| Author: | Leonard | Latest revision: | February 19, 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author’s Notes: | ‘Rubylove’ presented itself as a perfect opportunity for Cat to show his Greek influences, and so he invited some of his father’s friends over to the studio to play on the record with their bouzouki. Linda Lewis sang backing vocals here together with Alun and Paul Samwell-Smith. The song was originally called ‘Who’ll Be My Love?’ and did not contain the Greek verse until later. Alun’s daughter, Rebecca, used to ask Cat to sing “the Rubylove song” and so the name stayed and spun into verse 3 as well. Together with ‘If I Laugh‘ and ‘Fisherman Song‘, this song is a tour de force through all kinds of Open E voicings. Much more difficult to overcome, though, is the odd 7/8 time signature (or 7/4 depending on how you jot it down). The energetic rhythm of the song, with its accentuated strumming pattern, probably ranks among the best-sounding, and which no doubt stumps players unaccustomed to playing it. Until now the song has never been properly transcribed in part due to the bouzoukis being so prominent on the record. We added alternate chords for the key-change part to the guitar tablature at the bottom, which, while not true to the original album recording, are the Open E equivalent to Cat’s chords of his standard-tuning version of the song, which can be heard on the studio demo and in more recent live performances. We also added the original Greek with some IPA transcriptions to help with the Greek pronunciation (listen to the record). | ||
| 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. |
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"Rubylove"
by Cat Stevens
from the original album
TEASER & THE FIRECAT (1971)
Open E tuning
(low to high) E-B-E-G#-B-E
in 7/8 time
INTRO
(E) B/E E A/E
1 2 3 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 1 2
> > > > > > > > > > > > Note: ">" = accentuate
d u d d u d u d u d d u d u d u d d u d u d u d d u d u
E |-7-7---5-5-0-0-|-4-4---4-4-4-4-|-0-0-------0-0-|---0-----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-|
G#|-7-7---5-5-0-0-|-3-3---3-3-3-3-|-0-0---3-3-0-0-|-1-1---1-1-1-1-|
E |-0---0-0---0---|-0---0-0---0---|-0---0-0-0-0---|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|
B |-----0---------|-----0---------|-----0-4-4-----|-2---2-2---2---|
E |-----0---------|-----0---------|-----0-0-------|-0---0-0---0---|
E A/E B/E A/E E (B) E
E |---0-----0---0-|---0-----0---0-|-7-7-5-4-4-2-2-|-0-0---0-0-0-0-|-0-0---0-0-0-0-|
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-|
G#|-1-1-1-0-0-1-1-|-3-3---1-1-0-0-|-7-7-5-0-0-0-0-|-0-0---0-0-0-0-|-0-0---0-0-0-0-|
E |-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|-0---0-4-4-2-2-|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|
B |-2---2-0---2---|-4---4-2---0---|-0---0-0---0---|-0---0-0---0---|-0---0-0---0---|
E |-0---0-0---0---|-0---0-0---0---|---------------|-0---0-0---0---|-0---0-0---0---|
VERSE 1
E A/E
Who'll be my love? You'll be my love
| . . . . . . . | Note: The dotted line represents
B/E A/E E the 7/8 bar, helping with
You'll be my sky a- bove the chord changes here.
A/E
Who'll be my light? You'll be my light
| . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . |
(A/E) E A/E B/E A/E E
You'll be my day and night
B+11! | E | Note: "!" = strike chord once,
You'll be mine to-night then palm-mute
BRIDGE 1
|(E) | | A/E | B7 |2 |3 |4 |5 |6 | Note: Just counting out
the B7 bars here.
| E | A/E | B7 |2 |3 |4 |5 | B+11! | E | |
VERSE 2
E A/E
Ρούπι Γλυκιά, έλα ξα-νά
B/E A/E E
Έλα ξα-νά κον-τά μου
A/E
Έλα πρωί, mε την α-υγή // [prɔˈi] [avˈji]
E A/E B/E A/E E
Εσύ σουν σαν ήλιου αχ-τί-δα // [ɛˈsi] su:n [san] íliou [axˈtiða]
B+11! | E |
Ρούπι μου μι-κρή
INSTRUMENTAL VERSE (Key change.)
