Accidentally Like A Martyr

Written by 
Warren Zevon
Tabbed by 
Eyolf Østrem

Performed by Bob Dylan during the fall tour 2002
Tabbed by Eyolf Østrem

Dylan is mostly faithful to Zevon’s version, with the exception of the first chord in the third line of the verses, which is rather played something like this:

      Bb          C       Dm  C  Bb  F/a
Never thought I'd have to pay so dearly

It sounds as if the most pronounced guitar in Dylan’s version plays with D-chords and a capo on the third fret. I’ve included such a version below, as well as a version capoed on the 5th fret.

The long chord sequence in the middle of the song is virtually impossible to play satisfactorily on one guitar: The chords themselves are simple enough, but you simply can’t get both the bass line and the dut-dut-dut figure right at the same time. I’ve tabbed out a suggestion in the version with the 5th fret capo. Perhaps surprisingly, the uncapoed and the 3rd fret capo version sound best, overall, in this respect.

Chords 
F/a   x03211
C/Bb  x12010
F/Bb  x13211
Eb/Bb 66504x (or 668886, but that doesn't sound as good)
Db/f  xx3121
Ab/db x46544

Uncapoed version

 

 

F    C/e             Dm    F/c
 The phone don't ring         No, no
Gm7      F/a            Bb                      F/Bb Bb F/Bb Bb   Dm7
 And the sun refused to shine                   :   .   .   .     :
      C/Bb                Dm  C  Bb  F/a      |-----------------|-1---
Never thought I'd have to pay so dearly       |-1---3---1---3---|-1---
Gm            F       Bb     F/Bb-Bb F/Bb-B   |-2---3---2---3---|-2---
 For what was already mine                    |-3-------3-------|-0---
Dm7   G7/b              C                     |-1-------1-------|-----
  For such a long, long time                  |-----------------|-----

        F         C
We made mad love, shadow love
Bb               F
Random love and abandoned love
F                    C
 Accidentally like a martyr
Eb/Bb           Bb                       F
  The hurt gets worse and the heart gets harder

[repeat chorus]

Dm   F     C   F
F/a  F     C
Dm   F     C   F
F/a  F     C
Db/f Ab/db Eb  Ab
Db/f Ab/db Eb
Db/f Ab/db Eb  Ab
Db/f Ab/db Eb  F

The days slide by
Should have done, should have done, we all sigh
Never thought I'd ever be so lonely
After such a long, long time
Time out of mind

We made mad love
Shadow love
Random love
And abandoned love
Accidentally like a martyr
The hurt gets worse and the heart gets harder

Version with capo 5th fret

C    G/b             Am    C/g
 The phone don't ring         No, no
Dm7      C/e            F                                C/f F   C/f F    Am7
 And the sun refused to shine                            :   .   .   .     :
      G/f             /g  Am  G  F   C/e          -(1)-|-----------------|-0---
Never thought I'd have to pay so dearly           -(1)-|-----------------|-1---
Dm            C       F     C/f-F C/f-F Am7       -(2)-|-0---2---0---2---|-0---
 For what was already mine                        -(3)-|-2---3---2---3---|-2---
    D7/f#             G                           -(3)-|-----------------|-0---
For such a long, long time                        -(1)-|-----------------|-----

        C         G
We made mad love, shadow love
F                C
Random love and abandoned love
C                    G
 Accidentally like a martyr
Bb/F            F                        C
  The hurt gets worse and the heart gets harder

           Am      C         G       C         C/e     C       G
     .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .   .
||-------|-----0-0-0-------|-----3-3-3-------|-----0-0-0------------||
||*--1-1-|-1-----------3-3-|-3---1-1-1---1-1-|-1---1-1-1---3-3-3---*||
||---2-2-|-2---0-0-0---0-0-|-0-----------0-0-|-0-----------0-0-0----||
||-------|-----------------|-----------------|----------------------||
||*------|-----------------|-----------------|---------------------*||
||-------|-----------------|-----------------|----------------------||

          Ab/c    Eb/Ab     Bb      Eb        Ab/c    Eb/Ab   Bb            C
    .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .   .       .     :   .   .   .
||------|-----3-3-3---1-1-|-1---6-6-6-------|-----3-3-3---1-1-1----||-3-3-|-3---------------
||*-4-4-|-4---------------|-----4-4-4---4-4-|-4-------------------*||-1-1-|-1---------------
||--1-1-|-1---3-3-3---3-3-|-3---3-3-3---1-1-|-1---3-3-3---3-3-3----||-----|-----------------
||------|-----------------|-----------------|----------------------||-----|-----------------
||*-----|-3---------------|-----------------|---------------------*||-----|-----------------
||------|-----------------|-----------------|----------------------||-----|-----------------
                                                                                        The...

Version with capo 3rd fret

Chords:

A/c#   x42220
A/g    34222x
Bb/d   xx0331
F/Bb   x13211

D    A/c#            Bm    D/a
 The phone don't ring         No, no
Em7      D/f#           G                                 D/g G   D/g G     Bm7
 And the sun refused to shine                             :   .   .   .     :
      A/g            (/a) Bm  A  G   D/f#          -(3)-|-----------------|-----
Never thought I'd have to pay so dearly            -(0)-|-----0-------0---|-3---
Em            D       G     (D/g-G D/g-G) Bm7      -(0)-|-2---0---2---0---|-2---
 For what was already mine                         -(0)-|-4-------4-------|-4---
    E7/g#             A                            -(2)-|-----------------|-2---
For such a long, long time                         -(3)-|-----------------|-----

        D         A
We made mad love, shadow love
G                D
Random love and abandoned love
D                    A
 Accidentally like a martyr
C/g             G                        D
  The hurt gets worse and the heart gets harder

Bm   D    A   D
D/f# D    A
Bm   D    A   D
D/f# D    A
Bb/d F/Bb C   F
Bb/d F/Bb C
Bb/d F/Bb C   F
Bb/d F/Bb C   D

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