If you were fortunate enough to see Sonic Youth play live, chances are you heard them play "Tom Violence" or "White Kross". Aside from a few tours where they tucked them away in favour of exclusively newer material, the songs remained staples once they entered the set in early 1986. In my last update of the Concert Chronology song statistics, only "Schizophrenia" and "Teenage Riot" had more known performances during the band's entire career. (In case you're curious but don't feel like hopping over there, the remaining top 10 are "Kool Thing" "Brother James" "Eric's Trip" "Bull in the Heather" "Expressway" and "100%".)

"Tom Violence" was likely written in very early 1986, during songwriting sessions for EVOL, which was recorded during February and March. The song was premiered with the rest of the EVOL material on April 12 in Austin, TX, at a show forever immortalized on the Live At The Continental Club bootleg issued by Sonic Death in 1992. Following the two Texas gigs, they started a month-long European tour in May, which is when "White Kross" entered the set. It sounded essentially the same as it would when recorded a year later for Sister, but I guess it just missed the cut for the EVOL sessions. Curiously, the title at least dates back to a 1984 set list, though no recordings exist to confirm what this version of the song may have been...

This set list is fascinating for many reasons - all circulating 1984 tapes feature just the Bad Moon Rising suite (including "Satan is Boring"), there are no known encores of "Brother James" and "Kill Yr Idols" (let alone anything resembling "White Cross"). There are also 3 covers faintly visible: "Straight Edge" (Minor Threat), "Sinister Purpose" (Creedence Clearwater Revival) and "Jealous Again" (Black Flag). The first 2 of these covers are mentioned in a very informative Forced Exposure interview conducted in October 1984 but again, no recordings are circulating.

The text of "White Kross" certainly dates to early '85 - the following page from Thurston's lyric journals begins with "Green Light" and includes "White Cross" along with 2 unknown compositions: "Rock Me" and "Waiting". Thurston actually began reciting the "Green Light" text in April 1985 versions of "Satan is Boring", months before the EVOL version was composed when Steve joined the band later that year.

This exact text appeared in the Sister liners, with the odd G#G#G#BD#D# tuning included, a total red herring unless a previous version of the song existed in this otherwise unused tuning. This occurs a few times in these early notebooks, including some which were captured in the Bad Moon Rising CD liners and caused much confusion during the early years of this site.

Various drafts of the "Tom Violence" lyric (originally titled "Dear Life") are also available. It's actually a rare insight into Thurston's lyric revision process (and perhaps an insight into the subject matter of the song itself).

What links these two songs is the fact that they were composed in a brand new tuning: F# F# G G A A Unlike earlier tunings like F#F#F#F#EB and GGDDD#D# which would inspire 20+ songs each, F#GA was rarely used by the band beyond the "Tom V"/"White X" combo, aside from a few more heavy hitters: "Schizophrenia" "Drunken Butterfly" and "Skip Tracer". Favored by Thurston, only on "Butterfly" is Lee also in F#GA.

In early '86, Lee retuned his original screwdriver guitar, the f-hole Telecaster Deluxe, to F#GA. It remained in this tuning, exclusively for these two songs (and briefly "Drunken Butterfly") until its theft in 1999. When the guitar was recovered in 2005, it was repurposed for new Rather Ripped material, but did return to F#GA for the band's final show in 2011. On the other hand, Thurston used a few different guitars for the F#GA tuning (mostly Ibanez Roadstars) before settling into his Fender "not a Duo Sonic" Mustang from 1990 until its theft in 1999.

The songs were played back to back at most shows in 1986 and 1987. In '88, the vast wealth of Daydream Nation material meant there was little room for any old songs in the set, but "White Kross" did weasel its way back in during their March/April 1989 tour of Europe. Both songs, but particularly "White Kross" were played heavily in the Goo era, less frequently during Dirty, and then disappeared during the brief period that could be considered the Jet Set days. By Lollapalooza '95 and the subsequent Washing Machine tours, the songs were back in pretty steady rotation but also had a lot of competition as '95 featured the band's most diverse set lists. With guitar techs now available to exchange and retune guitars between songs, there was less need for songs in the same tuning to be played back to back, though most SY set lists seem to be structured around the fewest guitar changes for Thurston. They dropped all old material again in '97 and '98, but from '99 onward both songs were frequent set list contenders. They were two of the first songs taught to Jim O'Rourke when he joined the band - I believe he even said that his favorite SY song was "White Kross". He played a slide guitar part in F#GA, a contrast to the initial part he came up with for "Tom Violence" which was in standard tuning! Later he seemed to favor F#F#C#C#DD, which is the GDD# tuning a half step down.

