"Rain King" is an odd one. In many ways, it was the wild card on Daydream Nation - even more so than "Total Trash", which was played exactly once in 1988 and then tucked away until a brief return to the spotlight in 1993. "Rain King" was given a little more of a push in '88, though only played a known eight times. After that, it was buried very deep, likely given no consideration until the 2007 "reissue tour" made its inclusion obligatory. Adding to its curious nature, the song's working title referenced both Pere Ubu and John Cougar Mellencamp. With "Hey Joni", Lee had already exceeded his standard allotment of one song per album, but "Rain King" pushed it to an unprecedented three leads, making Daydream unique in that aspect. Even live, it took until 1999 for Lee to get three songs in a set, and it wasn't a regular occurrence. Until, of course, the 2007 tour - where sometimes he even got a fourth song in the non-Daydream encore!

Fans were naturally excited for the "play all of Daydream" tour, as many of that album's songs had been long abandoned, and Sonic Youth had never done a "whole album front to back" gig (aside from Rather Ripped on its release date, and a Murray Street set in 2002, which recalls last week's entry). For the purposes of this site, I'd been able to piece together the Daydream Nation tunings over the years, with one notable exception: "Rain King". When the band contacted me to discuss guitars and tunings for the forthcoming tour, I was concerned to learn that even they had no firm data on "Rain King". Since they'd played it so rarely, the only available footage is in the Put Blood in the Music documentary. Like "Kissability" last week, it's an interstitial glimpse in the midsection of "Silver Rocket". A mere 45 seconds from the song is used, in mostly extreme close-ups, focusing more on the band's new sunglasses than their fretting hands. Oh well. What we can see is Lee playing his second Telecaster Deluxe, Thurston using the black and white Ibanez Roadstar, and Kim playing her Rickenbacker 4003 bass. This was filmed in August 1988, right around the time when the album was recorded. It's this performance that appears on the deluxe reissue, on the second disc where the album is reconstructed with live versions. However, instruments in this footage can be deceiving - for "Silver Rocket" Thurston used his white Mustang, which was typically in GDD# during this era.

A short while later I received an update - they had worked out the "Rain King" tunings based on some rehearsal tape recordings. I was surprised by both - Lee's was a slight modification of another Daydream tuning, and Thurston's was totally unexpected (which I suppose was to be expected). I was also surprised by just how much "Rain King" kicked ass during the 2007 shows I saw! They found an arrangement that worked really well and Steve nailed its rolling rhythm with seemingly effortless energy. There's so much going on in the mix of the album version, I've never been able to put my finger on exactly who's doing what, let alone when and where they're doing it. The how was inconceivable! I think the band went back to the masters to isolate their various parts to relearn them for the tour, and 19 years later they were able to deliver a worthy live representation of the track. The Glasgow version is sensational!

That was not the case back in 1988. The song was part of the very first batch of Daydream songs debuted on June 9th in Hoboken, New Jersey. The first night it was instrumental, the second night Lee entered halfway through with a very rough vocal. The song itself was pretty close to the eventual album version, a little loose and longer with Steve drawing out his fierce tom-tom beat in both the intro and outro while the band changed guitars. It was dropped for the Knitting Factory shows and restored at CBGB, where Lee's work-in-progress vocal reached new heights of frantic insanity. Still loose, but getting tighter. A few months later, the song was in the set for the start of the European tour. On October 8th, in Athens, Greece, their first attempt to play it dissolves after ninety seconds and Thurston cracks "That's our new single, it's gonna be out in the stores tomorrow, so please pick one up! We're hoping it will take us to some far away places!" Rather than abandoning it, Thurston pleads "No let's do it again, I like that song!" After extended downtime and chatter, Kim jokes "The time allotted for this song is over!" but Thurston insists. It doesn't appear on anymore recordings from the tour, and only turns up once on the North American leg, on December 10th in Charlottesville, Virginia. From then until June 2nd, 2007, the song is one of countless ghosts in the Sonic Youth Archive. For those 24 Daydream Nation shows (and - like "Kissability" and "Total Trash" - only those 24 shows) it was an opportunity to redefine the song, buried deep on the third side of Daydream, as killer, not filler.

