The Smiths – This Charming Man (Intro Tab)

smiths ukulele tab


MP3

This week I thought I’d tab up a few of my favourite intros, starting out with easily the best.

It’s interesting listening to this early version of This Charming Man recorded a Peel Session. The riff is intact in the verse but the intro sounds very weak compared to the final version.

The version I’ve tabbed above is in the key of the original. But it’s easier to play it two frets down as Perrecy does in his German ukulele version of the song. Here it is in that key.

perrecy ukulele tab

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35 Comments

  1. Josh September 15th, 2009 6:51 pm

    Wow
    I’ve started really getting into The Smiths recently and this is great
    thanks!

  2. cardboardfrog September 15th, 2009 7:21 pm

    new levels of epic ukulele playing are in my very near future,
    seriously excellent choice woodshed, Bravo!

  3. Iain September 15th, 2009 7:21 pm

    Aha, wicked! Time for us all to dust off the Morrissey impressions.

  4. mictoboy September 15th, 2009 8:55 pm

    lovely stuff!

  5. zym September 15th, 2009 10:47 pm

    good choice :D

  6. nick Bardy-Chivor September 16th, 2009 10:39 am

    AAH The Smiths…Always loved them…Any one who could dream up the lyric…”Spending warm Summer days indoors, Writing frightening verse To a buck-toothed girl in Luxembourg”…is worthy of the Godlike status old Mozzer has achieved…More Smiths please Al…

  7. J-Hob September 16th, 2009 9:58 pm

    sweet! The timing in that song is pretty tricky!

  8. jerika September 18th, 2009 12:57 am

    I was just listening to this song a couple of days ago and was thinking how nice it would be if some one tabbed this out. Thanks for reading my mind.

  9. Andy September 18th, 2009 6:24 am

    Fantastic. Thanks. I’ve been playing this repeatedly since it was posted, although only the most imaginative of Smiths’ fans would be able to recognise what I’m doing. Practice, practice….

  10. Woodshed September 18th, 2009 4:39 pm

    Josh: Thanks.

    cbf: Good luck with it.

    Iain: I have been spending a certain amount of time flouncing around after playing this.

    mictoboy: Thanks.

    zym: Agreed.

    Nick: It’s a definitely possibility.

    J-Hob: It is. Not entirely sure I’ve got it right.

    jerika: It’s good to use my mind reading skills for good for once.

    Andy: Glad you’re enjoying it.

  11. emily September 20th, 2009 12:24 am

    this made my day… i really need to learn tab so that i can spread this glee on my own.

  12. Woodshed September 20th, 2009 5:38 pm

    emily: Good luck with the glee spreading.

  13. Madison September 25th, 2009 12:08 am

    For Perrecy’s version… how do you do a pull-off on an open string? D:

  14. Matt September 12th, 2010 12:05 am

    UNBELIEVABLE! Thank you so much!

    Hatful of Hollow was my first Smiths album so I’ve always preferred its version of This Charming Man. I guess it’s not as tight as the studio one, but it also doesn’t have the huge ***80s drum sound*** of devastation.

  15. Woodshed September 14th, 2010 11:14 am

    Matt: You’re very welcome.

  16. gavin November 14th, 2010 2:27 pm

    this is great!
    it will take me some time to learn this
    but it’s still great

  17. Woodshed November 15th, 2010 3:19 pm

    gavin: Thanks. Good luck with it.

  18. Frank January 31st, 2011 11:43 am

    This is class. Easily wins favour with relatives who were children in the 80s…
    Almost makes you forget what a bizarre xenophobic weirdo Mozza turned out to be, really =/

  19. Woodshed January 31st, 2011 8:18 pm

    Frank: I was a child in the 80s. Although I was a little too young and unhip to get into The Smiths at the time.

  20. Blackie April 12th, 2011 8:56 pm

    fantastic. As a quiffed-up northerner i’m indebted. One thing – being new to uke i’ve got the chords sorted to ‘Ask’ but would love the intro. Can’t for the life of me work it out. Can anyone help?

  21. e August 7th, 2011 10:21 pm

    is it possible that you could write out the chords/tabs individually? like in the grid-tab notation? i’m a beginner who doesn’t know how to read this type of uke notation but would love to learn this song! thanks, e

    PS if it’s you playing on that file, you sound great!

  22. Woodshed August 9th, 2011 11:10 am

    e: It’s too complicated to use chord notation, I’m afraid. There’s a guide to reading tab here.

  23. Simon March 27th, 2012 7:13 pm

    Holy shit!

    If I ever play this decently… My life will be more or less complete!

  24. Woodshed March 28th, 2012 6:14 am

    Simon: Good luck with it.

  25. Zoe June 7th, 2012 2:41 am

    Thank you so much! I’ve been listening to the WIUO’s cover on repeat and wishing I could rock it in a similar fashion :)

  26. Woodshed June 9th, 2012 3:16 pm

    Zoe: You’re welcome. They do play a great version of it.

  27. Fred January 8th, 2013 8:18 pm

    Could somebody tell me the chords to go with it? it would sound even more amazing with a backing uke! Thanks so much for posting it :)

  28. Woodshed January 9th, 2013 10:34 am

    Fred: There are some chords here.

  29. Miangy February 11th, 2013 4:41 pm

    Hope I could play it one day ! Looks too tricky for now

  30. Woodshed February 11th, 2013 7:02 pm

    Miangy: Good luck with it when you tackle it.

  31. Colleen June 27th, 2014 8:16 pm

    I struggled a lot to play the harder version because I wanted it to be in the right key.. and then I realized that simply tuning my uke one step up gave me the ability to play in the right key but use the easier (far more playable) tab.
    Thanks a bunch for the tab(s)!

  32. Woodshed June 28th, 2014 7:48 am

    Colleen: Thanks! I’m glad you got it down.

  33. Laura Currie June 12th, 2016 5:49 pm

    I know this would be a ridiculous task, but any chance of a tab for the rest of this song?! Got the intro down and just want to sing along now!

  34. Joel Cerda April 1st, 2018 11:55 pm

    Yoooooo thanks so much for this you have no idea how long I’ve been trying to learn this by ear but now I don’t have to. Thanks child.

  35. Woodshed April 4th, 2018 7:07 pm

    Joel: Glad I could help!

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