Take a Friend

Background and Commentary

The song can be taken in one of two ways: either as a straight-ahead ode to the value of friendship or as a come-on, albeit one in which the narrator uses good English: “Well, you need a friend / Someone on whom you can always depend.”—Rob Freedman, Rush Vault

“Most of the lyrics we had [on the debut album and prior] were just what rhymed.”—John Rutsey in Rush Visions

“The song starts quiet until it gradually makes it way to full gear. Geddy’s voice sounds especially good on this track, and there is some great guitar work on this song by Lifeson. This song is a bit more laidback compared to the previous two songs [‘Finding My Way’ and ‘Need Some Love’]. Take A Friend is a very good song, but doesn’t stand out, just keeps the flow of the album going.—Sputnik Music

Lyrics

Well, I’m lookin’ at you
And I’m wond’rin’ what you’re gonna do
Looks like you got no friends
No one to stick with you till the end

Take yourself a friend
Keep ’em till the end
Whether woman or man
It makes you feel so good
So good

Yes, you think you’re all right
But now you’re lonely ev’ry night
Well, you need a friend
Someone on whom you can always depend

Yes, you need some advice
Well, let me put it to you nice
I said you need a friend
Someone who’ll stick with you to the end

Tablature

By Rodrigo Teixeira

Excerpted from Ultimate Guitar.

Intro
Fade in… keep repeating (about 6 times)

D A C G
||———————————————————–|
||———————————————————–|
||———————————————————–|
||——-4–7—————————2–5—————–|
||—-5—————–4–7———3————–2–5—–|
||——————-5—————————3———–|

On the last repeating:
||—————————————————————-|
||—————————————————————-|
||—————————————————————-|
||——-4–7—————————2–5———————-|
||—-5—————–4–7———3————–2–5–5~~~~—|
||——————-5—————————3—————-|

Breaking the intro,
MAIN RIFF
D D
||————————————|
||————————————|
||———————7—7———-|
||———————7—7———-|
||———-3—–3—-5—5———-|
||—–3h5—–5———————-|

Fill (may be lacking some notes but you can get the idea)
||———3——3————————|
||—–5b—–5b—–5b—3——5—–3—|
||—————————-5—–5——|
||—————————————–|
||—————————————–|
||—————————————–|

Alex does some cool hard-rock fills EVERYWHERE thru the music
that are hard for me to get, but they are all variations
of the first Fill, you can improvize and make your own
Lifeson Fill 🙂

For complete tab, go to Ultimate Guitar.