| Author: | Leonard | Latest revision: | December 24, 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author’s Notes: | In his article on Malaysia, Cat reminisces that back in 1966 he wrote a song mentioning “an old town in Malaya, about a fisherman I met there and a song he taught me.” This is that song, recovered from the recording archives half a decade later—really one of the most beautiful songs in Cat’s oeuvre. “Fisherman Song” is part of a series of three songs, with “Rubylove” and “If I Laugh” being the other two, Cat had written for Open E tuning, a specialized guitar tuning. The song was recorded around 1970 intended for release on Teaser and the Firecat, but it never made it past the demo stage. Despite its irresistibly beautiful melody, the song suffers from certain lyrical and structural issues, which were never solved, such as the transition from the break back to the chorus part or the song’s irregular break part in general. There is only one verse in the entire song, one that keeps on repeating, and which we had to slow down to a crawl in order to find out that it is a brick bay Cat is singing about, not a great day or anything else for that matter. Despite its shortcomings, “Fisherman Song” remains one of Cat’s most beautiful songs in general, but especially for Open E tuning. In 1970, at his heyday of Open E composing, Cat probably adapted the song for Open E after consulting his original 1966 composition. We transcribed the whole song for guitar tablature also because of the many chord-shape variations and time signatures employed in the song. The song’s high tempo and its erratic Break part are great obstacles to playing alongside the record, apart from the Chorus in Greek 7/8 time. | ||
| Each guitar tab is the author’s own work and represents his or her own interpretation of the song. Visitors may use the guitar tabs offered here only for private study, scholarship, or research. |
|||
"Fisherman Song (Studio Demo)"
by Cat Stevens
(recorded around 1970)
from the original compilation set
TEASER & THE FIRECAT SUPER DELUXE
(2021)
Open E tuning
(bass to treble) E-B-E-G#-B-E
in 4/4 and 7/8, mainly
played with a (medium) pick
INTRO (As Verse but without vocals.)
VERSE Note: Chord names mostly indicate
intended harmonies.
E
/ . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / .
d d d u d u d u d u d d d u d d d d
E |--------|--------------------------|--------------------------|
B |--------|--------------------------|--------------------------|
G#|--0--1--|-/3--------7-----3-----1--|-/3--1--0--------0--0--1--|
E |--0--2--|-/4--------7-----4-----2--|-/4--2--0--------0--0--2--|
B |--0--0--|--0--0-----0-----0-----0--|--0--0--0--0-----0--0--0--|
E |--------|--------0-----0-----0-----|--------------0-----------|
In an old town called Ma- la- ya it was a
A B
/ . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / .
d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u
E |--------------------------|--------------|--5--------9-----7-----7--|
B |--------------------------|--------------|--5--------5-----5-----7--|
G#|-/3--------7-----3-----1--|--0--------0--|--5-----5--5-----5-----7--|
E |-/4--------7-----4-----2--|--0--------0--|--5--5-----------------7--|
B |--0--0-----0-----0-----0--|--0--0--------|--0-----------0-----0-----|
E |--------0-----0-----0-----|--------0-----|--------------------------|
brick bay by the sea, there lived an old
E
/ . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / .
d u d u d d d d d u d u d u d u d u d u d u
E |-----------0--------------|--------------------------|--------------------|
B |-----9--7--0--------------|--------------------------|--------------------|
G#|-----7--7--0-----0--0--1--|-/3--------7-----3-----1--|--0--------0--------|
E |-----7--7--0-----0--0--2--|-/4--------7-----4-----2--|--0--------0-----0--|
B |--0--------------0--0--0--|--0--0-----0-----0-----0--|--0--0-----------0--|
E |--------------0-----------|--------0-----0-----0-----|--------0-----0-----|
fisherman and this song he sang to me
CHORUS
B E B E B E B E B E B E
1 . 2 . 3 . 1 . 2 . 1 . 2 . 1 . 2 . 3 . 1 . 2 . 1 . 2 . 1 . 2 . 3 . 1 . 2 . 1 . 2 .
