… is a reggae song! Can’t believe I’ve been hearing this for decades and never made that connection!
No, I don’t hear it at all. How do you reckon?
A reggae song in 7/8 time is not one I’ve heard before.
Would you mind explaining what makes it a reggae song? I guess there’s a guitar accent on the 2, 4 and 6 beats; reggae usually has them on the 2 and 4. Reggae is usually (maybe always) in 4/4 time, I think Money is 7/8.
I guess you’re right–it’s not a standard reggae-derived song like the Police’s stuff, but the guitar work, though in the wrong meter, sounds very reggae to my ears. I rarely hear that kind of accenting outside of reggae.
Damn, An Gadaí beat me to it. Great album, that.
I never heard it, but the guitar work could possibly be less reggaeish now that I think about it.
Hotel California, OTOH — THAT’S a reggae song.
I think of Hotel California as a Tango.
“Real” reggae is 4/4, of course, but that doesn’t mean you can’t mess with it. Gentle Giant’s “Give It Back,” for example, is blatantly reggaefied, but the meter alternates between bars of 7/8 and 5/8.
No way! Unless you mean this version.
PF’s Money certainly has reggae elements. I’d call it reggae except to a purist, who would be bothered by the non-4/4 time sig.
It’s not just the time signature with Money, it’s the fact that the drumming is really non-reggae - it’s a swingy, bluesy kind of drumming, and reggae drums are characterized by those darting cymbals.
And I will offer back-up to this assertion, as at a Don Henly concert many… wow… decades ago, one of the encores was Hotel California, and Don & a lady backup singer did indeed tango across the stage to the song’s ending…
Marley almost has it. Money started out as a blues song - not blues influenced, just straight blues. (Don’t believe me? Watch the making of DSOTM documentary, and be amazed!)
As the song exists today, both the Roger-bass version and the Guy Pratt-bass version* are definitely 7/8 rock. Even if you changed the drumming to a reggae beat, it still wouldn’t make the song sound like reggae. JMHO, of course.
*Guy Pratt is the bassist who toured with Floyd after Roger left, and who continues to tour with David Gilmour on his solo stuff. He added an extra bass note to the song, the only instance of someone making a Floyd song “their own” that I like.
Cheers,
freek
(resident Gilmour junkie)
Well, I used to listen to The Floyd constantly and never noticed this. But I think you’re right.