Yet I still had questions. Apparently so did Raj Paden, who e-mailed me suggesting an alternate tuning for Thurston's part, based precisely on what we do see in the Put Blood in the Music documentary. Let's talk about Lee's tuning first, since that's an easier discussion. In the Blood doc, we see Lee's red Mustang for "Kissability", which was tuned EBEEAB. The band decided on EBEEAA for "Rain King", and I question whether Lee would use a separate guitar, or just retune the Mustang. As noted with "Silver Rocket", the gear used can't always be trusted. Based on live recordings, I feel pretty confident that the top strings are xxEEAA. I can also hear a low E at one show, and Lee's chord shape in the '88 footage matches an E tuning. However, I do wonder if maybe he's tuned EEEEAA instead. I never hear an open B, and I feel like the lack of a fifth makes the chords in "Rain King" more effective. He used EEEEF#F# for "'Cross the Breeze", and we've now learned he'd later use EEEEG#G# for "Disappearer". Since I can't be sure, and it makes little difference to his overall part, I'm going to stick with what worked for Lee himself: EBEEAA.

Thurston's tuning, D#D#AAEE was an even weirder proposition. I suppose it's no crazier than some of the other 80s tunings, but it really came out of left field. I've listened to all known live recordings of the song and tried to catch any open string snippets with some success, but little conclusion (a low D# seems confirmed). Fortunately, there are a few other noteworthy versions of "Rain King" (somewhat) available. As mentioned, the 2007 deluxe edition of Daydream Nation featured live renditions of all the album's tracks, but used "live in studio" performances from Put Blood in the Music for "Rain King" and "Kissability". Both songs are nice, powerful versions with good stereo separation of the instruments, though a little generated and rough sounding (and I did forget to mention last week that "Kissability" is missing a big chunk). While they certainly had access to some of the wilder June '88 versions, I'm glad they went with a pretty respectable, straight take for the reissue.

We'll talk a little more about the video footage that accompanies this take, but if you check out Thurston's part in the right speaker, the biggest clues are audible in the "wah break" (aka "Section C" below). In the first, brief one, I think I hear a faint high D#, but in the middle, longer one, I think I hear both open middle A and C notes (Raj Paden also hears C). Since this is the part we see Thurston playing in the documentary, we can see he's simply strumming the open strings. Or is he? More below...

I talked about the wealth of Rehearsin' For Ya material on Mix Tape #8 last week, which includes an "early version" of "Rain King". It's fully instrumental, with an embryonic bassline and beat, and only hints of the finished guitar parts. This was probably recorded in early 1988, and it's a very cool part of a presumably very cool larger document. Maybe we'll get Rehearsin' For Ya in 2028 for the 40th anniversary of Daydream Nation. At the very least, it's a shame this version of "Rain King" wasn't collected on a Rarities volume, as it's quite an interesting early spin!

For the sake of tuning identification, this one is a little tougher. First off, I'm not sure it runs at the right pitch. The Rehearsin' For Ya version of "The Sprawl" opens on a droning B note, when it should be a C - the low notes in Thurston's CCEBGD tuning, which open the song. So, unless Thurston hadn't finalized his tuning, I assume the tape runs a bit slow, but I also can't confirm that "Rain King" is from the same tape. Since the structure of the song is so wildly different, the only riff I can point to as a compass for pitch is Kim's opening bass riff, which does sound as G to F# - it should probably be G# to G (though she would lower it a string and make it C# to D in the final song). With this in mind, and the potential for Thurston's tuning to be in the development stage, I didn't trust too much from this recording (definitely sounds like a low D#, and possibly one an octave above?). Dig also the early "Eliminator Jr" tease at the very end of the file, itself sounding like a primitive twist on a not very complicated riff.