d u d u d d d d d u d u d d d d d u d u d d d d
E |-2-2-2-2-0---2-------2---0---|-2-2-2-4-2---0-------0---0---|-2-2-2-2-0---2-------2---0---|
B |-0-0-0-0-0---0-------0---0---|-0-0-0-0-0---0-------0---0---|-0-0-0-0-0---0-------0---0---|
G#|-1-1-1-1-0---1-------1---0---|-1-1-1-3-1---0-------0---0---|-1-1-1-1-0---1-------1---0---|
E |-2-2-2-2-0---2-------2---0---|-2-2-2-4-2---0-------0---0---|-2-2-2-2-0---2-------2---0---|
B |-0---0---0---0-------0---0---|-0---0---0---0-------0---0---|-0---0---0---0-------0---0---|
E |-----------------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
B E B E C#m E C#m E B E B E
1 . 2 . 3 . 1 . 2 . 1 . 2 . 1 . 2 . 3 . 1 . 2 . 1 . 2 . 1 . 2 . 3 . 1 . 2 . 1 . 2 .
E |-2-2-2-4-2---0-------0---0---|-0-0-0-0-0---0-------2---0---|-2-2-2-2-0---2-------2---0---|
B |-0-0-0-0-0---0-------0---0---|-2-2-2-2-0---2-------0---0---|-0-0-0-0-0---0-------0---0---|
G#|-1-1-1-3-1---0-------0---0---|-0-0-0-0-0---0-------0---0---|-1-1-1-1-0---1-------1---0---|
E |-2-2-2-4-2---0-------0---0---|-0-0-0-0-0---0-------0---0---|-2-2-2-2-0---2-------2---0---|
B |-0---0---0---0-------0---0---|-2---2---2---2-------2---0---|-0---0---0---0-------0---0---|
E |-----------------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
C#m E C#m E B E B E
1 . 2 . 3 . 1 . 2 . 1 . 2 . 1 . 2 . 3 . 1 . 2 . 1 . 2 .
E |-0-0-0-0-0---0-------2---0---|-2-2-2-4-2---0------[0---0]--|
B |-2-2-2-2-0---2-------0---0---|-0-0-0-0-0---0------[0---0]--|
G#|-0-0-0-0-0---0-------0---0---|-1-1-1-3-1---0------[0---0]--|
E |-0-0-0-0-0---0-------0---0---|-2-2-2-4-2---0------[0---0]--|
B |-2---2---2---2-------2---0---|-0---0---0---0------[0---0]--|
E |-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
REPEAT CHORUS.
REPEAT VERSE.
BREAK (In mostly 4/4 and 5/4 time.)
E B
/ . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / .
d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d d u d d u d u d u
E |---------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
B |-------------2-2-x-x-------------|-----------------------------------------|
G#|-3-3-3-3-3-3-1-1-x-x-0-0-x-x-1-1-|-1-1-1-1-0h1-1-1-1---1-1-1---1-1-1-1-0h1-|
E |-0-0-0-0-0-0---------0-0-x-x-2-2-|-2-2-2-2-0h2-2-2-2---2-2-2---2-2-2-2-0h2-|
B |-----------------------------0-0-|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0-0-0-0-|
E |---------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
E/B B E B
/ . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / .
d u d d u d u d u d u d u d u d d d u d u d u d d u d d u d u
E |-----------------------------------------|---------------------------------|
B |-------------0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---------|-0-0-0-0-0-0-2---x-x-0---x-x-----|
G#|-1-1---1-1-1/3-3-3-3-3-3-1-1-1-1-0---0---|-3-3-3-3-3-3-1---x-x-0---x-x-1-1-|
E |-2-2---2-2-2/4-4-4-4-4-4-2-2-2-2-0---0---|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---x-x-0---x-x-2-2-|
B |-0-0---0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---0---|-----------------------------0-0-|
E |---------------------------------0---0---|---------------------------------|
A/B E/B E E/B B E
/ . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / .
