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Melancholy Mood

Tabbed by 

Lots of unnecessary detail here, perhaps, but it’s hard to draw a line.

1. As Dylan frequently does on the Sinatra albums, he (a) plays in weird keys, and (b) modulates to even weirder keys during the song. The intro is in Dm, the song itself in Cm, and the outro in Fm. Live with it.

2. The second chord (Ab6/9 in the song, Bb6/9 in the intro) is one of those chords that contain just about everything, so it can be played in many different ways. In addition to those I’ve already indicated, it could also be played as a Dm7-5 type of chord – or simply as a plain Ab.

3. The chords in the line “O what lonely soul I am” could be replaced by a simple C or a Cmaj7. There is a nice downward motion at this point, but it’s not strictly necessary, of course.

4. The same kind of descent is found in the bridge – again not necessary to play.

Chords 
Ab6/9   4x4564

melancholy-mood.png

Cm
Melancholy mood
Ab6/9    G7
 Forever haunts me
Cm
Steals upon me in the night
Ab6/9    G7
 Forever taunts me
C          Cmaj7  Cmaj7    C6
Oh, what a lonely soul am I
Dm7               G7
Stranded high and dry
     Cm               Ab  .  G7  . 
By a melancholy mood
Cm
Gone is every joy
Ab6/9     G7
 And inspiration
Cm
Tears are all I have to show
Ab6/9    G7
 No consolation
C     Cmaj7  Cmaj7     C6
All I see is grief and gloom
Dm7               G7
Till the crack of doom
    Cm               Ab G7 Cm  .
Oh, melancholy mood
Fm 
Deep in the night
         Fm7   Bb7
I search for a trace
     Ebmaj7
Of a lingering kiss
               (Eb6)
A warm embrace
Ab6                   
But love is a whimsy and flimsy as lace
Adim                   Ab    G7
And my arms embrace an empty space
Cm
Melancholy mood
Ab6/9    G7
Why must you blind me?
C       Cmaj7         Cmaj7    C6
Pity me and break the chains
    Ab6/9       G7
The chains that bind me
      C     Cmaj7         C      Cmaj7 
Won't you release me, set me free?
Dm7       .       .    Db
Bring her back to me
Cm        Fm         Cm .  .  Db
 Oh, melancholy mood

 

melancholy-mood - outro.png

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