Tuning: D G C F A D

Tab by laniezarthur : laniezarthur@gmail.com I have tried to write down the chords of Nightwish's masterpiece "The Greatest Show on Earth" The music is 24 minutes long and divides into several parts, so I've developed the tab according to the timing of the music so that you don't get lost. Chords are originally given for the piano but Part II and III are played by the electric guitar. For guitar parts, tune to D Standard and transpose these chords 1 step up (play power chords). Note for Gmadd9/D : Notes played there are D and Bb in the lower part, G, A and D in the higher part (NSpen) [I. Four Point Six] From 00:00 to 01:32 Dsus4 Dm E/D Dm Gmadd9/D Dm E/D Dm Cm Eb A/C# Dsus4 Dm E/D Dm Gmadd9/D Dm E/D Dm Cm Eb A/C# Gm Eb F Eb Gm Bb Gm Eb F Eb Gm Bb C From 01:32 to 02:57 Dm Fm Dm E Dm Ddim E Fm Dm E Fm Dm Bbmaj7 Dm Dmadd9 Dm C G Dm Dm Bb Bb C Dm Dm C G Dm Dm Bb Bb C Bb C Dm Dm Ddim Dm From 02:57 to 04:28 Dsus4 Dm E7/D Dm Gmadd9/D Dm E/D Dm Cm Eb A/C# Dsus4 Dm E/D Dm Gmadd9/D Dm E/D Dm Cm Eb A/C# Gm Eb F Eb Gm Bb Gm Eb F Eb Gm Bb C Dm From 04:28 to 05:01 Dm Bb C G Bb C Dm Bb C G C D Em C D A C D Em C D A/E Em A/E Em From 05:01 to 05:46 Em D A Em Em C C D Em Em D A Em Em C C D Em [Lyrics sung by Floor Janses from 03:44 to 05:46] Archaean horizon The first sunrise On a pristine Gaea Opus perfectum Somewhere there, us sleeping [Spoken] "After sleeping through a hundred million centuries We have finally opened our eyes on a sumptuous planet Sparkling with color, bountiful with life Within decades we must close our eyes again Isn't it a noble, an enlightened way of spending our brief Time in the sun, to work at understanding the universe And how we have come to wake up in it?" [II. Life] (Guitar Part - Transpose 1 step up and play power chords with D Standard tuning) From 05:46 to 06:15 Gm F C Gm Gm Cm Bb F Gm F Gm F C Gm Gm Eb Eb F Gm F# From 06:15 to 06:57 F Em F Em F Em Em F Em D F G F Em F Em F Em F Em F Em F Em Em F Em D F G F Em F Em F Em Em Em G A Bb (x3) [Lyrics] (spoken) The cosmic law of gravity Pulled the newborns around a fire A careless, cold infinity In every vast direction Lonely farer in the Goldilocks zone She has a tale to tell From the stellar nursery into a carbon feast Enter LUCA From 06:57 to 07:43

^BbmThe tapest^Ebry of ^Bbmchemis^Ebtry There's a ^Gbwritin^Bbmg in the ^Gbgarden ^GbLeading us ^Fto the mother of all

^GmWe are ^Fone We ^Care the uni^Gmverse ^GmForbears of ^Cmwhat will be scions ^Bbof the Dev^Fonian ^Gmsea ^F ^GmAeons ^Fpass, wri^Cting the tale of us ^Gmall ^GmA day-to-day new ^Ebopening For the ^Ebgreatest ^Fshow on ^GmEarth ^F#

From 07:43 to 07:56 F Em F Em F Em Em F Em D F G F Em F Em F Em F Em F Em F Em Em F Em D F G F Em F Em F Em Em Em G A Bb (x2) [Lyrics] (spoken) Ion channels Welcoming the outside world to the stuff of stars Bedding the tree of a biological holy Enter life From 07:56 to 08:43

^BbmThe tapest^Ebry of ^Bbmchemis^Ebtry There's a ^Gbwritin^Bbmg in the ^Gbgarden ^GbLeading us ^Fto the mother of all

From 08:43 to 09:12 Gm Cm F Gm Cm F Gm F Ab Gm F Gm F Eb Gm Gm Cm F Gm From 09:12 to 10:09

