Brainiac's Daughter

(Sir John Johns)

#\#i#/#Psonic Psunspot#\#/i#/#

Psonic Psunspot

Recordings
Art
Lyrics
Chords and Tablature
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Recordings

  1. Album version, 3'38.
    Performed by The Dukes of Stratosphear.
    Recorded at Sawmills Studios, Fowey, Cornwall, in June 1987.
    Produced by John Leckie. Engineered by John Cornfield.
    Released on Psonic Psunspot.

    Andy: “Right, well Brainiac is the character in the Superman comics, the evil genius with the green skin and the sort of lightbulb screwed in his head. He was like a Martian Lex Luther and I thought he's be a wonderful psychedelic subject to write about, and his potential daughter: I don't think he had one but if he had she would have been, well, colourful, mauve and purple.”
    Andy: “ ‘Brainiacs Daughter’ was a conscious attempt to write as if McCartney had tried to come up with a track around the time of Sgt. Pepper or Yellow Submarine - 1967/68 - so all the ingredients were picked to sound like McCartney. Banana fingers piano, descending chord changes, falsetto vocals, nonsensical lyrics . . . it's got the lot! We tried to make a McCartney psychedelic soup. People thought it was the Bonzos by the time we'd finished it.” Dave: “Or Thunderclap Newman!”
    Gary Pig Gold: “ ‘Yellow Submarine’ solo bubbles and vocal answers on last chorus. More bouncy Carnaby Street chords.”
  2. Demo version.
    Released on 7 July 2003 on Fuzzy Warbles Volume Four in the U.K.
    Also released on 9 April 2009 on Psonic Psunspot in the U.K.

    Andy: “Here's the other [DC Comics female character, afterThat's Really Super, Supergirl’]. Except she wasn't really an existing character at that time. Merely a psychedelic invention. Me stamping my foot on our spare bedroom floor sort of in time to a backward tambourine. How I ached as a kid to go to the bottle city of Kandor.”

Art

“Brainiac's Daughter” postage stamp

“Brainiac's Daughter” postage stamp

   

Lyrics

Brainiacs Daughter
Made me a suit of bricks and mortar
And a matching stove pipe hat, oh yes
Brainiacs Daughter
Took me on a sleigh ride underwater
And I'm crazy for girls like that
Oh yes Sir, yes Sir
Three bags full Sir

All across the land the bells ring out
It's night, sun shines bright
So I reach to hold her frozen hand in flight
As we alight in the bottle city of Kandor

Brainiacs Daughter
Talks like a Daily Planet Reporter
Sitting cross legged there on the mat, oh yes
Brainiacs Daughter
Swallowed the pocket watch I bought her
And I'm crazy for girls like that
Oh yes Sir, Yes Sir
All fall down Sir

And I love the lights that blink on and off
All around her head
And I love the clothes that she tries on and off
Landing on the bed
Yes Sir, Yes Sir
Three bags full Sir

© 1987 Virgin Music (Publishers) Ltd.


Chords and Tablature

Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2017 17:29:08 +0100
From: Florian Decros <flodecros (at) gmail dot com>
Subject: Bass tabs for Black Sea
Message-ID: <CAPtZtiMEot5AHL_+cxMcr+04FpjkfeJhrP8+8hK7B15ycOk_KA (at) mail dot gmail dot com>

Hi !
Here's the bass tablatures for the 11 (great) songs from the classic "Black Sea". A lot of repetitive bass lines, but also some tricky parts. Sorry if there's any mistakes, and I hope you'll enjoy those basslines as much as I do.
Cheers,
Florian.


Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 21:48:37 EDT
From: KingJeffe (at) aol dot com
Subject: Brainiac's Daughter
Message-ID: <61661467.359843f7 (at) aol dot com>


Here's a guitar tab transcription I did of "Brainiac's Daughter", the Dukes at
their mind expanding best!


Brainiac's Daughter
                by XTC (Dukes of Stratosphere, that is)
                written by Andy Partridge (Sir John Johns, that is)

                transcribed by Jeffrey Fariello (kingjeffe (at) aol dot com)

Probably my fave Duke's bit, if I had to pick one. Maybe it's the
nostalgia of my comic book reading youth it appeals to.


Chords:
*****************************************************************************
Intro:    E    E7   E6   E   Eaug                    Bridge:     C13    E7
chords                                               chords
          0    -    -    -     0                                 10      -
          0    3    2    0     1                                 10      5
          1    1    1    0     1                                  9      7
          2    2    2    0     2                                  8      6
          2    2    2    0     -                                  -      7
          0    0    0    0     0                                  8      -
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Main chords:

 A   E(Ab bass)   F#min   C#7   Bmin   F#7(Bb bass)  D(A bass)  E9aug   F#7

 -       0          2      -     2        2             2         2      2
 2       0          2      2     3        2             3         1      2
 2       1          2      4     4        3             2         1      3
 2       2          4      3     4        2             0         2      2
 0       -          4      4     2        1             0         -      4
 -       4          2      -     -        -             -         -      2
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 *E chord run leading       |---0----0----0----0---|
  into slide whistle solo:  |---0----0----0----0---|
                            |---1----2----3----4---|
                            |---2----4----5----6---|
                            |---X----X----X----X---|
                            |---0----0----0----0---|

*****************************************************************************
Intro: E-E7-E6-E---E6-E7-Eaug
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Verses:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A         E(Ab bass)  F#min     C#7              Bmin

Brainiac's daughter,  made me a suit of bricks & mortar, and a matching
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
F#7(Bb bass)  D(A bass)     E  -  E9aug   |  A         E(Ab bass)  F#min
                                          |
stove pipe hat...........oh yes.......... |  Brainiac's daughter,  took me on
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  C#7              Bmin                     F#7(Bb bass)   D(A bass)

a sleigh ride underwater, and I'm crazy for girls like that.........
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   E---E7---E6--E----E-E7---E6---Eaug

oh yes Sir, yes Sir, 3 bags full Sir.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A              F#min    F#7        Bmin      E        Bmin       E

All across the land the bells ring out, it's night... sun shines bright.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A             F#min    F#7    Bmin    E         Bmin  E

So I reach to hold her frozen hand in flight, as we alight
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
E7-----E6--E--E--E7--E6-Eaug

in the bottle city of Kandor.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A         E(Ab bass) F#min        C#7            Bmin

Brainiac's daughter, talks like a Daily Planet reporter, sitting cross-legged
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
F#7(Bb bass)   D(A bass)  E  -  E9aug | A         E(Ab bass)  F#min
                                      |
there on the mat.......oh yes         | Brainiac's daughter, swallowed the
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
C#7            Bmin                          F#7(Bb bass)  D(A bass)

pocket watch I bought her, and I'm crazy for girls like that........
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   E---E7---E6--E----E---E7---E6---Eaug

oh yes Sir, yes Sir, all fall down Sir..
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridge:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
C13            E7                       C13                 E7

And I love the lights that blink on and off, all around her head...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
C13            E7                       C13                 E7   E chord run)

And I love the clothes she tries on and off, landing on the bed...(into solo)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Slide Whistle solo over "all across the land.." progression
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Outro: Repeat 1st two verses in succession into psychedelic infinity!
*****************************************************************************

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