Feb 24 2009
Iconic Yet Simple - Roxanne
Back in the 70’s, The Police burst onto the music scene with their reggae-infused new wave, and their first big hit was a little song about a hooker named Roxanne. While the drumming is insanely intricate (Stuart Copeland is one of my favorite drummers ever) and the vocals test the limits of Sting’s range (he wasn’t able to hit the highest highs when I saw them in 07), the guitar and bass are incredibly simple. During the verse the guitar is your typically minimal reggae rhythm guitar playing on each of the four beats while the bass just plays a descending line, two quick notes at a time on the 2 beat. Then the chorus kicks into double time and everyone is rocking out the eighth notes. While the notes themselves are really easy to play, the placement of them is what drives this song. You’re sort of straddling that 2 beat with each note and not letting the second one ring out too much until the last note of each descent (”I won’t share you with another boy…” that’s where you let it ring). Tone-wise, this dub-style bass is all about boosting your lows and cutting your mids and highs, just deep and dark and low.
Have fun and give this one a try. Here’s the tab. And below is a YouTube with just the lyrics to distract you.
