'Marlene' strikes me as a song that Todd knocked off while in "pop formula" mode. The lyrics are almost a parody of the teenage puppy love song genre, but musically there are a couple of elements that stimulate my ears in subtle ways. One is the structure of the verse -- instead of being 16 bars, as would be expected in this kind of formula, it's 12 bars, and the phrase lengths are uneven. I hear them as a 4-bar phrase, then a 3-bar phrase, then 4 bars, then a lone 1-bar phrase. The effect (to me) is to give it a hesitant, inarticulate adolescent quality that supports the lyric perfectly. Another feature that fascinates me is the fade-out ending. I always thought I heard it modulating to some higher key upon each repeat, but when I sat down with guitar in hand, I discovered that it doesn't -- it's an audio illusion! I don't think this song depends on specific chord voicings as much as some of Todd's other songs do, so I haven't taken much trouble to try to mimic his piano arrangement on guitar. Please take the fingerings below as suggestions only -- play it however feels most comfortable to you. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Marlene Composer: Todd Rundgren Em7 F Marlene, Marlene, you're the Bbmaj7 Am7 Dm7 prettiest girl I've ever seen; do you Bbmaj7 Am7 Dm7 care for me at all, Marlene, I Em7 Dm7 C care for you and I Bbmaj7 A7 Dm7 Fsus4 F Just don't care who knows it and I Bb Am7 Gm7 Bb/C Gm/C F Guess that means that I love you Marlene, Marlene, who'd believe that you're only seventeen I'm in trouble if your folks get mean And if they do Then I don't care if they bust me F7sus4 F7 And I guess that means that I love you Bbsus4 Bb Eb Dm7 Gm7 C F7sus4 F7 Bbsus4 Bb I don't need no fan - ta - sies Eb Dm7 Gm7 C F Just one thing I need -- If you can make it F/Eb here, Marlene Dm6 Dear Marlene Marlene Marlene, when I think that it all is just a dream I remember that your eyes are green And mine are blue They will always see each other And I guess that means that I love you I don't need realities Just one thing I need If you could make it here Marlene Dear Marlene, Em F Bbmaj7 Am7 Bb/C Marlene, Marlene, I'm depending on you now Dm7 Em7 F Mar - lene Bbmaj7 Am7 Bb/C I'm depending on you now Dm7 Em7 F Mar - lene... (repeat to fade) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Marlene, Marlene, you're the prettiest girl I've ever seen Em7 Fmaj7 Bbmaj7 Am7 Dm7 x x x x xo x 7|1111| |||||| |||||| 5||111| 5|1111| ||||2| 8|1|||| 61|||2| |||||| ||||2| ||3||| |||2|| ||34|| |||||| ||3||| |||||| ||3|4| |||||| |||||| |||||| And I just don't care who knows it and I C Bbmaj7 A7 Dm F7sus4 F7 x x x xo x xx____ xx____ 5||111| |||||| 5||111| 5|1|||| ||1111 ||1111 |||||| 61|||2| |||2|| ||||2| |||||| |||2|| |||||| ||34|| |||||| ||35|| |||3|| |||||| 4||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| Guess that means that I love you Bbmaj7 Am7 Gm7 Bb/C Gm/C F x_____ xo_o_o _x___x x____x ______ xx____ |11111 ||||1| |||||| |||||| |||||| ||||11 |||2|| ||2||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||2|| ||3|4| |||||| 2|333| |2333| |11111 ||3||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| ||3||| F7sus4 F7 Bb7sus4 Bb7 xx____ xx____ xx xx ||1111 ||1111 6||1111 6||1111 |||||| |||2|| |||||| |||2|| |||3|| |||||| |||3|| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| I don't need no Eb Dm7 Gm7 C x x _x____ x_____ |||||| 5|11111 |||||| |||||| 6|11111 ||||2| |||||| |||||| |||||| ||3||| 3111111 3|11111 ||444| |||||| |||||| |||||| ||444| fan - ta - sies... Fsus4 F Bb7sus4 Bb7 xx____ xx____ xx xx ||1111 ||1111 6||1111 6||1111 |||||| |||2|| |||||| |||2|| ||34|| ||3||| |||3|| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| ...here Marlene ...dear Marlene F/Eb Dm6 xx____ xxo_o_ ||1111 |||||1 |||2|| |||2|| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| --------------------------------------------------------------------- About my tab style: This message should be displayed in a mono-spaced font (e.g. courier,) or the chord diagrams and tablatures will look unaligned. The letter to the left of the slash in chord names like "A/D" refers to a triad, and the letter to the right refers to the bass note only. The number directly to the left of the chord diagram is the position on the guitar neck (or closest higher fret). "x" along the top means mute or deaden that string, "o" means let it ring open. A solid line along the top of the diagram represents the guitar nut. If you see any mistakes, or have any corrections or alternate ways of playing any of my tabs, I'd love to hear from you. Please email me at lsprague@channel1.com Last revised 9:36am Friday, August 14, 1998