Finally, going all the way back to 1990, "Su Nioj" was Sonic Youth's contribution to the DK Pulser 3" CD compilation. It was later used on yet another 3" CD that came with some versions of the Sonic Life book. It begins with a sound collage, leading with slowed down and looped audience cheering a la 1983 piece "Audience" followed by elements of Lee's drone tapes. Then, it cuts into the band playing live (but not necessarily "live"), jumping into the tail end of "Rain King". There's very nice stereo separation between the guitars, the drums sound great, the bass isn't drowning in wah so that's a plus...I would love to hear the full version of this and anything else that might have been recorded. As the song winds down, they continue making an atonal racket, Steve teases a slow beat, and Lee starts trying to play Neil Young's "Hey Hey, My My" (a recurring theme in this era, see also the Candle single). At this point, Thurston starts his weird hair metal ghost shrieking, crying "Satan!" and "Join Us!" while the jam deconstructs into a DGL-1 loop. Given the presence of "Su Nioj" at the end of their cover of "Victoria" on October 11th, and Lee's other attempt at "Hey Hey, My My" from November 19th, this may date to mid-late 1988. But what is it? It certainly sounds better than any of their demos, with big reverb on the drums and that nice separation.

"Su Nioj" offers the most clues to Thurston's tuning. If you isolate the right speaker, you can hear him very clearly, and there are lots of clanging open strings. The low D# is there, and again possibly a D# an octave above. The open A and C heard in the South Bank version are also heard here, and sometimes I think I hear a note even higher than the potential D#. It sounds like he starts sliding a drumstick on the strings at times, but then you can hear open strings peeking through when he lifts it. I drove myself nuts trying to determine what was a fretted note versus an open string, and as much as I thought I could get a conclusive answer, I'm afraid I could not. Because...

...the damn Put Blood in the Music video ruins everything. The slice of "Rain King" we see begins during the long wah break in the middle of the song. Thurston is seen strumming the open strings. It cuts to Lee, who isn't playing, then back to Thurston when the verse resumes ("Crossfire Rain King with his Cadillac kid..."). Here we get a glimpse of Thurston playing the verse, with Kim's headstock largely blocking the view (we never do see her hands). Cut to a fashion shot of Kim in close up rockin' her shades, while pushing her bass wah to jaw harp territory, then back to Thurston for a little more of the same thing. If you count fret dots, you can be pretty certain he's playing the 9th to 12th fret at the start of the verse progression (in the 2007 version, he plays this as 5th to 8th fret on the E strings).

Raj Paden is 100% right - in D#D#AAEE the 9th to 12th fret would not make sense - the correct notes on the middle strings would be 12th to 15th. His hands just don't seem anywhere near that position for this to be right. To make matters more complicated, I think he's playing the riff on the lowest strings, not the middle strings - I would expect the bottom string to be visible. This had me considering all sorts of scenarios - I was sure the low D# was there, but what if it wasn't the lowest string? What if he was tuned ACC on the bottom, which would match the 9th fret to 12th fret seen in the doc, and explain why he's playing closer to the lowest string. Then, maybe he could have a set of D# strings an octave apart on top? Weird idea, but it moves the D# away from the lowest string. During the "wah break" section where he's strumming the open strings, it does look like he's thumbing the lowest string around the 13th to 14th fret. Just the angle or is he muting the low string? Is he fretting the note?

Regardless, no matter what combination of D# A C I played around with, including optional D# octave and a higher note like A or G# on top, nothing made sense. Usually when you get the tuning right, the song just falls into place, but I kept finding myself in a deeper hole as the "clues" piled up. One final factor further frustrating my attempts to translate Thurston's true tuning was the inconsistent speed of these tapes. Even the album version itself seems to run quite sharp. Also, the band surely had access to numerous tapes that they've never released, which likely have clearer tuning breakdowns that they were able to refer to for the great 2007 "Rain King" review. However, I can't argue with what I see and hear, and Thurston's tuning almost certainly has at least one C in it. The band introduced a lot of new tunings on Daydream Nation, with Thurston moving away from the unison style and devising GABDEG, ACCGG#C, CCEBGD, and whatever "Rain King" is. The C pair seems to be a recurring trend, and I admit my temporary "good enough if I ignore certain pieces of evidence" verdict was D# A C C D# G#/A(?).

