# "Once in a Lifetime" ... Other songs that do this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 14, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-in-a-lifetime-other-songs-that-do-this/768484 "2016-10-14T00:17:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![neofishboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neofishboy/32/444_2.png) [@neofishboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neofishboy)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-in-a-lifetime-other-songs-that-do-this/768484/1 "2016-10-14T00:17:55Z")
The song, “Once in a Lifetime” by the Talking Heads. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98AJUj-qxHI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98AJUj-qxHI) Now, this certainly won’t be news to any big Talking Heads fans but I didn’t notice it until I’d been hearing the song for years. That little two-part riff that makes up the bass line stays exactly the same throughout the whole song, and yet the verses ("You may find yourself … ") and the choruses ("Letting the days go by … ") sound totally distinct from each other. The way they do this is fairly simple; In the transition from verse to chorus the song sort of shifts its position around the bass line so that instead of the riff happening on the 1 and 3 (verses) it’s now happening on the 2 and 4 (choruses). The result, as I said, is two parts that are so distinct that you might not notice that one of the most prominent instruments in the song never changed what it was doing. Apparently it was all Eno’s idea. Anyway, my question: Since it’s possible that there are many pop/rock songs that have done the same thing (traditional verse/chorus/verse construction with a bass line that never changes) without my noticing because I’m a bit of a dullard … what might those songs be? ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-in-a-lifetime-other-songs-that-do-this/768484/2 "2016-10-14T03:10:44Z")
Doesn’t Louie Louie do this? It was one of the few songs I ever learned to play and it is just 3 notes. I am going to butcher this with the wrong notation but it is: AAA BB CCC BB AAA BB CCC “Louie Louie, yeah babe we gotta go” BB CCC BB AAA… It might change later in the song, I’m not sure. Dennis ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-in-a-lifetime-other-songs-that-do-this/768484/3 "2016-10-14T03:17:22Z")
Yeah, Just listened to Louie, Louie, it does change later in the song. Dennis ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-in-a-lifetime-other-songs-that-do-this/768484/4 "2016-10-14T03:20:21Z")
No, it doesn’t. It’s the same chords, but the bass line on the chorus has fewer notes and a different rhythm. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-in-a-lifetime-other-songs-that-do-this/768484/5 "2016-10-14T15:46:33Z")
> [@neofishboy](#): > > The song, “Once in a Lifetime” by the Talking Heads. > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98AJUj-qxHI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98AJUj-qxHI) > > Now, this certainly won’t be news to any big Talking Heads fans but I didn’t notice it until I’d been hearing the song for years. That little two-part riff that makes up the bass line stays exactly the same throughout the whole song, and yet the verses ("You may find yourself … ") and the choruses ("Letting the days go by … ") sound totally distinct from each other. The way they do this is fairly simple; In the transition from verse to chorus the song sort of shifts its position around the bass line so that instead of the riff happening on the 1 and 3 (verses) it’s now happening on the 2 and 4 (choruses). The result, as I said, is two parts that are so distinct that you might not notice that one of the most prominent instruments in the song never changed what it was doing. Apparently it was all Eno’s idea. This has always been my favorite thing about this song. Still, every time I listen to it, it fascinates me. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-in-a-lifetime-other-songs-that-do-this/768484/6 "2016-10-14T16:05:41Z")
In the hundreds of times I have heard that song I never consciously noticed that. I want to say I noticed it subconsciously, but I am not sure. Early Talking Heads teaming up with Brian Eno made some awesome results. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-in-a-lifetime-other-songs-that-do-this/768484/7 "2016-10-17T02:42:53Z")
“Black Dog” by Zeppelin does something like this. I had sheet music for it at one point, and some parts were a complete mess of 2/4 measures dropped in here and there. That’s what Page and Jones are doing, but for a lot of the song, John Bonham just ignores the time changes and drums a straight 4/4.