The Habanero Reel

Words and music by Ian Anderson from The Secret Language of Birds

Transcription by Peter Dawson with thanks to Håkan for help, all corrections are welcome.
12:8 time?

Tablature shows the “Reel” intro.  The spacing indicates timing.  Triplets start all bars and are shown in italics.  The riffs are played after each line of the verse as indicated for Verse 1.


Intro
 |Riff 1                                          |Riff 2
||------3---------0-------------------------------|------3---------0-------------------------------|
||000-------0-0-----0---0-------------------------|000-------0-0-----0---0-------------------------|
|:------------------------242-0-----0-0-----0---2-|------------------------242-0-----2-0-----------|
|:------------------------------4---------4-------|------------------------------4---------4-2-----|
||------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
||------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|


|Riff 1 as above                                  |Riff 3
|-------------------------------------------------|------3---------0-------------------------------||
|-------------------------------------------------|000-------0-0-----0---0-------------------------||
|-------------------------------------------------|------------------------242-0-----0-------0-----:|
|-------------------------------------------------|------------------------------4-----2---4-------:|
|-------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------||
|-------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------||


Verse 1
[Em]Cool in the corner, tom [Dsus4]cat sit[D]ting [Riff 1]
on the [Em]edge of the yard; sand-[Dsus4]flies flit[D]ting. [Riff 2]
[Em]Orange order in a [Dsus4]field of [D]green. [Riff 1]
[Em]Smothers me to smith[Dsus4]er[D]eens. [Riff 3]

Chorus
[G]Rum and cola, ice cubes [D]crashing.
[C]Jumping beans and [Em]brown eyes [D]flashing.
[G]Long hair swinging, tell me how d'you feel?
[D]Well, [C]hot and [D]fancy,  it's the [Em]habanero [C]reel.[add D before Middle-8]

Riff 1 & 2.
Verse 2
Troubled skin? Pour oil upon it.
She's fit to burn in her new Scotch Bonnet.
Spice up anybody's stew.
Frogs and goats and chickens too.

Chorus

“Middle 8”
[G]Barefoot in the [C]sunshine.[D G(7th pos) D(5th pos) D(10th pos)]
[D]Kicking empty beer cans [G]down on a [C]high tide [D]line. [Dsus2&4 var]
[D]Big wave nearly [Em]float your [D]dress away.[Am, Am7, Amsus2, Am(5th pos)]
And I'm [G]thinking that it's [D]just [G]another [C]day:
just an[D]other day.

Riff 1 & 2.
Verse 3
Feel that hot rush starts its tickle.
Sweat is rising, taste buds prickle
with ears of bat and eye of eagle.
It's just as well it's strictly legal.

Chorus & finish with “Middle 8”; “Barefoot in the sunshine ...”


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