A couple of years ago I did some lockdown tabs and it was the first time I took a close look at "Rain King". Thanks to the Daydream Nation live film recorded in Glasgow, it's pretty easy to break down the 2007 versions of those songs. I've touched those tabs up just a bit, and also addressed the fact that my ancient bass tab was "a little lousy". Of all the entries in this series, this is one where I'd really like to hear from people. Despite the aggressive mess on the album, some of the alternate versions released offer pretty clear hints towards both guitarist's tunings. So hey, maybe you could see what you think? Check out "Su Nioj" or the deluxe edition version, find some of those June '88 board tapes and listen carefully, maybe you'll hear something I didn't! I really wanted to close the book on this one, but there's one big dead end in my head. So instead I present to you...the 2007 version of "Rain King", with elements of the album version where possible. More Daydream next time!

A SECTION				00:00-00:30

Thurston:

At first, Thurston is just digging his strings into the pickup and doing exaggerated
whammy bar exercises on the open E strings (or harmonics). Then he starts building
up on this: 

E---0---
E---0--- (palm muted)
A---0---
A---0---
D#------
D#------

On the album, this section features two tracks of Thurston guitar. One is doing the random 
whammy/pickup squeakin', and one is making chug-chug noises by muting the string around the
first fret. Then he starts building up on A, but it may be a shape like this:

G#------
D#------
C---9---
C---9---
A---0---
D#------
                 
Lee:

Begin by picking squawky notes high up the fretboard w/ delay, then build up on this chord:

A-------
A-------
E---5---
E---5---  w/ palm mute
B---5---
E---5---

Kim:

On the album, she plays:

G------------
D------0-0---  x 10
A------------
E---9--------  hold the low note while the open string rings

based on the early demo and some other versions, i think she might have been holding a 
shape like this:

G---0---
D---0---
A--11---
E---9---

the demo sounds more like the open G string and the 11th fret on the A.

in 2007, she plays:

G------------
D------------
A------3-3---
E---0--------

On the album in particular, it almost seems like she's moving a pedal to switch channels
between notes, with the first being relatively clean and the open string having a heavy
fuzz/wah filter. This effect may have been achieved during mixing, or with something other
than the Crybaby and Aria distortion she was using at the time.

B SECTION				00:31-01:06

Thurston:

E---5--8---5-8-5-8br-5---5--5---5-5-3-5-6-6-6-5---  
E---5--8---5-8-5-8br-5---5--5---5-5-3-5-6-6-6-5---  play twice
A------------------------------------------------- 
A-------------------------------------------------  you can drone the A strings if you want
D#------------------------------------------------
D#------------------------------------------------

E---5--10---10-10-8-10b-10-10-10-10r-8---5--5---5-5-3-5-6-6-6-5---
E---5--10---10-10-8-10b-10-10-10-10r-8---5--5---5-5-3-5-6-6-6-5---
A-----------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------
D#----------------------------------------------------------------
D#----------------------------------------------------------------

Play entire segment twice.

On the album, and in particular PUT BLOOD IN THE MUSIC, it seems like he could be playing:

G#-----------------------------------------------------
D#-----------------------------------------------------
C---9--12--9-12-9-12br-9---9--9---9-9-7-9-10-10-10-9---   etc
C---9--12--9-12-9-12br-9---9--9---9-9-7-9-10-10-10-9---
A---0--------------------------------------------------   drone A throughout as you wish
D#-----------------------------------------------------
                 
Lee:

A--0--3------0--0---        ---0--5-----0--0---
A--0--3------0--0---        ---0--5-----0--0---
E--0---------0--0---  x 2   ---3--3-----0--0---  repeat all of this twice
E--0---------0--0---	    ---3--3-----0--0---
B--5---------5--5---	    ---3--3-----5--5---
E--5---------5--5---        ---3--3-----5--5---

You can also play the 5th fret on the middle E strings when playing the 5th fret root chords,
instead of leaving them open.

Kim:

G---------------------
D---------------------
A---------------------
E---5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5--- etc  or open A string

C SECTION				01:07-01:09

Thurston:

E----0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---
E----0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---
A----0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---
A----0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---
D#---0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---
D#---0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---

In the Glasgow 2007 film, he just strums the open strings. In PUT BLOOD IN THE MUSIC, he has his
fretting hand positioned so most of the strings are open, but he could be fretting/muting the lowest
string with his thumb around the 13th to 14th fret.
                 
