Spanked

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. #

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

From: Paul D S3BZ@MUSIC.TRANSY.EDU

Subject: TAB: "Spanked" by Van Halen

Here's yet another addition to my collection of hard-as-hell Van Halen tabs.

But this one is probably the easiest of the bunch. The interesting thing

about this song is that the main riff is played on a special six-string

bass/guitar. The bass/guitar is an instrument that Ernie Ball/Music Man

makes (as far as I know, they're the only ones who make em') that is

supposedly "the guitar for bassists, and the bass for guitarists". It's

BASS-ically (ha, ha) a guitar with open strings that are tuned an octave

down from normal guitars. The strings are the same (E-A-D-G-B-E), but

they're an octave lower. It's a pretty cool idea, I wish I had 1200 bucks

to spend on one. Anyway, apparently Van Halen's producer (whose name

escapes me at the moment) brought this thing into the studio one day and

Eddie decided to plug it into his 5150 stack and liked the sound it got so

they decided to use it for the ominous verse and chorus riffs to "Spanked".

For live performances, Eddie uses a hybrid double-neck with his signature

guitar on top, and this bass/guitar on the bottom. I'm not entirely sure

how they arrange the parts between him and Michael Anthony when they play

live, but here's the album version of "Spanked" from For Unlawful Carnal

Knowledge:

Some notes on my tab: b = bend a little bit :)

bf = bend full

br = bend and release back to pitch

pm = palm mute until the end of the "..."

h = hammer-on

p = pull-off

"Spanked"

by Van Halen

tab by Paul D.

s3bz@music.transy.edu

First, there's this nifty intro utilizing the infamous "E-Bow" (nice little

$70 electronic guitar gadget). The E-Bow part is tabbed in between the

brackets (:: to ::). Then, it is repeated while the bass/guitar does the

intro riff:

w/ E-Bow--::

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

||--14--~~~~~~-|-(14)--~~~~~~-|-12--~~~~~~-|-(12)--~~~~~~-|-11--~~~~~~-|

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

b :: pm.. b

------------||--------------|---------------------|--------------------|
------------||--------------|---------------------|--------------------|
------------||--------------|---------------------|--------------------|
-12--~~~~~~-||--------------|-------2-2-0h2-------|--------------------|
------------||------------5-|-------------2p0-----|--------------------|
------------||-0-----0--7---|-0---------------3-2-|-0-----0-4-5-4/5--3-|
------------------------|-------------|-------------------------|
------------------------|-------------|-------------------------|
--------------0---0-----|-------------|-------------------------|
------2-0-0-2-4-4/5-x-x-|-------------|-------2-2-2-0-5-2---0h2-|
--------------------x-x-|---------5---|-------------------2-----|
0-----------------------|-0-----7---0-|-0-----------------------|

b

-----------|-----------|
-----------|-----------|
-----------|-----------|
-----------|-----------|
---------5-|-------5---|
0-----7----|-0-0-0---0-|

Okay, at this point, the bass/guitar starts playing the following at a

sorta "double-time" pace:

pm.....................

||-----------|---------------------------------|-----------|----------||
||-----------|---------------------------------|-----------|----------||
||-----------|---------------------------------|-----------|----------||
||-----------|---------------------------------|-----------|----------||
||-0---0-2---|-3---3---3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-|-3-3-5---5\|2-2-2-2-2-||
||-----------|---------------------------------|-----------|----------||

While a lead electric guitar does something like this:

remember...play it FAST :)

br

||-----------0-------0-----0-----0-|-----0-----0-0-0----------|
||-0-3-0-3/5---0-3/5---3/5---0-3---|-3/5---0-3---3---0----0h3-|
||---------------------------------|-------------------2------|
||---------------------------------|--------------------------|
||---------------------------------|--------------------------|
||---------------------------------|--------------------------|
----0-------0-----0-----0-0----0----|-0----0-0----0-----||
(3)---0-3/5---5/7---7/8-8-8/10---10-|---10---8-10/12-12\||
------------------------------------|-------------------||
------------------------------------|-------------------||
------------------------------------|-------------------||
------------------------------------|-------------------||