| G | | | C | | D C G |
| . . . . . . . |
| G | | | C | | D C G |
| D! | G |
BRIDGE 2
| RIFF | E | A/E | B7 |2 |3 |4 |5 |
| B+11! | E | | |
VERSE 3
E A/E
Ruby, my love, you'll be my love
B/E A/E E
You'll be my sky a- bove
A/E
Ruby, my light, you'll be my light
E A/E B/E A/E E
You'll be my day and night
B+11! | E |
You'll be mine to-night
OUTRO
| G | | | C | | D C G |
| . . . . . . . |
| D! | G ! ! ! ! ! | !
| . . . . . . . | .
NOTES
=====
Note #1: The song poses a number of challenges, mainly
(Intro) its unusal 7/8 time signature, the accentuated
strumming and a complicated song structure.
Note #2: It is perhaps easier to wrap your head around the
(Rhythm) rhythm if you split the bar up into two uneven pairs
of eighth, a pair of 3 and of 4 eighth notes,
counting out the rhythm as:
"123" "1212".
The whole song also follows this very consistent
strumming pattern which you will have to get down
using a pick before moving on:
d u d d u d u (d = strum down, u = strum up)
| 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 |
On "3" you strum down only on the bass notes with
the pick, like so (each note remains an eighth):
d u bass d u d u (d = strum down, u = strum up,
| 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 | bass = strum down on bass notes)
Note #3: During strumming Cat always accentuates the parts
(strumming) marked with a ">", like so:
d u d d u d u
> > >
| 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 |
Note #4: The Greek verse translates to something like this:
(Greek)
Ρούπι Γλυκιά, έλα ξανά Sweet Ruby, come again
Έλα ξανά κοντά μου Come to me again
Έλα πρωί, mε την αυγή Come in the morning, at the break of dawn
Εσύ σουν σαν ήλιου αχτίδα You are like the rays of sunshine
Ρούπι μου μικρή My little Ruby
RIFFS
=====
RIFF--------|
(E)
1 2 3 1 2 1 2
d u d d u d u
E |-0-0---0-0-0-0-|
B |-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|
G#|-7-7-5-3-3-1-1-|
E |-7-7-5-4-4-2-2-|
B |-0---0-0---0---|
E |---------------|
CHORDS
======
E A/E B/E B+11 B7
000000 020100 040300 x0034x x02100
------ -M-I-- -M-I-- ---IR- --MI--
G C D Note: Just playing the top
333333 888888 10.10.10.10.10.10 four strings is enough.
TIIIII IIIIII R--R--R--R--R--R
3x3333
T-IIII
Alternate key-change chords (Instrumental Verse, Outro):
G C/G D/A Note: Even with these alternate
303333 353433 575655 chords, "D!" is still played high
T-IIII TRIMII TRIMII up the neck at the 10th fret.
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
LYRICS ONLY
===========
Who'll be my love? You'll be my love
You'll be my sky above
Who'll be my light? You'll be my light
You'll be my day and night
You'll be mine tonight
Ρούπι Γλυκιά, έλα ξανά
Έλα ξανά κοντά μου
Έλα πρωί, mε την αυγή
Εσύ σουν σαν ήλιου αχτίδα
Ρούπι μου μικρή
Ruby, my love, you'll be my love
You'll be my sky above
Ruby, my light, you'll be my light
You'll be my day and night
You'll be mine tonight
Playing Cat Stevens 
Looked for the music, but this tab is so direct with alt tunings—easier. Thank you!
It’ll Take-more than-Five to master this-harder than Mission Impossible, by two beats, rhythm.
Is this the most well known 7/8 song in the last 50 years?
It is very beautiful—duddupu…🤗
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Rubylove probably is the most famous song in 7/8 in the last 50 years—at least we can’t think of any other.
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This is the absolute best site for learning how to play Cat/Yusef songs, and because it is painstaking in its determination to be as accurate as possible it demonstrates how great the composer is. I am in awe.
One request please. Could you include a guitar version of Silent Sunlight, a song which has always given me the chills. Thank you.
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