When Mark Ibold came aboard, both songs got the double bass treatment. Both were performed on the last South American tour in November 2011, but neither were played at the final gig.

"Tom Violence" is centered around one series of chord changes for the vocal sections, and then switches to an instrumental midsection mostly punctuated by Lee's squealing guitar. On EVOL, he hasn't really defined his part for this section, and since there isn't really a single super well known live version of "Tom Violence", I thought I'd use his part from the Berlin 10/21/09 gig as inspiration. It was released via bandcamp and the separation of the guitars is beautiful. It accurately captures the weird note progressions he would find during the many performances of the song.

"White Kross" is essentially two verses bookending a savagely tight midsection driven by fast tremolo picking by both guitarists. The 11/03/90 Irvine version from the Dirty Boots EP is a particularly explosive performance, and worth digging into to hear the individual parts a little more clearly than you can on Sister. You can also find the Irvine performance (along with eleven other shows featuring "White Kross") at their bandcamp. One other note - the Sister version of "White Kross" is actually not the original release of the song. It is pre-dated by the NME's Hat Trick 7" compilation released in February 1987, which contained a live version of "White Kross" recorded during the Flaming Telepaths tour in November 1986.

The song actually had a slightly different bassline in 1986. As you'll see below, during the midsection Kim sticks to F# then switches halfway to C# when the guitars repeat their previous riffs. This simple change really affects the tone and it's something I didn't fully appreciate until I was trying to work the song out. Originally, during the first half of the midsection, she played a droning open A string punctuated by occasional higher notes, kinda like her part on the verse of "Death Valley '69", and then switched halfway through to a solid B note. It makes for an interesting alternate take on the song before she settled on the final root notes.

The "Tom Violence" tab had previously been updated in June 1998 - classic site contributor Larsen offered his interpretation based on watching Thurston play it. Sam Rowe had taken a stab too. I consulted both of these and used video footage to confirm correct fingerings where I could, but I'm always open to comments and corrections! Likewise, there was a pretty good tab for "White Kross" by Olav By from around the same time, but I figured these two classic tunes deserved a closer look. Plus, I don't think I'll be doing many more 80s songs...but we'll see!

A note on the tuning: It should be manageable with any regular set of strings, except for that pesky D string tuned up to G. Give it a shot, but if you use a heavy gauge for your D string I'd suggest replacing it with something lighter for this tuning. You'll need it next time too!

A SECTION				00:00-01:02

The main vocal sections feature Thurston and Lee playing almost the same chords.
I haven't shown the strumming patterns but it should be obvious - the bass notes
are timed with the chord changes.

Thurston:

A---4-----------0-------------------------4----------
A---4-----------0-------------------------4----------
G---6-----------6-------------------------6----------  Thurston uses his thumb for the 5th fret,
G---6-----------6-------------------------6----------   you can throw in open strings as you please...
F#--0-----------0------------5------------0----------
F#--0-----------0------------5------------0----------

Lee:

A---4-----------0-------------------------4----------
A---4-----------0-------------------------4----------   
G---6-----------2-------------------------6-----18---  Likewise, Lee can add open strings to the 5th fret 
G---6-----------2-------------------------6-----18---
F#--0-----------0------------5------------0------0---
F#--0-----------0------------5------------0------0---

Kim:

G-----------------------------------------------------------
D---------------7--9--7--9----------------7--9--7\9-9\11-11-  intro
A--5--7--5--7----------------7--5--7--5---------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------

Kim actually changes her riff after the intro, she inverts the
first two notes for the rest of the song:

G-----------------------------------------------------------
D---------------7--9--7--9----------------7--9--7\9-9\11-11-  verse
A--7--5--7--5----------------7--5--7--5---------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------


B SECTION				01:02-01:40

The song changes tone when Thurston sings "Find it in a girl".

