Introducing this tab | Verse | Bridge | Lyrics | About the song | Endnote
Okay, this is a rough and ready 'start you off' tab for the song. If you want to take it further, please do, but this is the basic idea that you will recognise from the song.
There are two main musical parts to the song, the VERSE and the BRIDGE. But before that, you'll need to do a simple retune of your guitar to what is known as the drop F# tuning. All you need to do is tune down your 3rd string, or G string (more tea, vicar?) to an F#, the note you get from the 1st string, second fret of a regularly tuned guitar. Like so:
STRING NOTE RETUNE NOTE 3 G F#
For the verse fingerpicking there are two chord shapes. The first is Em (depress second fret of both the 4th and 5th strings) and then an A variation (depress second fret of both the 3rd and 4th strings).
Playing the Em shape gives you the first half of the verse fingerpicking like so:
E-------------------- B-------------------- F#-----------0------- D---------2-----2---- A------2-----------2- E----0---------------
Then the A variation:
E--------------------- B--------------------- F#------------2------- D-------2--------2---- A----0-----0--------0- E---------------------
You'll recognise it. Listen to the song a few times to get the timing right.
Then for the bridge part - "Bloody nose and burning eyes, raised in laughter to the skies" - you need to get into an Em-shaped descending series of four ringing bar chords. In other words, if you are playing an A bar chord, the tab will look like this:
E-----0-- B-----0-- F#----0-- D-----7-- A-----7-- E-----5--
Notice you are playing all the strings. This is what gets the ringing sound going and, with the intensity you should be hitting it, you'll find it gives a nice wide sound. This is also partly achieved with a chorus/flanger-type effects pedal sound.
The bass notes (i.e. what's going down on your 6th or E string) for the descending four bar chords (listen to the song for their beat and rhythm and keep the same chord shape as above for all) are:
B B B B A A A
Bloody nose and burning eyes
G# G# G# G# F#
Raised in laughter to the skies
And then return to the fingerpicking (or strumming if you like) of the VERSE part for the "Been in trouble but I'm okay" lyrics.
Fascist architecture of my own design
Too long been keeping my love confined
You tore me out of myself alive
Those fingers drawing out blood like sweat
While the magnificent facades crumble and burn
The billion facets of brilliant love
The billion facets of freedom turning in the light
[bridge]
Bloody nose and burning eyes
Raised in laughter to the skies
I've been in trouble but I'm okay
Been through the wringer but I'm okay
Walls are falling and I'm okay
Under the mercy and I'm okay
Gonna tell my old lady
Gonna tell my little girl
There isn't anything in the world
That can lock up my love again
Fascist Architecture was written by Bruce Cockburn on 5 May 1980 in Denver, Colorado. It appears on three of his albums: Humans (1980), Waiting for a Miracle (1987), and "You Pay our Money and You Take Your Chance" (1997), the latter a live version.
To give you an idea of what the 'Bruce Cockburn on Bruce Cockburn' Project website's main focus is, as of July 1999, the Project had tracked down the following comments about this song by Cockburn:
Have fun with this tab and be sure to visit the 'Bruce Cockburn on Bruce Cockburn' Project at http://www.nigelparry.com/brucecockburn/ for lyrics, BC's comments on his songs and albums, gig news and links to other Cockburn websites. for more Bruce Cockburn guitar tablature, visit Gavin Mudd's excellent archive of tablature and chords to Bruce Cockburn songs, including links to other tab sites at http://www.netspace.net.au/~angelb/cockburn/tab/BCTab.html