Ceremony by The Cult
CEREMONY
Performed by THE CULT
From the LP CEREMONY (1991)
This is the title track from 1991's Ceremony disc. It really is a cool track, from a cool disc, but very
underrated by the band. In fact, towards the end of the tour for the disc, most new material was dropped
and replaced with hits. The band felt the project was a bust, but provided a few good tunes. One of which
I feel is this one. It's about the endless drudgery of playing live shows for the Sonic Temple tour. Every
night, a tribal gathering, for a sacred Ceremony.
Standard tuning, 6 string electric (Duffy uses his gold Gibson in concert).
Intro: (Various drums and bells, with organ (not transcribed here), constant humming?)
|----------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------|
|--------3--5---5b7-----5-----------3b5r3------------------|
|--3/5---------------------------------------------3b5r3---|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----------2--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----------2----hold chord---2---5h7p5---5b6-7r5--------------------------------------|
|-----------2-----------------------------------------7p5----7------------5sl.7--------|
|-----------0--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--3br5--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------13b15r13---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--12sl.14--------------------14p12--14---------12-------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------14sl.12-----10--------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12p10-----------12--|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
*hold that last note as long as you can, while building feedback, then scratch pick down strings (use
a delay pedal if you've got it to provide echo)
Drums kick in!
Main Riff:
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------9---9-------------7----7-----------5-----5------------------------------------------------------|
|------7---7-------------5----5-----------3-----3------------------------------------------------------|
|-0-------------0---0--------------0--------------------3p2p0----------3--2----------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------3---------------------------------|
"It's a ceremony_____________
That same descending line will be used for the chorus as well!
During the verses, I just do this (which, if you know Sun King you will find kind of funny! (and easy!))
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|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----5-sl.---7----7---7-----5-sl.-7------7-------5------2----2-----2--2--2------------------------------|
|----3-sl.---5----5---5-----3---sl.-5------5-------3------0----0-----0--0--0-------3-p---2-p-0----------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3----|
Oil and blood Ceremony Hold an eagle's feather to my heart
on my heart?
(continue playing that over the lyrics?)
A time for magic driftin' in, pushin' molten fire music in,
(yeah fire music in)
We are gathered here (yeah), in a sacred place...
This part (pre-chorus) is just raising the power chords...
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----7-----9-----11-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
----7-----9-----11-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
----5-----7-------9--------------------15 sl/ 0--------------------------------------------|
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Over the chorus, you get this cool harmony lick when Ian sings "It's a ceremony" as if the guitar is
singing along. That goes:
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------5----7-----5B7R5---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------7~~~-------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
The solo you'll just have to do yourself.
In the end, just fade. Or as the cult did in concert, do this cool little segway...
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------7-----------------5-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------7-----------------5---------------------------2---2---3--4--4------2----3b----------2---2---|
|--------5-----------------3-------------3sl.15-------0----------------------------------3b----0---0--|
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
...Livin' in a shack in a one horse town, tryin' to get to heaven 'fore the shit goes down...
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