Kim drops to a low F#:

G------------------
D------------------
A------------------
E--2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2- etc

Thurston begins by playing just the low F# strings while Kim and Steve
build tension. Then he comes in with a chord progression:

A----2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--
A----2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--
G----4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4--2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--  x 4
G----4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4--2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--
F#-----------------------------------------------------------
F#-----------------------------------------------------------

Lee turns on distortion and hits the low F# strings, then shakes some
feedback from his guitar along with pick scrapes etc over the first
two repetitions of Thurston's above progression, then comes in with 
some notes. It's harder to distinguish what he's playing on the album 
so I used his lead from the 10/21/09 Berlin show as a reference:

A-----12---12-10---9/7--7/5--5-4-----0-0-2-4-5\7-9-9--9-9-7--5-5/4-4--
A-----12---12-10---9/7--7/5--5-4-----0-0-2-4-5\7-9-9--9-9-7--5-5/4-4--
G---------------------------------------------------------------------
G---------------------------------------------------------------------
F#--------------------------------------------------------------------
F#--------------------------------------------------------------------

Kim moves up an octave when Thurston starts the above progression:

G------------------------------
D------------------------------
A------------------------------
E--14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-- etc

B SECTION continued		01:40-01:55

Thurston changes to a different progression:

A----5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-7-7-7-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4--
A----5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-7-7-7-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4--
G----7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-9-9-9-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-- x 2
G----7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-9-9-9-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6--
F#----------------------------------------------------------------------
F#----------------------------------------------------------------------

Lee amps up the intensity with higher trem picked notes (still from Berlin):

A----14--16--17---16--19-21--19--17-16-------14--16--17---16--19-21---21~~--21b~~~--
A----14--16--17---16--19-21--19--17-16-------14--16--17---16--19-21---21~~--21b~~~--
G-----/---/---/----/---/--/---/---/--/--------/---/---/----/---/--/----/-----/------
G-----/---/---/----/---/--/---/---/--/--------/---/---/----/---/--/----/-----/------
F#----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F#----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kim stays locked into F#:

G---------------------------------------
D---------------------------------------
A---------------------------------------
E--14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-- etc

A SECTION				01:55-02:41

Both guitarists begin playing the main verse progression again, with distortion, but Kim stays on
the high F# note until Thurston starts singing again.

G---------------------------------------
D---------------------------------------
A---------------------------------------
E--14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-- etc

When Thurston starts singing, Kim plays her verse riff:

G-----------------------------------------------------------
D---------------7--9--7--9----------------7--9--7\9-9\11-11- 
A--7--5--7--5----------------7--5--7--5---------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------

Again, at "Coming out of a girl..." the last chord is dropped to a droning low F#.

C SECTION				02:41-03:06

Thurston:

A----2-2-2----0-0-0----                ----4----
A----2-2-2----0-0-0----                ----4----
G----4-4-4----2-2-2---- x 4   end on:  ----6----
G----4-4-4----2-2-2----                ----6----
F#---------------------                ----0----
F#---------------------                ----0----

Lee established a lead during the outro that isn't on the album version, this is based on Berlin:

A----0-4--5--7--4-------9--9-9\---4-------9-9--9-10-10--10-10\12----------7---5---4^5^4^5^4~--
A----0-4--5--7--4-------9--9-9\---4-------9-9--9-10-10--10-10\12----------7---5---4~~~~~~~~~--
G---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kim:

G---------------
D---------------
A---------------
E--2-2-2-2-2-2-- etc


text + tab by Chris Lawrence

special thanks to Larsen (DoublDwn11) + Sam Rowe

A SECTION			00:04-00:48

Thurston and Lee play a pretty similar riff for the verse. I haven't shown the timing
of the first 3 chords but it should be clear. Lee bends and holds the 3rd chord, while
Thurston slides up to the 10th fret.