Lee doesn't play during this section.

Kim turns on her wah/fuzz and goes wild. I'm honestly not sure what note she's playing here. 
In the 2007 version, it seems like she might be kinda pick-scratching the open D string while she strums.

D SECTION				01:10-01:33

Thurston:

E-------------------16---------------------  trem pick all the high notes
E-------------------16---------------------
A----/---15------15--/---------------------
A----/---15----/-15--/---------------------  x 4
D#--18----/---18--/-------0--0-0-0-0-0-0---
D#--18----/---18----------0--0-0-0-0-0-0---

On the record, he might be playing:

G#-------------------12--------------------
D#--------------------/--------------------
C---------12------12--/--------------------
C---------12------12-----------------------
A----12----/---12--/-----------------------
D#----/----/---/---/------0--0-0-0-0-0-0---
                 
Lee:

A---------------------------------------------------13--13-13-13--13-13-13---
A---------------------------------------------------13--13-13-13--13-13-13---
E---5--5--5-5-5--12--12--12-12-12--11--11--11-11-11-11--11-11-11--11-11-11---  x 4
E---5--5--5-5-5--12--12--12-12-12--11--11--11-11-11-11--11-11-11--11-11-11---
B---5--5--5-5-5--12--12--12-12-12--11--11--11-11-11-11--11-11-11--11-11-11---
E---5--5--5-5-5--12--12--12-12-12--11--11--11-11-11-11--11-11-11--11-11-11---

Kim:

G-----------------------------------------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------18-18-18-18-18-18-18-18-18-18\\\\---  slide backwards while picking
E---5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-------------------------------------                           

In the 2007 version, she goes to the 15th fret instead of the 18th.

E SECTION				01:34-01:45

Thurston:

E---0-0-5-0-3^5-0-5--0-5-0-6-6-5-------------------                            ---10---12---13---12---
E---0-0-5-0-3^5-0-5--0-5-0-6-6-5-------------------                            ---10---12---13---12---
A---0------------------------------5---7---8---7--- play octave up on repeat:  ----/----/----/----/---
A---0------------------------------5---7---8---7---			       ----/----/----/----/---
D#---------------------------------/---/---/---/---			       -----------------------
D#-------------------------------------------------			       -----------------------
                 
Lee:

A---19-------20---22---
A---19-------20---22---  trem pick // play variation twice
E---17--------/----/---
E---17--------/----/---
B----/-----------------
E----------------------

Kim:

G-------------------------------
D-------------------------------
A-------------------------------
E---5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5--- etc // could also be octave up

D SECTION				01:46-02:10

E SECTION				02:10-02:22

C SECTION				02:22-02:34

This is the longest "wah break".

B SECTION				02:34-03:10

C SECTION				03:10-03:13

G SECTION				03:13-03:31

Thurston:

E-------5---3^5-3-0---
E-------5---3^5-3-0---
A---0-0---0----------- repeat variation x 12
A---0-0---0-----------
D#--------------------
D#--------------------
                 
Lee:

A--------------------------------
A--------------------------------
E--5--5-5-3^5-3-5--5-5-3^5-3^5--- repeat variation of this
E--5--5-5-3^5-3-5--5-5-3^5-3^5---
B--5------------5----------------  w/ slight palm mute
E--5------------5----------------

Kim:

G-------------------------------
D-------------------------------
A-------------------------------
E---5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5--- etc 

D SECTION				03:32-03:55

A SECTION				03:56-04:39

Thurston:

E----X-X--X---X--X----
E----X-X--X---X--X----
A----X-X--X---X--X----   basically just mute the strings very close to the nut
A----X-X--X---X--X----    and strum this rhythm
D#---X-X--X---X--X----
D#---X-X--X---X--X----   you might get harmonics on the D# strings
                 
Lee just slides shapes very high up the fretboard w/ delay, then mimics Thurston's part
with rhythmic mutes.

Kim plays the same figure she played during the intro.


text + tab by Chris Lawrence

special thanx to Raj Paden!