Chords for Sublime: The Importance Of Sincerity - RETROACTIVE REVIEW

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_ What is one of the biggest complaints about the entertainment industry?
Whitewashing.
Whitewashing.
[Cm] Whitewashing.
Whitewashing.
[Ab] Whitewashing.
This guy is the last samurai.
This guy is the last samurai.
Fuck you.
[F] Right.
It's a practice that history has seen repeated time and time again, from Mickey [C] Rooney in
Breakfast at Tiffany's to
Let the whole world feel it.
Feel it.
[C] And I'm still in the murder business, I can hold you down like I'm giving lessons in physics.
Whatever this is, whitewashing is an issue we've seen since the very inception of the industry.
It's also one I don't think we'll ever completely escape either.
But in the internet age where everyone's able to cry injustice, to scream that their
[F] culture is being appropriated, there's something that always amazes me [B] about it.
They've never mentioned Sublime.
_ [E] _ _
_ Now, for those of you [Dbm] eager to hate me, I don't say that with contempt.
I say that with admiration.
[B] Sublime is almost a perfect target [E] for a clickbait article like that, and yet, [Eb] it's never happened.
Their style, which ranges from punk rock to dub, hip hop, and [B] primarily scoff, are all
genres that in one form or [A] another hold roots in [B] black culture.
But with [F] Sublime,
I just [E] don't care.
But why is that?
And with all these styles, how do none of them feel out of place?
What made these guys so unique?
Well, I think a big part of it is that they [Bb] always understood the [Ab] strengths of what they
were pulling from. _
_ [Ab] _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ [Bb] _ If there were ever two genres that were meant to be fused together, it would be ska and punk.
But while their contemporary third wave of ska bands really honed in on just those two,
Sublime seemed [Eb] eager to do more.
But the key [Bb] to what they did is that no matter what they incorporated, they used ska and
punk [Ab] as a way to maintain focus.
If Bradley was rapping, he'd approach it with an island [B]-influenced dialect.
_ _ [E] _ _ _
[B] _ _ [Gb] _ _ [E] _ _ _ _
[B] _ [Gb] Or if they covered [Gbm] a punk song, _ _
[A] _ _ [Gbm] _ _ _ _ [E] they'd play it faster.
_ [Bb] _ _ _ [G] _ _ [Bb] _
_ [C] In fact, let's start there.
One of the true testaments of an artist's talent is how they go about a cover song.
If you can tell it's a cover without even knowing the song they're doing, then they
have missed the whole point of it.
But Sublime were never like that.
Their debut album has 22 songs on it, 6 of which are covers.
And no matter how many years I've spent listening to it, I always forget that.
Because they do what every great band does with someone else's work.
They don't recreate it, they reimagine it.
Take Bad Religions' We're Only Gonna Die, for example, and listen to how it's done [G] originally.
[A] _ _ _ [G] _ _
[A] _ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ _ _ [A] _ _ [G] _ _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ _ Okay, now what does Sublime do [F] instead?
_ [B] _ _ [A] _ _ _ [G] _
_ _ [Am] _ _ _ [E] _ _ [D] _
_ _ [Am] _ _ [A] _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ [B] _ [G] Right out the gate, it is a totally [E] different song that still works.
And where [A] the original is a standard punk song, very [Gm] direct, get in and out quick, [D] Sublime
incorporate their SoCal [Ab] personality with the song and take their time to let it build
to the spirit of the original.
_ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ [A] _ _ _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ _ _ [A] From here, the song is given more dimensions for them [G] to play around [D] with, and for us,
becomes [A] more rewarding to listen to.
_ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ [G] But what's crucial is [A] that they utilize moments like these to really [G] let their personality shine through.
[A] What's particularly amazing about them is that no matter how dark [G] the subject matter
got, you could always picture Bradley singing with the biggest, most welcoming [D] smile on his face.
_ _ [Em] _ _ [A] _
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_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ [Em] _ _ [E] _ _ It's when [G] they're stripped down like this that we start [A] to see what made Sublime [G] so great.
How can they balance all these styles?
[A] How do they manage to [G] feel so genuine?
How are they so [A] easy to love?
[E] The answer is simple.
[G] It's because of Bradley.
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_ _ [D] _ [G] _ _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _ [G] _
_ _ [D] _ _ [G] _ _ Whitewashing when you come down to it is an extension of our fear that someone is not
genuine, and the reason Sublime aren't berated is because that's [C] exactly what they were.
They're a band that wore their hearts on their sleeves every step of the way.
[C] It's funny looking back on the last 20 years [G] since his passing, and how no one can seem
to replicate what Sublime [C] was.
The dirty [D] head, slightly stupid, not even the [G] surviving members but an Eric.
Whether they became the Long Beach dub all-stars or just the same band with someone [G] that sounds
like him, it didn't matter how hard they [C] tried.
They could never [D] recapture the essence of what they had, which I'm sure many people
look at as shameless or them trying to capitalize [Fm] in a way, but [G] really, can you blame them?
[E] This was a seminal band.
[Gb] They were that good, [Em] they were that innovative, [E] and the music that they made was that [Gb] original.
People [E] critically don't think of Brad in terms of the [Am] Jim [B] Morrison's and the Kurt
Cobain's, [E] but they will. _
When you get right down to it, [Ab] this is a band that should have gone [G] nowhere past someone's [Dbm] backyard party.
Their [Ab] frontman, who was literally [B] months away from becoming [E] the rockstar he always wanted to be.
The guy that [Ab] introduced them to reggae music, [Dbm] and all this time later, they just want to
have a piece of it in their lives [B] again, hoping that maybe the music [A] he brought to them can
bring him back [Eb] also.
It's not shameless that they want to [A] recapture that, [B] it's tragic.
[Eb] Even they seem to realize [Dbm] it's pointless.
[A] Now all we're left with [B] are a few albums, [Eb] some videos, and 20 [A] years of wondering what
could have happened.
Sublime was Bradley.
[Bb] Eclectic, authentic, and easy to love.
[F] _ _ _ _ _ [Gb] _ _ _
[Db] _ _ [Gb] _ _ _ [Db] _ _ _
[Gb] _ _ _ _ [Ab] _ _ _ _
[E] More. _ _ _ _ _ _