Thurston:

A-----------------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------
G-------------------------------0-0-----0-0-0------0-0-----0-0-0--
G-----9----8-----2--------------0-0-----0-0-0------0-0-----0-0-0--
F#---10----9-----3-----\10--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--
F#---10----9-----3-----\10--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--

Lee:

A-------------------------------7-------10---------7---------10---
A-------------------------------7-------10---------7---------10---
G-------------------------------0--------0---------0----------0---
G-----9----8-----2--------------0--------0---------0----------0---
F#---10----9-----3----------0-0---0-0-0--------0-0-----0-0-0------
F#---10----9-----3-- bend --0-0---0-0-0--------0-0-----0-0-0------

Kim:

G-----------------------------------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------------------------
A----7-----6-------------7----------------------------------------
E----------------5----------2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2---

The riff is played once instrumentally, and three times with vocals.

B SECTION			00:48-01:01

I tried to place the notes as closely together as I could to indicate rhythm without
actually writing every single note out as furiously plucked. Almost every single one
of these notes is trem picked.

Thurston:

A-----12-------8--9----------------8-4---------5---7-----8---7-----9---11---12---14---
A-----12-------8--9----------------8-4---------5---7-----8---7-----9---11---12---14---
G-----14------10-11---------------10-6---------7---9----10---9----11---13---14---16---
G-----14------10-11---------------10-6---------7---9----10---9----11---13---14---16---
F#-----/----------/------------------/---------/---/-----/---/-----/----/----/----/---
F#------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lee:

A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-----14--------13--------14--------16--------14--------13--------14--------16--------
G-----14--------13--------14--------16--------14--------13--------14--------16--------
F#-----/---------/---------/---------/---------/---------/---------/---------/--------
F#-----/---------/---------/---------/---------/---------/---------/---------/--------

Kim:

G-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A--9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9--
E-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

B SECTION continued		01:01-01:14

Thurston starts this wild lick, which you can bend a bit too:

A----21-----21-----21-----21\------------------------21-----21-----21-----21\-----------------------
A----21-----21-----21-----21\------------------------21-----21-----21-----21\-----------------------
G-----/--18--/--18--/--18--/---x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x----/--18--/--18--/--18--/---x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x--  x 2
G-----/--18--/--18--/--18--/---0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0----/--18--/--18--/--18--/---0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--
F#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lee sticks with the ferocious trem picking, with a slow bend/release on the repeat:

A---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G----19------------------------18--------------------19br----------------------18-------------------  x 2
G----19------------------------18--------------------19br----------------------18-------------------  
F#----/-------------------------/---------------------/-------------------------/-------------------
F#----/-------------------------/---------------------/-------------------------/-------------------

Kim stays on F#:

G---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A--9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9--
E---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

B SECTION continued		01:14-01:17

There's a quick break where both guitars clang open strings while the bass and drums lock in. 

A---0------0------0------0----
A---0------0------0------0----
G---0------0------0------0----
G---0------0------0------0----
F#--0------0------0------0----
F#--0------0------0------0----

A---0------0------0------0----
A---0------0------0------0----
G---0------0------0------0----
G---0------0------0------0----
F#--0------0------0------0----
F#--0------0------0------0----

Kim switches to C# at this point:

G-----------------------------
D-----------------------------
A-----------------------------
E---9-9----9-9----9-9----9-9--


B SECTION			01:17-01:48

Then they play the entire B section again, only now Kim is playing a different root note:

G----------------------------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------------------------
A----------------------------------------------------------
E---9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9--

Lee and Thurston play the same parts, but when it gets to the end of the second part, instead of the
four open string clangs, the guitars just wail on the last notes, Steve does a quick fill, and they
slide back into the main riff.

A SECTION			01:48-02:28

They play the verse riff once instrumentally, and then once with vocals.

C SECTION			02:12-02:48

The song ends with the bass/drums crashing F# while the guitars repeat the final 2 notes 
dissolving into open string mass destruction. This part lasts 30 seconds until fade on the 
album but was known to go much longer during live performances!

text + tab by Chris Lawrence

special thanks to Olav By