playing and learning songs

I guess this was kind of tricky to name properly. Ive been trying to focus and get on learning songs. I've got the Recorded Version sheet music/tabs, and have been trying to listen and play along with what I hear and see. While I can get some of it down pat, some times I feel like I can't learn to get the exact...... I guess I'm thinking phrasing is the word.

For example, I'm trying to learn What I Got by Sublime. I got the little leads down and all that, but the basic rhythm of the song I'm having trouble hitting the notes as their exactly written or how they exactly sound without losing the rhythm. If I just do it my way, I can follow along almost perfectly.

Also, in the intro to Mary Jane's Last Dance, I have the same problem. I got the basic idea of how the notes are supposed to sound, how the chords are working, but I can't get the phrasing. Is it just me, or does anyone else have this problem? I know it's not impossible to get it exact, I've seen people do it. I just want some feedback.

Take it slow and precise

And learn it bit by bit, I have, or had, a thread called Breaking it Down, wondering about how much you should break a song down when learning it.

You can look at it if you want: http://www.all-guitar-chords.com/topic.php?id=1472

I usually just play riffs from songs, one riff learned at a time

If you can get the Hal-Leonard song books, that might be a good option. I have Stadium Arcadium and Red Hot Chili Pepper's Greatest hits, they're both accurate to a "T" and contain the tabs and staff notation for all of the songs. I don't particularly enjoy reading staff notation, but it helps a lot with timing and specifics that are kind of hard to deal with in tab.