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The Only Time cover art

The Only Time

Nine Inch Nails
Tab

This is tablature — fret positions rather than chord names. Wide lines scroll sideways on their own, so the page never does.

Song

#----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE---------------------------------#

#This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the #

#song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research. #

#------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

THE ONLY TIME

As recorded by Nine Inch Nails

(From the 1989 Album PRETTY HATE MACHINE)

Transcribed by Adam Steele

Words and Music by Trent Reznor

Arranged by Trent Reznor

Gtr I (E A D G B E) - 'Guitar'

Gtr II (E A D G B E) - 'Synth'

Gtr III (E A D G B E) - 'Synth'

Verse

Q=90

N.C. A5 D5 C5 A5 D5 C5

2/4 4/4

Gtr I

H q q H e. e. q Q. q q H e. e. q Q.

|------||-------------|---------------|------------|-----------------||
|------||o------------|---------------|------------|----------------o||
|------||-------------|---------------|------------|-----------------||
|------||--2--2-------|-7--7--5-------|-2--2-------|-7--7--5---------||
|------||o-0--0-------|-5--5--3-------|-0--0-------|-5--5--3--------o||
|------||-------------|---------------|------------|-----------------||

A5 N.C. D5 C5 A5 N.C. D5 C5

q q E E Q e. e. q Q. q q E E Q e. e. q Q.

|--------------|---------------|--------------|---------------|
|--------------|---------------|--------------|---------------|
|--------------|---------------|--------------|---------------|
|-2--2----5----|-7--7--5-------|-2--2----5----|-7--7--5-------|
|-0--0---------|-5--5--3-------|-0--0---------|-5--5--3-------|
|-------3------|---------------|-------3------|---------------|

A5 D5 C5 A5 D5 C5

q q H e. e. q Q. q q H e. e. q Q.

|------------|---------------|------------|---------------|
|------------|---------------|------------|---------------|
|------------|---------------|------------|---------------|
|-2--2-------|-7--7--5-------|-2--2-------|-7--7--5-------|
|-0--0-------|-5--5--3-------|-0--0-------|-5--5--3-------|
|------------|---------------|------------|---------------|

Chorus

N.C.

Gtr III

S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E S S E

||------------------------|---------------1-------|
||o-----------------------|-------3-5-----------3-|
||----------------------2-|-4---------------------|
||------0-2-----4-6-------|-----------------------|
||o-----------------------|-----------------------|
||--0-1-----0-1-----0-1---|---0-1-----0-1---0-1---|

S S E E S S E E S S E E S S S E S S S E S S S S

|-----------------------|-----------------------10-12---||
|-----------------------|---------------3-5------------o||
|---------------------2-|-4-----------------------------||
|-----0-2-----4-6-------|-------0-2---------------------||
|-----------------------|------------------------------o||
|-0-1-----0-1-----0-1---|---0-1-----0-1-----0-1---------||

Verse

A5 D5 C5 A5 D5 C5

Gtr I

q q H e. e. q Q. q q H e. e. q Q.

||-------------|---------------|------------|-----------------||
||o------------|---------------|------------|----------------o||
||-------------|---------------|------------|-----------------||
||--2--2-------|-7--7--5-------|-2--2-------|-7--7--5---------||
||o-0--0-------|-5--5--3-------|-0--0-------|-5--5--3--------o||
||-------------|---------------|------------|-----------------||

Breakdown

A5 D5 C5

Gtr II

E E E E E E E S S +E E E E E E S S S S

||--------------------|-------------------------8-5-|
||o---5-5-7-7-8-8-----|------/5----5-7-7-8--8-5-----|
||----------------7-5-|-(5)\------------------------|
||--------------------|-----------------------------|
||o-------------------|-----------------------------|
||--------------------|-----------------------------|

|

| Gtr I

| q q H e. e. q Q.

||--------------------|-----------------------------|
||o-------------------|-----------------------------|
||--------------------|-----------------------------|
||--2---2-------------|--7------7----5--------------|
||o-0---0-------------|--5------5----3--------------|
||--------------------|-----------------------------|

A5 D5 C5

E E E E E E E S S +E E E E E E S S S S

|-------------------|-------------------------8-5--||
|---5-5-7-7-8-8-----|------/5----5-7-7-8--8-5-----o||
|---------------7-5-|-(5)\-------------------------||
|-------------------|------------------------------||
|-------------------|-----------------------------o||
|-------------------|------------------------------||

|

| q q H e. e. q Q.

