Elliott Smith - Half Right

this is another great elliott smith song from heatmiser’s
final album , mic city sons . there’s also a pretty good version
on the new moon album from ’07 .

– – – –

you want to start out the song picking the G and B strings , B first , playing an Em7 .
listen to the recording and this should be pretty easy to
figure out . on the 11th beat , start picking the D string , too . again ,
listen to the song and this will be easy to figure out .
go for 5 more beats and
then switch to a and add in the a string . again , use either version
( the acoustic smith one or the heatmiser one ) for reference here .
then finally hit C and keep doing the same thing .

when i’m about to go into the first verse , i always briefly hold down
the third fret of the high E to get that sound you hear elliott playing
at the same point in the heatmiser version . i have no idea what
he actually does in the song , but any little lick you can think of
should sound good .

after this , you repeat it again . if you’re playing
with a full band , ( drums , bass , etc . ) this is where everything
else except vocals should come in as evident in the recording .
when i play the song alone i skip the repeat and play G , A ,
and C instead .

now , the chords :

G Em7
you shouldn’t talk to your yourself
A
well , i pictured somebody else
C
someone that looks like
C
what i look like

G Em7
would you say that one of your dreams
A
got in you and ripped out the seams?
C
thats what i’d say
C
thats what i’d say

G Em7
he was a sucker for your double – dose
A
motherfxxker turned white as a ghost
C
don’t you say hi
C
don’t you say hi

G Em7
with a broken sink for a face
A
and a head that just takes up space
C
he’s not half right
C
he’s not half right

Dsus2 Em
it’s already half past
A7sus4 Cadd9
and it won’t last

G Em7
i was sticking up for my friend
A
when there’s nothing much to defend
C
it’s a lost fight
C
it’s a lost fight

G Em7
’cause when i talk to you on the phone
A
well , it’s just like being alone
C
it’s not half right
C
it’s not half right

( repeat the intro to end . )

– – – –

this is the simplest version of this song possible . if you want A
way more detailed overview , follow this link :

the version in the link was tabbed by this kid :
http : //www . youtube . com/watch?v = 9k96bzmh9 – e&feature = related