d u d u d u d u d d u d u d u d d d d u d d d u d u d d u d d
E |-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
B |-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
G#|-1-1-1-1-0h1-1-1-1---1-1-5-5-5-5-5---3---|-3---0-0-0--/3---3-3-3-3-1---1-1-0---0---|
E |-2-2-2-2-0h2-2-2-2---2-2-5-5-5-5-5---4---|-4---0-0-0--/4---4-4-4-4-2---2-2-0---0---|
B |-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0-0-0-0---0---|-0---0-0-0---0---0-0-0-0-0---0-0-0---0---|
E |-----------------------------------------|---------------------------------0---0---|
B A E B
/ . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / .
d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d d u d u d u d u d d u d u d u d u d u
E |--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
B |------------------------------0-0-----|-----------------------------------------|
G#|-10-10-10-10-10-x-8-8-8-8-x-x-0-0-1---|-1-1-1-1-0h1-1-1-1---1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-0h1-|
E |-11-11-11-11-11-x-9-9-9-9-x-x-0-0-2---|-2-2-2-2-0h2-2-2-2---2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-0h2-|
B |-12-12-12-12-12-x-0-0-0-0-x-x-----0---|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---2-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|
E |--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
E/B B E B A B A
/ . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / .
d u d d u d d u d u d d u d d u d u d u d u d u d u d d u d
E |-----------------------------------------|---------------------------0-----------|
B |-----------------------------------------|---------------------------0-----------|
G#|-1-1-1---1-1/3---3-3-3-3-1---1-1-0---0-0-|-10-10-10-10-10-10-8-8-x-x-7---x-x-----|
E |-2-2-2---2-2/4---4-4-4-4-2---2-2-0---0-0-|-11-11-11-11-11-11-9-9-x-x-7---x-x-5---|
B |-0-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-|--------------0--0-0-0-x-x-0---x-x-5---|
E |---------------------------------0---0-0-|--------------0--0-----------------5---|
E A E A E B
/ . / . / . / . / . / . / . / .
d d d d d d d d d d d u d u
E |---------------------------------|---------------------0---2-2-2-2-|
B |---------5-----------------------|---------5-----------0---0-0-0-0-|
G#|-----5---5-------5---------------|-----5---5-------5---0---1-1-1-1-|
E |-0---5-----------5-----------5---|-0---5-----------5---0---2-2-2-0-|
B |-0---5-----------------------5---|-0---------------5---0---0---0---|
E |-0---------------------------5---|-0-------------------0-----------|
E B E B
/ . / . / . / . / . / .
d d d u d d u d d u d u d u d u d d
E |-2---4---4-4-0-------------------|-2-2-2-2-0---0---|
B |-0---0---0-0-1---0-0-0---0-0-0-0-|-0-0-0-0-0---0---|
G#|-1---3---3-3-2---0-0-0---0-0-0-0-|-1-1-1-1-0---0---|
E |-2---4---4-4-0---0-0-0---0-0-0-0-|-2-2-2-2-0---0---|
B |-0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---|-0---0---0---0---|
E |---------------------------------|-----------------|
REPEAT CHORUS.
REPEAT VERSE.
REPEAT CHORUS.
OUTRO
B E B E B E B E
/ . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / . / .
d u d u d d d u d d
E |-2-2-2-4-2---0---|-----------------|-2-----4-2---0---|-----------------||
B |-0-0-0-0-0---0---|-----------------|-0-----0-0---0---|-----------------||
G#|-1-1-1-3-1---0---|-----------------|-1-----3-1---0---|-----------------||
E |-2-2-2-4-2---0---|-----------------|-2-----4-2---0---|-----------------||
B |-0---0---0---0---|-----------------|-0-------0---0---|-----------------||
E |-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------||
LEGEND
======
Chord fingering: T = thumb
I = index finger
M = middle finger
R = ring finger
L = little finger
Tablature notation: h = hammer-on
p = pull-off
~ = vibrato
[ ] = natural harmonic (Harm.)
/ = legato slide (gliss) up the fret
\ = legato slide (gliss) down the fret
! = special action (see tablature)
> = accentuate part
d = downward stroke
u = upward stroke
x = mute note
Playing Cat Stevens 