|-------------------|------------------------------||
|-------------------|-----------------------------o||
|-------------------|------------------------------||
|-2---2-------------|--7------7----5---------------||
|-0---0-------------|--5------5----3--------------o||
|-------------------|------------------------------||

Verse

A5 D5 C5 A5 D5 C5

Gtr I

q q H e. e. q Q. q q H e. e. q Q.

||-------------|---------------|------------|-----------------||
||o------------|---------------|------------|----------------o||
||-------------|---------------|------------|-----------------||
||--2--2-------|-7--7--5-------|-2--2-------|-7--7--5---------||
||o-0--0-------|-5--5--3-------|-0--0-------|-5--5--3--------o||
||-------------|---------------|------------|-----------------||

A5 N.C. D5 C5 A5 N.C. D5 C5

q q E E Q e. e. q Q. q q E E Q e. e. q Q.

|--------------|---------------|--------------|---------------|
|--------------|---------------|--------------|---------------|
|--------------|---------------|--------------|---------------|
|-2--2----5----|-7--7--5-------|-2--2----5----|-7--7--5-------|
|-0--0---------|-5--5--3-------|-0--0---------|-5--5--3-------|
|-------3------|---------------|-------3------|---------------|

A5 D5 C5 A5 D5 C5

q q H e. e. q Q. q q H e. e. q Q.

|------------|---------------|------------|---------------|
|------------|---------------|------------|---------------|
|------------|---------------|------------|---------------|
|-2--2-------|-7--7--5-------|-2--2-------|-7--7--5-------|
|-0--0-------|-5--5--3-------|-0--0-------|-5--5--3-------|
|------------|---------------|------------|---------------|

Chorus

N.C.

Gtr III

S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E S S E

||------------------------|---------------1-------|
||o-----------------------|-------3-5-----------3-|
||----------------------2-|-4---------------------|
||------0-2-----4-6-------|-----------------------|
||o-----------------------|-----------------------|
||--0-1-----0-1-----0-1---|---0-1-----0-1---0-1---|

S S E E S S E E S S E E S S S E S S S E S S S S

|-----------------------|-----------------------10-12---||
|-----------------------|---------------3-5------------o||
|---------------------2-|-4-----------------------------||
|-----0-2-----4-6-------|-------0-2---------------------||
|-----------------------|------------------------------o||
|-0-1-----0-1-----0-1---|---0-1-----0-1-----0-1---------||

Breakdown

N.C.

Gtr II

E E E E E E E S S +E E E E E E S S S S

|-------------------|---------------------8-5-|
|---5-5-7-7-8-8-----|------/5-5-7-7-8-8-5-----|
|---------------7-5-|-(5)\--------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------------|

E E E E E E E S S +E E E E E E S S S S

|-------------------|---------------------8-5-|
|---5-5-7-7-8-8-----|------/5-5-7-7-8-8-5-----|
|---------------7-5-|-(5)\--------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------------|

Gtr I

<

E E E E E E E S S +E E E E E E S S S S E E E E E E E S S W

|-------------------|---------------------8-5-|-------------------|------|
|---5-5-7-7-8-8-----|------/5-5-7-7-8-8-5-----|---5-5-7-7-8-8-----|------|
|---------------7-5-|-(5)\--------------------|---------------7-5-|------|
|-------------------|-------------------------|-------------------|------|
|-------------------|-------------------------|-------------------|------|
|-------------------|-------------------------|-------------------|-0----|

Interlude

N.C.

Gtr III

S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E S S E

||------------------------|---------------1-------|
||o-----------------------|-------3-5-----------3-|
||----------------------2-|-4---------------------|
||------0-2-----4-6-------|-----------------------|
||o-----------------------|-----------------------|
||--0-1-----0-1-----0-1---|---0-1-----0-1---0-1---|

S S E E S S E E S S E E S S S E S S S E S S S S 3x

|-----------------------|-----------------------10-12---||
|-----------------------|---------------3-5------------o||
|---------------------2-|-4-----------------------------||
|-----0-2-----4-6-------|-------0-2---------------------||
|-----------------------|------------------------------o||
|-0-1-----0-1-----0-1---|---0-1-----0-1-----0-1---------||

N.C.

