Oh Very Young

Author: Leonard Latest revision: October 10, 2021
Author’s Notes: Transcribing the intro proved more problematic than anticipated for a lack of reference material. With the help of the Majikat Earth Tour video tapes, though, the tablature eventually got completed. The fingerpicking pattern in the verses is mostly guess work since that part of the song is very subdued in the original recording so as to let the gorgeous piano fills shine.
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.
                 
                     "Oh Very Young"
                      by Cat Stevens
                     
                from the original album 
            BUDDHA AND THE CHOCOLATE BOX (1974)
 
Standard tuning
(low to high) E-A-D-G-B-E

in 4/4 time


INTRO                                

    A*          A2*     A*          A2*     A*          A2*
    /   /   /   /       /   /   /   /       /   /   /   /     
    d   d   d u d u     d   d u d u d u     d   d u d u d u
E|--0---0---0-0-0-0--|--0---0-0-0-0-0-0--|--0---0-0-0-0-0-0--|
B|--5---5---5-5-0-0--|--0h5-5-5-5-5-0-0--|--0h5-5-5-5-5-0-0--|
G|--6---6---6-6-6-6--|--6---6-6-6-6-6-6--|--6---6-6-6-6-6-6--|
D|--7---7---7---7----|--7---7---7---7----|--7---7---7---7----|
A|--0---0---0---0----|--0---0---0---0----|--0---0---0---0----|
E|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|

    A*          A2*     A*      A4*   A2*   A*
    /   /   /   /       /   /   /   /       /   /   /   /
    d   d u d   d u     d   d u d u d u     d
E|--0---0-0-0-0-0-0--|--0---0-0-0-0-0-0--|--0----------------|
B|--0h5-5-5-5-5-0-0--|--0h5-5-5-5-5-5-0--|--0h5--------------|
G|--6---6-6-6-6-6-6--|--6---6-6-6-6-7-6--|--6----------------|
D|--7---7---7---7----|--7---7---7---7----|--7----------------|
A|--0---0---0---0----|--0---0---0---0----|--0----------------|
E|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|
                                                    Oh very...

VERSE 1

          D           E              D/F#  D     E
      E|--------------------------|--------------------------|
      B|--------3-----------0-----|--------------------0-----|
      G|-----2-----2-----1-----0--|-----2-----2-----1-----0--|
      D|--0-----------2-----------|--4-----0-----2-----------|
      A|--------------------------|--------------------------|
      E|--------------------------|--------------------------|
young, what will you leave us this time?        You're only

          E           A              D           D  
      E|--------------------------|--------------------------|
      B|--------0-----------2-----|--------3-----------3-----|
      G|-----1-----1-----2-----2--|-----2-----2-----2-----2--|
      D|--2-----------------------|--0-----------0-----------|
      A|--------------0-----------|--------------------------|
      E|--------------------------|--------------------------|
 dancing on this earth for a short while.       And though your 

          D           E              E     E4     
      E|--------------------------|--------------------------|
      B|--------3-----------0-----|--------------------------|
      G|-----2-----2-----1-----1--|-----1--2-1---------------|
      D|--0-----------2-----------|--2-----------------------|
      A|--------------------------|--------------------------|
      E|--------------------------|--------------------------|
     dreams may toss and turn you now.             (They will...)
     
             A      D              A              
They will vanish a-way like your Daddy's best jeans,
        D         A          D    Dadd11  D
Denim blue fading up to the sky.
                A                   A7
And though you want him to last for-ever,
         D   B/F#  E
You know he never will,

   RIFF
    E             
E|--------------------------------|-----...
B|------0-------------------------|-----...
G|--2-------2---1-----------2-----|--1--...
D|------------------4---2---------|-----...
A|--------------------------------|-----...
E|--------------------------------|-----...          
   You know he ne-ver will.                                
(E)          (Esus4)               E7           A   A2   E     E4 E7  A  A2 E  E7
     And the patches made the good-bye harder still.   | /  /  /  / | /  /  /  / |


VERSE 2

A              D                    E            D/F#   D   E
     Oh very young, what will you leave us this time?
               E              A                    D    Dadd11 D
There'll never be a better chance to change your mind.
            D                  E                 Esus4 E
And if you want this world to see a better day.
           A         D       A
Will you carry the words of love with you?
          D                     A         D      Dadd11 D
Will you ride the great white bird into Heaven?
                A               A7  
And though you want to last for-ever,
          D      B/F#  E
You know you nev-er   will,
RIFF  
You know you never will.                           
          Esus4                 E7          A   A2   E     E4 E7  A  A2 E  E7
And the goodbye makes the jour-ney harder still.   | /  /  /  / | /  /  /  / |


BRIDGE VERSE

  A            D     E    D/F# D  E         E7 A      D                  E            E4 E
| /  /  /  / | /  /  /  / | /  /  /  / | /  /  /  / | /  /  /  / | /  /  /  / | /  /  /  / |
           A         D       A      
Will you carry the words of love with you?
          D         A     D  Dadd11
Will you ride?__________  
 A   A7      D  B/F# E       RIFF         E     E4     E7
Oh._____   | /   /   /   / | /  /  /  / | /  /  /  / | /  / |
  A        A2  E     E4 E7  A  A2 E E7   
| /  /  /  / | /  /  /  / | /  /  /  / |


VERSE 3

A              D                    E            D/F#   D   E
     Oh very young, what will you leave us this time?
               E   [E7]       A                 D    Dadd11 D
You're only dancing on this earth for a short while.
          D                    E       E7    A  A2  E  E7 A
Oh very young, what will you leave us this time.  | /  /  /  / |


CHORDS
======

RIFF

    Esus4    E        Esus4    E             
E|--------------------------|-----...
B|-----0-------------(1)----|-(0)-...
G|--2-----2--1--------2-----|--1--...
D|--------------4--2-(2)----|-(2)-...
A|--------------------------|-----...
E|--------------------------|-----...

RIFF 1 - ALTERNATIVE

E|--5--7--5--4--2--0--5--0--|
B|--------------------------|
G|--5--7--5--4--2--1--5--1--|
D|--------------------------|
A|--------------------------|
E|--------------------------|

   A*     A2*(=Asus2)    A6      A4*(=Asus4)
x07650  x07600         x07670  x07750
--RMI-  --RM--         --RML-  --RLI-

   D      D/F#  Dadd11     E      E7    Esus4(=E4)
xx0232  xx4232  xx0032  022100  022130  022200
---IRM  --RIMI  ----RM  -MRI--  -MRIL-  -MRL--
---IMI

   A      A7    Asus2(=A2)  B/F#
x02220  x02223  x02200     xx444x
--IMR-  --IMRL  --IM--     --RRR-

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, or hold chord
                    [ ] = natural harmonic (Harm.)
                      / = legato slide (gliss) up the fret
                      \ = legato slide (gliss) down the fret
                      ! = accentuate part with great intensity
                      d = downward stroke
                      u = upward stroke

Any requests? Anybody wanna hear a song?

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s