To Forgive

Billy: On "To Forgive," I used a Fender Bassman that I bought during the recording of Siamese Dream. It's an old, fucked-up amp, one of those "silver face" models from the late Sixties or early Seventies. I paid to get it fixed, but it still doesn't work right. The amp makes this weird sound, like a storm coming. While we rehearsed the song, the sound got worse, and then started to go away,at which point we started to record. Right about the time we did the rake that's on the album,the sound started to come back. If you listen closely, you can hear a little bit of the storm sound coming again.

GS: Is it like a rumble?

Billy: No, it's more like KKKkkkccchhhHHH, like something's definitely wrong with the amp. I've had problems with tubes going harmonic, but this is something else altogether. I've tried kicking that head as hard as I can, and sometimes that makes the sound go away. But other times it makes it get worse, so you have to know just when and how to kick it! [laughs]

GS: How do you play the first verse of "To Forgive"?

Billy: It's mostly based on arpeggiated 1st-position chords. At the chorus, I break into full chords combined with single-note arpegiations.

GS: The bridge of "To Forgive" has a very cool cyclical feel to it.

Billy: That's because it's based on a chord progression that actually cycles around.

-Guitar School - 1996

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James: But here's what was cool about it: in the past, everything had to overdubbed and layered - guitar overkill. That wasn't really the train of thought this time, although we did that, too. But there are some songs with just one guitar track. "To Forgive" has just one live electric guitar take.

-Guitar World - 1995