Gtr II

E E E E E E E S S +E E E E E E S S S S

|-------------------------|-------------------------8-5-|
|-----5-5-7---7-8-8-------|------/5---5-7-7---8-8-5-----|
|---------------------7-5-|-(5)\------------------------|
|-------------------------|-----------------------------|
|-------------------------|-----------------------------|
|-------------------------|-----------------------------|

|

| Gtr III

| S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E S S E

|-------------------------|-------------------1---------|
|-------------------------|-----------3-5-----------3---|
|---------------------2---|--4--------------------------|
|-----0-2-----4-6---------|-----------------------------|
|-------------------------|-----------------------------|
|-0-1-----0-1-----0-1-----|-------0-1-----0-1---0-1-----|

E E E E E E E S S

|--------------------------|
|-----5-5-7---7-8-8--------|
|---------------------7-5--|
|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|

|

| S S E E S S E E S S E

|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|
|---------------------2----|
|-----0-2-----4-6----------|
|--------------------------|
|-0-1-----0-1-----0-1------|

Wx8

|--------|
|--------|
|--------|
|--------|
|--------|
|--------|

N.C.

E E E E E E E S S +E E E E E E S S S S

||--------------------|---------------------8-5-|
||o---5-5-7-7-8-8-----|------/5-5-7-7-8-8-5-----|
||----------------7-5-|-(5)\--------------------|
||--------------------|-------------------------|
||o-------------------|-------------------------|
||--------------------|-------------------------|

E E E E E E E S S +E E E E E E S S S S

|-------------------|---------------------8-5----||
|---5-5-7-7-8-8-----|------/5-5-7-7-8-8-5-------o||
|---------------7-5-|-(5)\-----------------------||
|-------------------|----------------------------||
|-------------------|---------------------------o||
|-------------------|----------------------------||

Outro

N.C.

Gtr III

S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E S S E

|-----------------------|---------------1-------|
|-----------------------|-------3-5-----------3-|
|---------------------2-|-4---------------------|
|-----0-2-----4-6-------|-----------------------|
|-----------------------|-----------------------|
|-0-1-----0-1-----0-1---|---0-1-----0-1---0-1---|

S S E E S S E E S S E E S S S E S S S E S S S S

|-----------------------|-----------------------10-12--|
|-----------------------|---------------3-5------------|
|---------------------2-|-4----------------------------|
|-----0-2-----4-6-------|-------0-2--------------------|
|-----------------------|------------------------------|
|-0-1-----0-1-----0-1---|---0-1-----0-1-----0-1--------|

N.C.

S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E S S E

|-----------------------|---------------1-------|
|-----------------------|-------3-5-----------3-|
|---------------------2-|-4---------------------|
|-----0-2-----4-6-------|-----------------------|
|-----------------------|-----------------------|
|-0-1-----0-1-----0-1---|---0-1-----0-1---0-1---|

S S E E S S E E S S E E S S S E S S S E Q

|-----------------------|----------------------*|
|-----------------------|---------------3-5----*|
|---------------------2-|-4--------------------*|
|-----0-2-----4-6-------|-------0-2------------*|
|-----------------------|----------------------*|
|-0-1-----0-1-----0-1---|---0-1-----0-1--------*|

Duration Legend

---------------

W - whole; H - half; Q - quarter; E - 8th; S - 16th; T - 32nd; X - 64th; a - acciaccatura

+ - note tied to previous; . - note dotted; .. - note double dotted

Uncapitalized letters represent notes that are staccato (1/2 duration)

Irregular groupings are notated above the duration line

Duration letters will always appear directly above the note/fret number it represents the

duration for. Duration letters with no fret number below them represent rests. Multi-

bar rests are notated in the form Wxn, where n is the number of bars to rest for. Low

melody durations appear below the staff

Tablature Legend

----------------

h - hammer-on

p - pull-off

b - bend

pb - pre-bend

r - bend release (if no number after the r, then release immediately)

/\ - slide into or out of (from/to "nowhere")

s - legato slide

S - shift slide

<n> - natural harmonic

[n] - artificial harmonic

n(n) - tapped harmonic

~ - vibrato

tr - trill

T - tap

TP - trem. picking

PM - palm muting

\n/ - tremolo bar dip; n = amount to dip

\n - tremolo bar down

n/ - tremolo bar up

/n\ - tremolo bar inverted dip

= - hold bend; also acts as connecting device for hammers/pulls

<> - volume swell (louder/softer)

x - on rhythm slash represents muted slash

o - on rhythm slash represents single note slash

Misc Legend

-----------

| - bar

|| - double bar

||o - repeat start

o|| - repeat end

*| - double bar (ending)

: - bar (freetime)

$ - Segno

& - Coda

Tempo markers - <E/E./Q/Q./H/H.> = BPM(8/16=s8/s16), where s8 = swing 8ths, s16 = swing 16ths

Comments

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