You're a Big Girl Now
Words and music Bob Dylan
Recorded in New York Sept 17th 1974 (released on Biograph, 1985) and
in Minneapolis Dec 27 1974 (released on Blood on the Tracks, 1975).
Released in a live version from Fort Collins, May 23, 1976, on Hard
Rain (1976)
Tabbed by Eyolf Østrem
Album version
Bm Am
Our conversation was short and sweet
Bm Am
It nearly swept me off-a my feet.
G C
And I'm back in the rain, oh
G C
And you are on dry land,
Am
You made it there somehow
Bm Am D7/f# G . . . D/f# . . .
You're a big girl now.
Original New York version
Open E/D tuning
Chords:
Emaj7 004340
B7 002120
E(iv) 054000
B(ii) 042000
A 020120
F#m7 xx2120
E 000000
Bvii 777777
Emaj7 . . B11 | E(iv) . . . |
Emaj7 B11
Our conversation was short and sweet
Emaj7 B11
It nearly swept me off-a my feet.
E(iv) B(ii) A
And I'm back in the rain, mm - mm
E(iv) B(ii) A
And you are on dry land, mm - mm
F#m7 *)
You made it there somehow
Emaj7 B11 E(iv) . . A | E B(vii) . . |
You're a big girl now.
Bird on the horizon, sittin' on a fence,
He's singin' his song for me at his own expense
And I'm just like that bird, oh, oh,
Singin' just for you, mm-mm.
I hope that you can hear,
Hear me singin' through these tears.
Love is so simple, to quote a phrase,
You've known it all the time, I'm learnin' it these days .
Oh, I know where I can find You, oh, oh,
In somebody's room. m-mm
It's a price I have to pay
You're a big girl all the way.
Time is a jet plane, it moves too fast
Oh, but what a shame that all we've shared can't last.
I can change, I swear, mm-mm
See what you can do, mm-mm.
I can make it through,
You can make it too.
A change in the weather can be extreme
But it ain't like changing horses in midstream
I'm going out of my mind, mm-mm
With a pain that stops and starts, mm-aa
Like a corkscrew to my heart
Ever since we've been apart.
*) or (to get the bass more clearly) 222100 (or 220100 or 222120)
Rolling Thunder Revue live version (1976)
Tabbed from Fort Worth, TX May 16, 1976; the Hard Rain version from Fort Collins a week later is virtually identical.
Two guitars are prominent: Dylan’s and Steven Soles’ (according to Trev
Gibb, who got this information from David Mansfield)
1st guitar: Capo 4th fret (sounding key: E major); 2nd guitar no capo
Chords (some of these suggestions incorporate the tones in the bass and other instruments as well):
Cmaj7 There are many alternatives for this one:
x35500 gives the b-c clash that is clearly audible, at least in the intro;
xx5453 is an option, together with G11=3231, if the bass plays the bottom c;
032000 gives the "Em" feeling, and
332000 or x32000 is a more straightforward Cmaj7
xxx987 This is the high ringing guitar in the intro and the first lines of the verses
G11 3x0211. Mute the 5th string with the ring finger - it's not that tricky.
Can also be played as a Dm or a Dm7 (xx0211, xx0231, xx3231 [with Cmaj7=xx5453])
xxx765 (goes with xxx987)
The second guitar (probably Dylan) plays these chords without a capo (and correspondingly the other chords a major third higher than noted in the tab: E, B, A, and F#m):
Emaj7 xx9890 (for Cmaj7)
A6 xx7670 (for G11)
[one verse intro]
Cmaj7 G11
Our conversation was short and sweet
Cmaj7 G11
It nearly knocked me right off-a my feet.
C C G F
And I'm back in the rain, oh
C C G F
And you are on dry land,
Dm G
You made it there somehow
C F F *)
You're a big girl now.
*) C F F C G
. . . : (freely) : . . . : . . . :
|----3----(1)-(1)--------------------|-0----------(0)--|----------------|-3---------------
|-/5---5---1---1-----------1----1----|-1----------(1)--|----------------|-0---------------
|-/5-------2---2-----------0----2----|-0----------(0)--|----------------|-0---------------
|--------------3-----------3----3----|-2----------(2)--|----------------|-0---------------
|------------------------------------|-3----------(3)--|----------------|-2---------------
|------------------------------------|-----------------|---------0--1-2-|-3---------------
You're a now
big girl