Then, the bass/guitar begins its "verse" part; that really cool, crunchy,

ominous-sounding bassline (while the electric guitar twangs out an Em7):

bf

||------------------|------------------|-------------|--------------||
||------------------|------------------|-------------|--------------||
||*-----------------|------------------|-------------|-------------*||
||*-----------4---5-|---------2--------|---------4-5-|-----------2-*||
||----------2-------|-------2---5--5-5-|-------2-----|---------2----||
||--0-0-2/3---------|-0-2/4------------|-0-2/4-------|-0-0-2/4------||

You can adlib a bit on that bass part wherever you feel it's necessary.

Listen to the CD to get the variations. ;)

Now, comes the "pre-chorus" ("Tell me, who ya gonna call when you need that

affection..."). The basic chords are D A C G, but here's the tab:

(D) (A) (C) (G)

|---------------|-------------|-------------|-----------------|
|---------------|-------------|-------------|-----------------|
|-----------2---|-------------|-------------|-----------------|
|-0-0-4-x-x-----|---------2--\|-------2---5-|-----5-----------|
|---------------|-0---0-4-----|-3---3-------|---------2-3-4-5-|
|---------------|-------------|-------------|-3-----3---------|

(D) (A) (C) (nc)

--------------|-------------|---------------|----------|
--------------|-------------|---------------|----------|
----------2---|-------------|---------------|----------|
0-0-4-x-x-----|---------2--\|-------2-x-x-5-|----------|
--------------|-0---0-4-----|-3---3---------|---0-1-2--|
--------------|-------------|---------------|-3--------|

Then for the chorus ("All you bad, bad boys, call her up on the Spank

Line"), there's this variation on the main verse riff:

bf bf

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

bf bf

---------------|-----------------------|--------------|-------------||
---------------|-----------------------|--------------|-------------||
---------------|-----------------------|--------------|-------------||
-----------4-5-|-----------------------|----2-5-4---5-|-----------2-||
---------2-----|---------2----5-5--7-7-|3-3-----------|---------2---||
-0-0-2/4-------|-0-0-2/4---------------|--------------|-0-0-2/4-----||

After the SECOND chorus, there's a bit with percussive guitar noises and

vocal and guitar echo effects, just adlib that. Do a lot of divebomb stuff

with a ton of delay and reverb. :)

Here's what I could gather from the lyrics:

Verse 1:

Both feet up, watchin' TV

Someplace to feast my eyes.

Well I'm always tripped on commercials

But this one blew my mind.

Pre-chorus 1:

"Tell me who you gonna call

When you need that affection?

You got ta' have it quick.

Well just aim your love line

In her direction."

Whoa_____!

Chorus:

All you bad, bad boys

Call her up on the Spank Line.

All you bad, bad boys

Call her up on the Spank Line.

Verse 2:

Three dollars, first minute

After that, cost ya' four.

She'll be up for negotiations

If you come back for more.

Pre-chorus 2:

"Now, who you gonna call

When you need that special little somethin'?

You can say what you like.

It's all confidential."

Interlude (the part with all the wierd echo effects and stuff);

B-b-bad boy!

Dial 1-900-SPANKED!

All you bad, bad boys

Call her up on the Spank Line.

For the most part, this tab was created with:

===========================================================================

== BUCKET 'O TAB ==

== tablature creation software for Windows ==

== For more information: ==

== email: gse@ocsystems.com ==

== US Mail: The Bucket, 3176-B5 Summit Square Dr., Oakton, VA 22124 ==

===========================================================================

Well, there's "Spanked" without the solo or outro. Here's a hint: the solo

begins with that lead guitar bit from the before the first verse. I'm not

much of a lead guitarist so Eddie Van Halen solos are a bit out of my

league. But I think what I've tabbed here should provide a practical

version of "Spanked".

Questions/comments/(maybe even requests) welcome by email only. ;)

Good luck,

Paul D. s3bz@music.transy.edu