Ziggy Stardust tab by David Bowie

Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie.

Transcribed by Steve Coatney (scoatney@aol.com) - Feb 17, 1996.

Thanks to Johnny Birchett and Richard Ashley for their postings, which
inspired me to dig further.. Richard's lyrics are nearly perfect, and
Johnny's tab and chords are right on the mark. I've borrowed heavily
from Johnny, but made a few modifications (note the A / A7 in place
of Am).

I've verified the lyrics against the version included on the jacket of the
recent AU 20 remaster of the Ziggy Stardust CD. The recorded version adds
a few words, which I've marked with parentheses.

For a great unplugged version of Ziggy, check out Bowie's original
acoustic 12-string demo included as a bonus track on this CD. The lyrics
are identical to those written on the jacket.

I've included two tabs for the Intro, the first is similar to the Mick
Ronson electric version, and the second is Bowie's acoustic demo version.

Intro (Ronson)
--------------
Ronson does some hammering on during the intro, so play around with this
if you want to imitate him more closely. He also plays it a little
differently on the Santa Monica live album (he picks more individual
notes).

|--3-----2--3--2--3--2--------------------------------------------------
|--3-----3--3--3--3--3--3--------3-----3--------3-----3--------3-----3--
|--0-----2-----------2--2--------0--0--0--------0--0--0--------0-----0--
|--0-----0-----------0--0-----2-----2--2-----0-----2--2-----0-----0-----
|--x--------------------------3--------------2--------------0-----0-----
|--3--------------------------------------------------------------------
           *    H *   *   H *   *

* = hold an extra half-beat
H = hammer on from open strings


Intro (Bowie)
-------------
Bowie's original intro is pretty simple, but very nice on 12-string.

|--3-----2--3--2--3--2--3-----0--------------0--------------0-----------
|--3-----3-----3-----3--3-----3--------3-----3--------3-----1-----0-----
|--4-----2-----2-----2--2-----0--------0-----0--------0-----2-----0-----
|--5-----0-----------0--0-----2--------2-----0--------0-----2-----0-----
|--x--------------------------3--------------2--------------0-----------
|--3--------------------------------------------------------------------
      H   H *

* = hold an extra half-beat
H = hammer on from second to third fret


Transition
----------
The transition between C and D during "the Spiders from Mars" and
subsequent verses goes something like this:

  C                D
|------------------------------------
|------------------------------------
|------------------------------------
|-----2-----2-----0-----2------------
|-----3-----3-----2-----3-----4------
|------------------------------------
   the  Spi  ders...


Chorus
------
Repeat 3 times:

  A       G        F       G
|--5-5-5-5-5-----3-3-3-3-3-------1-1-1-1-1-1-1-3---
|--5-5-5-5-5-----3-3-3-3-3-------1-1-1-1-1-1-1-3---
|--6-6-6-6-6-----4-4-4-4-4-------2-2-2-2-2-2-2-4---
|--7-7-7-7-7-----5-5-5-5-5-------3-3-3-3-3-3-3-5---
|--7-7-7-7-7-----5-5-5-5-5-------3-3-3-3-3-3-3-5---
|--5-5-5-5-5-----3-3-3-3-3-------1-0-1-0-1-0-1-3---


then:

  D           E
|--5---x-5---x-5----------7---7-7-7-7-7-----
|--7---x-7---x-7----------9---9-9-9-9-9-----
|--7---x-7---x-7----------9---9-9-9-9-9-----
|--7---x-7---x-7----------9---9-9-9-9-9-----
|--5---x-5---x-5----------7---7-7-7-7-7-----
|--5---x-5---x-5----------7---7-7-7-7-7-----
  *   *   **     *      **

* = hold an extra half-beat
** = hold until the end of the next measure

This is one suggested pattern, but it varies, so improvise.
(My personal preference is to play the D and E in open position.)
On the acoustic and live versions, Bowie and Ronson continue
strumming on the D and E chords. Bowie also sometimes noodles
around with his pinky on the B string on the D and E chords.
On electric, emphasize the lower (thicker) strings, especially
to get the right sound during the F chord. The acoustic version
tends to emphasize the upper (thinner) strings.


Lyrics and chords
-----------------

(Intro x 4, or Intro x 2 in acoustic version)

G           Bm C
Ziggy played guitar...

(trans) D
G Em
A A7 C
G Bm C
(trans) D
G Em
A A7 C

A G      F G
So where were...
A G F G
A G F G
D E

(Intro x 2)


G           Bm C
Ziggy played for time...
(trans) D
G Em
A A7 C

A   G   F G
Making love...
A G F G
A G F G
D E

(Intro x 3) then:

|--3-----2--3--2--3--2--------0--------------------------------3-----
|--3-----3--3--3--3--3--3-----3--------------------------------3-----
|--0-----2-----------2--2-----0--------------------------------0-----
|--0-----0-----------0--0-----2--------------------------------0-----
|--x--------------------------3--------------------------------x-----
|--3-----------------------------------------------------------3-----
				  Ziggy played...

(In acoustic version, after the second chorus Bowie immediately repeats
the second chorus, then he plays the intro several times and fades out,
without singing "Ziggy played guitar").