sometimes not full enough for one guitar, also they usually overdub several guitars, so my arrangements attempt to combine all the important elements so the song rings familiar. I also try to incorporate chords that work well with the melody line and add some color and my personal style. Here’s my rendition of Googoodolls “Iris”, something I first worked up a few years ago with my full band, then adapted it for solo.
The actual song uses a very strange tuning. When you are playing in a band or even solo you don’t have time nor inclination to retune for one song, it can make your guitar hard to keep in tune if you keep changing tunings, it takes time onstage, and though I use a backup guitar it’s for when I break a string, I don’t want to use one of my 2 guitars just for one song during the night, plus again, as I say, it can make it hard to keep it in normal tuning later and I’m not about to dedicate one guitar to one song So here it is with normal tuning, sounds good I think. This is merely drop D, only two strings (the low & high E) detuned to a “D”, still gets a nice modal, droning effect without detuning the A, G and B strings. It’s still a pain, but a manageable one that gives the gist of the song without too much hassle.
CHORDS
Bm7 024430
Asus4 X03330
G 5X0030
F#m+ 000320
D/F# 400230
Em7 0X5450
IRIS/googoodolls
tuning:
capo up one fret
DADGBD (actual song is tuned BDDDDD- this is doable substitute)
[intro = Bm7 Asus4 G 2x]
[verse = D Em7 G Bm7 Asus4 G]
And I'd give up forever to touch you
'Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now
And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
'Cause sooner or later it's over
I just don't want to miss you tonight
[chorus = Bm A G]
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
-repeat intro-
And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming
Or the moment of truth in your lies
When everything feels like the movies
And you bleed just to know you're alive
-repeat chorus- [break & solo]
Bm A D Bm A G 2x (staccato) Bm A Asus4 G 4x
G F#m G Bm G F# Bm b c# d e f# a
G F#m Bm b a g f# e d b Bm A D Bm A G 2x
-chorus 2x- I just want you to know who I am 4x
I play it with the recording in the background to give you the idea of where the pieces fit
In this version I’m playing standard tuning, the chords are the same, the fingering a bit different. Still works.