This is one of Flogging Molly's tougher songs. It's only as complicated as you
make it, though. If you have accordion, tin whistle, fiddle, and electric guitar
players, you don't have to play everything I have here. I'm just including all
the parts I was able to figure out, with thanks to my guitar teacher for helping
me with the electric guitar solo.
As usual, ^=bend, /=slide up, =slide down, h=hammer on, p=pull off.
Flogging Molly
Life in a Tenement Square
Intro: (strum on an acoustic)
Am C D G
Am C E
_________________ ____________________________________________________
| Accordion | |Tin whistle lead: |
e--0-----------------------------------------------------------------------
B-----3--1--3--1--0------------1---0-1-3---0--0h1p0------------1---0h1p0---
G----------------------2---0h2----------------------0--2---0-2-----------2-
D--------------------------------------------------------------------------
A--------------------------------------------------------------------------
E--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Repeat intro chords
Accordion:
e--0------------------------------------------------------------------
B----3-1-3-1-0-1-0-------0-1---0-1-3---1-0---0---0---------1----------
G------------------2---2-------------------0---0---2-----------0---2--
D---------------------------------------------------------------------
A---------------------------------------------------------------------
E---------------------------------------------------------------------
Tin whistle: (with distorted chords)
A5 C5 D5 G5 A5 D5 E5
e--5--7p5----------------------------------------
B---------8---5-----------------------------5----
G---------------7-----7--4h5p4--------5--7-------
D-------------------7----------7--5h7------------
A------------------------------------------------
E------------------------------------------------
A5 C5 D5 G5 A5 C5 G5 A5
e--5---7p5------------------------------------------
B----------8---5------------------------------------
G----------------7-----7---4h5p4---------5--4h5p4---
D--------------------7-----------7---5h7----------7-
A---------------------------------------------------
E---------------------------------------------------
Verse 1:
Am C D G
Well I kissed the day, I was on my way
Am C E
From those cold grey blocks of stone
Am C D G
For seventeen years of squalor filled tears
Am C G Am
A time now with innocence lost
C G
As the sun split the room with its rays filled with gloom
Am E7
Turnin’ all hope to despair
Am C D G
And the only thing left was to flee from the nest
Am C G Am
That was life in a Tenement Square
Interlude:
Am C D G
Am C G Am
Verse 2:
I remember the song where the rats sang along
And danced for their daily bread
While the damp washed the walls that were twenty feet tall
Not a child in the house was fed
On the porter filled face of the men left no trace
Of the coin they had already spent
While our mothers asked God what was Hell ever for
When you lived in a Tenement Square
Bridge:
G Am
Grab what’s left of the coal from the ole cubbyhole
G Am
These cinders need more to be a fire
G Am
While the ghosts of the soldiers that lived there before us
C G Am
Laugh with their guns by their sides
C G Am
I hear them laugh, with their guns by their sides
Solo: (play it messily!)
e-----8---8---10---8----3---3---5---3-----
B------------------------------------------
G--/9---9---9----9----/4---4---4---4-------
D------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------
E------------------------------------------
e------8----10----11----12----13----14----12----14---
B----------------------------------------------------
G---/9---10----11----12----13----14----12----14------
D----------------------------------------------------
A----------------------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------------------
e--15---15----12-----------8--7--5--8^--8^--5----
B-------13^---10^---8------8--8--5--8^--8^--5----
G------------------------------------------------
D------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------
E------------------------------------------------
Verse 3:
Now politicians they dwell in that forgotten Hell
Our misery’s been turned into news
Where the fat of the land now hog, hand in hand
A crime now of life was ever true
As the sun split the room with its rays filled with gloom
Turnin’ all hope to despair
And the only thing left was to flee from the nest
That was life in a Tenement Square
Repeat Accordion/Tin whistle intro
This is still one of my favorite songs ever. Have fun playing it!