Tuning: Standard





Here are the bass tabs for the sixth track off the band’s 2007 album “Red Carpet

And though this is primarily a dance-orientated song with a good amount of synths and very

guitar sticking out overall, it is worth pointing out the few bass lines that John

appears to be playing during the song, which form a pretty basic chord progression that some

the musicians out there can follow too.



Despite the fact that I did learn this song on bass, I hope the bass players out there

forgive me if I didn’t note this song entirely the way a bass tab should look. As a

I welcome any comments that might help the people trying to play this on bass get closer

getting the sound of the tabs to as close as possible to how John plays the song.





Here’s the bass intro that John plays before the first verse comes in during the

of the song, as well as the choruses when Timbaland is rapping.  When he plays it live, John

to be playing the intro very sparingly, even replacing it with the verse part after

the intro only once at the beginning. In any case, it’s his most obvious bass part

the whole track. By the looks of it, he seems to be sticking to the D string while

it too. Repeat as many times as necessary.



G|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|

D|--15--12----15--12----14--10----12--8-------------------------------------|

A|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|

E|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|





For the verses (and the rest of the song for that matter), the bass line seems to be

standard, following a D-C-A#-F chord progression throughout the song. Notice how John

to be following a very standard bass run he’s been known to follow during his earlier

in the band, playing one string and then jumping two ahead from the root note. On the

version, it sounds like he's varying the notes on the G string by either playing the

once or twice, but he appears to be hitting them twice each during the times he plays it live.



It also sounds like he's doing this riff during the outro of the song on the alvum

as well, so keep your ears open for that part.



    D                    D                    C                    A#          F

G|-----------------7--7-----------------7--7-----------------5--5---------------------------|

D|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

A|--5--5--5--5--5--------5--5--5--5--5--------3--3--3--3--3--------1--1--1--1-----3----3----|

E|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------1-----1------|





For what it’s worth, there is guitar being played here, though how its being played

remains a sort of mystery to me. During the live performances of the song, Dom Brown appears

be playing some slide work just before the verses with a steel slide that aren't as

during the song on the album. And on the album version, it sounds like there are

chords played pretty sparingly, during the intro and verses in particular. But after

Dom playing the song on a few videos, I’m still not exactly sure how he’s playing these

during those parts either. It seems pretty minimal though, so some simple bar chords 

John’s bass progression might do the trick in playing it on guitar. I notice

playing a D2 (000230) instead of D5 might work out better sound-wise if you're playing

chords only on the first few frets as well.



Because of all this, I also decided to include the chords to this song along with the

so that the guitar players will be able to play along as well. Perhaps we will be seeing a

version of Skin Divers on Youtube sometime soon as a result!





D   D   C   A#   F



D



D                              D

walking under skies, waiting for the fall

C                           A#          F

meet me at the cornershop I show you it all

D                              D

free you of your mind, something you won’t find

C                              A#          F

in the West End pages with yer Google-dirty fingers



       D                 D           C           A#          F

it’s a skin dive

		in deep,   silence,   we are ... going underwater

       D                 D           C           A#          F

it’s a lifeline

            teardrop,  bullets,   all night ... dip into the water



      D

Baby, that's what it feels like when you come up for air

D

When you come up for air

C

You feel brand new, when you come up for air

A#        F

When you come up for air



D

That's what it feels like when you come up for air

D

When you come up for air

C

You feel brand new, when you come up for air

A#        F

When you come up for air



D



D                    D

wipe us off the face of the human race

     C                           A#          F

whichever way you look it’s indisposed or disgraced

D                          D

fighting on the shore, the hoi polloi want more

C                              A#              F

howling bloody murder but it’s nothing, just a murmur



       D                 D           C           A#          F

in your skin dive

            in deep,   silence,   we are ... going underwater

       D                 D           C           A#          F

it’s a lifeline

            teardrop,  bullets,   all night ... slip into the water



      D

Baby, that's what it feels like when you come up for air

D

When you come up for air

C

You feel brand new, when you come up for air

A#        F

When you come up for air



D

That's what it feels like when you come up for air

D

When you come up for air

C

You feel brand new, when you come up for air

A#        F

When you come up for air



D



D                       D

a blushing rose is torn from these sugar walls

C                              A#            F

I misplaced my future, could I please borrow yours?

D                   D

paint it opalscene, you know what I mean

C                            A#             F

anything you want to be, the only thing you want from me ...



       D                 D           C           A#          F

skin dive

            in deep,   silence,   we are  ... going underwater

       D                 D           C           A#          F

it’s a lifeline

            teardrop,  bullets,   all night ... going South Dakota



D   D   C   A#   F



D   D   C   A#   F



               D                     D

Baby girl, you swimmin' a little too deep

    C                                A#          F

So deep that I think you might hit a reef

                      D                          D

I think you're low on oxygen and your tube got a leak

           C

Baby girl, swim to the top

                             A#        F

Grab my hand and hold me and breath



      D

Baby, that's what it feels like when you come up for air

D

When you come up for air

C

You feel brand new, when you come up for air

A#        F

When you come up for air



D

That's what it feels like when you come up for air

D

When you come up for air

C

You feel brand new, when you come up for air

A#        F

When you come up for air



D   D   C   A#   F



D   D   C   A#   F



D   D   C   A#   F



D   D   C   A#