Nine While Nine (The Sisters of Mercy) words by andrew eldritch music by gary marx And it's passing strange And I'm waiting for the train Caught up on this line again And it's passing slowly Killing time but it's Better than living in what will come and I've Still got some of your letters with me and I Thought sometimes or I read too much And I think you know let's Drink to the dead lying under the water and the Cost of the blood on the driven snow and the Lipstick on my cigarettes Frost upon the window pane Nine while nine and I'm waiting For the train..... She said do you remember a time when angels Do you remember a time when fear In the days when I was stronger In the days when you were here she said When days had no beginning While days had no end when Shadows grew no longer I Knew no other friend but you Were wild You were wild..... Frost upon these cigarettes Lipstick on the window pane and I've Lost all sense of the world outside but I Can't forget so I call your name and I'm Looking for a life for me and I'm Looking for a life for you and I'm Talking to myself again and it's So damn cold it's just not true and I'm Walking through the rain Trying to hold on waiting for the train and I'm Only looking for what you want but it's Lonely here and I think you knew and I'm And I'm waiting And I wait in vain Nine while nine and I'm waiting For the train..... repeat last verse(X2) TAB: Riff 1: e|-------------------------------|---------------------------------- B|-------------------------------|---------------------------------- G|--2-3-2-----2-----0------0-0-0-|-2-3-2-----2-----0--------0------- D|---------0----0-3---3-3--------|--------0----0-3---3-2--2---2----- A|-------------------------------|---------------------------------- E|-------------------------------|---------------------------------- Riff 2: e|----------- B|----------- G|----------- D|--2-3-2-0-- A|----------- E|----------- Riff 3s: (a) (b) e|---------------------------- e|----------------------------- B|---------------------------- B|----------------------------- G|-2-----2p0----0------------- G|-2-----2p0------------------- D|--0--0-------------2-3-2-0-- D|--0--0--------2----2-3-2-0--- A|-----------3----3----------- A|-----------3----3------------ E|---------------------------- E|----------------------------- (c) (d) e|---------------------------- e|----------------------------- B|---------------------------- B|----------------------------- G|-2-----2p0----0------------- G|-2-----2p0------------------- D|--0--0-------------2-3-2-0-- D|--0--0--------2----2-3-2-0--- A|-----------33---3----------- A|-----------33---3------------ E|---------------------------- E|----------------------------- (e) (f) e|---------------------------- e|----------------------------- B|---------------------------- B|----------------------------- G|-2-----2p0------------------ G|-2-----2p0----0-------------- D|--0--0-------------2-3-2-0-- D|--0--0-------------2-3-2-0--- A|-----------3-3-------------- A|-----------3----------------- E|---------------------------- E|----------------------------- Riff 4: e|-------------- B|-------------- G|-2-----2p0---- D|--0--0-------- A|-----------3-- E|-------------- Riff 5s: (a) (b) e|--------0------------------- e|--------0-0------------------ B|-3--3-3-----3-1---------1--- B|-3--3-3-----3-1-1-1-----1-1-- G|--------------------2------- G|--------------------2-2------ D|---------------------------- D|----------------------------- A|---------------------------- A|----------------------------- E|---------------------------- E|----------------------------- Riff 6: e|--------0---------- B|-3--3-3-----3-1---- G|------------------- D|------------------- A|------------------- E|------------------- Riff 7: e|----------------------------------------------- B|----------------------------------------------- G|--2-3-2---------------------------------------- D|---------2-2-0-0------------------------------- A|-----------------3-3-2-2-0---0--0-0-0000...---- E|----------------------------------------------- Bass (transcribed by Frank Tower): (a) G|-------------------------------- D|-------------------------------- A|-5---5---5---8-7-3-----------3-- E|---------------------3---0------ (b) G|-------------------------------- D|-------------------------------- A|-5---5---5---5---3---3-------0-- E|-------------------------3------ (c) G|-------------------------------- D|-------------------------------- A|-5---5---5---5---3p0h3p0-----0-- E|-------------------------3------ Notes: Riffs 5 and 6 are played as backing on the First and Last and Always disc, and they're also played by a keyboard. However, on the "Knocking on Heaven's Door" bootleg, at least, the lead guitar plays them. If you only have one guitar and no keyboard, they add a little variety to an otherwise very repetivitve song. (If you listen close to the studio version, you can pick up the rhythm.) I normally pick roughly between the middle and neck pickups; when I play riffs 5 and 6, I scoot down and pick right over the bridge pickup. That changes the sound quite a bit, which adds yet more variety. FWIW. Unless you've got volume pedals or something, it's hard to fade out at the end when playing live (on the only live version I have, they blend it into Ghostrider). I came up with riff 7 to end the song. Nothing flashy, but it works very well with what I've got programmed into my drum machine. There are multiple 3s and 5s because I ad lib a bit when I play this song. In the layout below, when I say riff 3 or 5, pick one of them. Bass riff (a) is what's actually played. However, Frank does the vocals as well as bass, and riff (a) is a little too complicated to play while singing, so he plays (a) when he's not singing, and switched between (b) and (c) when he is. I'm too busy with the guitar to pay attention to which he plays when. Here's how I play it: Intro: 1 1 2 3 3 3 4 1 1 2 3 3 3 4 1 1 2 3 3 3 3* 5 5 5 6 1 1 2 3 3 3 4 1 1 2 3 3 3 4 1 1 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3* 5 5 5 6 7 ---------- * Don't play the the last note of the riff. When you would normally be playing the last note, you should be playing the first note of riff 5. (On the album, he plays the sequence of riff 3s something very close to 3a 3b 3a, and I usually play the riff 5 sequence 5a 5b 5a.)