^CmWe are ^Bbhere to ^Fcare for the ^Cmgarden ^CmThe wonder of, ^Bbbirth of, every ^Fform most beautif^Cmul ^Gm ^F ^Gm Every ^Fform most ^Ebbeautiful^Gm ^Cm ^F ^Gm ^F ^Ab

^CmWe are ^Bbone We ^Fare the uni^Cmverse ^CmForbears of ^Fmwhat will be scions ^Abof the Dev^Bbonian s^Cmea ^GmAeons ^Fpass, wri^Cting the tale of us ^Gmall ^GmA day-to-day new ^Ebopening For the ^Ebgreatest ^Fshow on ^GmEarth ^F# ^Em

[III. The Toolmaker] (Guitar Part - Transpose 1 step up and play power chords with D Standard tuning) From 10:09 to 10:50 Em F# D/F# Em/G (x8) From 10:50 to 11:30 Animal noises From 11:29 to 11:53 (piano chords) G Em Bb Em Bm C Em G Em (x4) From 11:53 to 13:46 G Em Bb Em Bm C Em G Em Bb Em G Em Bb Em Bm C Em G Em Bb Em C B (x2)

^EmAfter a billion years ^EmThe show is still here ^EmNot a single one of your fathers died young ^EmThe handy travelers out of Africa ^EmLittle Lucy of the ^CAf^Bar^Bb

^EmGave birth to fantasy ^EmTo idolatry ^EmTo self destructive weaponry ^EmEnter the god of gaps ^EmDeep within the past ^EmAtavistic dread of the h^Cun^Bte^Bbd

G Em Bb Em Bm C Em G Em Bb Em G Em Bb Em Bm C Em G Em Bb Em C B

^EmEnter Ionia ^EmThe cradle of thought ^EmThe architecture of understanding ^EmThe human lust to feel so exceptional ^EmTo rule the E^Car^Bth^Bb

^EmHunger for shiny rocks ^EmFor giant mushroom clouds ^EmThe will to do just as you'd be done by ^EmEnter history ^EmThe grand finale ^EmEnter ratki^Cnd^B ^Bb

^AmMan, he took his time in the sun Had a d^Gream to unders^Amtand A ^Gsingle grain of ^Fsand ^AmHe gave birth to poetry But ^Gone day'll ^Fcease to be Greet the ^Dmlast light of the l^Fibrary ^E

From 13:46 to 14:23 Hold E Mixed sounds, along with Thomas of Celano's Dies Irae and Bach's Minuet in G From 14:23 to 16:28 Em (played along with Bach's Toccata and Fugue, and Metallica's Enter Sandman) C B Bb E C B Bb

^AmMan, he took his time in the sun Had a d^Gream to unders^Amtand A ^Gsingle grain of ^Fsand ^AmHe gave birth to poetry But ^Gone day'll ^Fcease to be Greet the ^Dmlast light of the l^Fibrary ^E

We were ^Chere! ^D We were ^Emhere!

We were ^Chere! ^D Em (blast sound) We were here!

[IV. The Understanding] (back to piano chords) From 16:28 to 16:53 Mixed sounds From 16:23 to 19:05 Em C D C Em Em Am G D C Em (x2) Gm Eb F Eb Gm Gm Cm Bb F Eb Gm (x2) From 19:05 to 20:40 Gm G Gm G Am/G G/B Cm G Cm Bb F (x2) Cm Bb/D Eb Fm/Ab Bbsus4 Bb Cm Bb F (x2) Cm Bb/D Eb Fm/Ab Cm [Lyrics] (spoken) "We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born The potential people who could have been here in my place But who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Sahara Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA So massively exceeds the set of actual people In the teeth of those stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here We privileged few, who won the lottery of birth against all odds How dare we whine at our inevitable return to that prior state From which the vast majority have never stirred?" [V. Sea-Worn Driftwood] From 20:40 to 24:01 [Instrumental] Ambient sounds [Lyrics] (spoken) "There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers Having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one And that whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity From so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been And are being, evolved" Ends on sea and nature noises

Nightwish - The greatest show on earth