# Pop/rock songs with unusual meters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 13, 2005, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052 "2005-04-13T00:21:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dinahmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dinahmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinahmoe)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052/21 "2005-04-13T02:55:40Z")
“Possum Kingdom” by the Toadies is in 15/4. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052/22 "2005-04-13T03:10:46Z")
Quite a few listed [here](http://encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com/Time_signature) including: 5/4 “YYZ” (the intro only) by Rush, “Face Dances Part Two” by Pete Townshend, “Living in the Past” by Jethro Tull, “The Grudge” by Tool, “Seven Days” by Sting,. 7/4 “Money” by Pink Floyd, “Hello Radio” by They Might Be Giants, numerous Genesis and especially Rush songs, “Yellow Snow” by Frank Zappa, “The Munificent Seven” and “Saint Augustine in Hell” by Sting. John Lennon’s “All You Need is Love” features a changing meter (7/4 and 4/4 for the verses, 4/4 for the choruses). 15/4 “The Wait” by The Pretenders (3+2+4)/8 – “Supper’s Ready” (the “Apocalypse in 9/8” section) by Genesis ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052/23 "2005-04-13T03:18:36Z")
> [@The Scrivener](#): > > Me, here: what’s happening in the two-bar bits at the end of the verses is two bars of two triples per bar, with each triplet having a value of 2/4. It’s still following the same 4/4 meter, but not the original rhythm, since in the two-bar bits the beat falls on one and three instead of two and four. The first two times this occurs, the triplets are followed by a one-off 2/4 bar descending pattern of four eighth notes – although you don’t get that bar every time the two-bar bit occurs (as in the acoustic reprise of the two-bar bit after the second verse). That’s not right at all. The first passage you describe does not contain triplets; they’re straight eighth notes in 4/4, just accented as four groups of three plus one group of four. It’s the break in the middle of the song (“Sun, sun, sun, here it comes”) where the shifting meters come into play, with a repeating pattern of 2/4 + 3/8 + 3/8 + 3/8 + 5/8 + 4/4. “All You Need Is Love” is also noted for its woozy, irregular alternation of 4/4 and 3/4 times. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052/24 "2005-04-13T03:24:33Z")
The Pretenders’ “Tattooed Love Boys” is in some goofy meter – guitarist James Honeyman-Scott’s guess was 7/13. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052/25 "2005-04-13T03:27:23Z")
Am I misremembering, or isn’t there an Al Green hit that had an unusual meter? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052/26 "2005-04-13T03:31:33Z")
I haven’t seen the sheet music in years but, IIRC, “Tubular Bells” switches between 4/4 and 5/4. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052/27 "2005-04-13T03:33:16Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I was told (by someone who knows music a lot better than I) that _Band of Gold_ by Freda Payne was in 5/4. Nah, that’s not right. It’s 4/4 from start to finish. Its verse-chorus cycle is 10 measures rather than 8 or 12, but a lot of songs work out that way. ---
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052/28 "2005-04-13T03:34:16Z")
Soundgarden had a lot of songs with unusual meters. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052/29 "2005-04-13T03:35:39Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > I haven’t seen the sheet music in years but, IIRC, “Tubular Bells” switches between 4/4 and 5/4. You mean the opening theme? That’s a cycle of three measures of 7/8 followed by a measure of 9/8; rinse and repeat and repeat and repeat… ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052/30 "2005-04-13T03:37:12Z")
The Pixies did quite a bit of this. Off the top of my head, “There Goes My Gun” switches between 7/4 and 3/4, and “La La Love You” is in 5/4. Frank Black (formerly Black Francis, frontman of the Pixies) does some of this in his solo stuff too; “I Switched You” (from the album _Pistolero_) switches between 5/4 and 4/4. “Nadine” (_Show Me Your Tears_) is in, I think, 10/4? I’m not sure how to figure that out; it’s 12-bar blues with the final two bars missing. I guess it’s more like two measures of 4/4 and then one of 2/4. There’s also the song “I’ve Seen Your Picture” (_Dog in the Sand_), in which the narrator gets more and more excited singing three lines over and over, and the words get more and more hurried as the musical lines get shorter. I’m probably not describing it properly; it’s extremely cool. There are a few more that I can’t think of right now. It’s going to drive me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052/31 "2005-04-13T03:42:55Z")
Well, in the early 80’s, King Crimson sometimes played in 21/8. Bassist Tony Levin mocked the band’s penchant for odd meters in his “King Crimson Barbershop” tune, which goes: “I’m Tony. I’m Billy. I’m Bobby. I’m Belew. We’re here to sing and play for you. Oh, we’re the King Crimson band - and don’t you know it We’re the best in all the land - all the land We play bass and the drums and guitar for you And if you really want we’ll throw the Stick in too Oh, we’re the King Crimson band, on E.G. Records And you know we think that’s grand So, settle back to have some fun And tap your foot in twenty-one Cause we’re the King Crimson band - you better believe it The king crimson band - we don’t do encores The king crimson band - no photos please Cause we’re the King Crimson band - we don’t do “21st Century Schizoid Man,” But we’re the King Crimson band.” ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052/32 "2005-04-13T03:47:51Z")
\*\*Rush \*\* has quite a few songs with unusual meters. Unfortunately, I can’t think of any rught at the moment, and I can’t locate my Rush Songbook. ---
**Author:** ![buns3000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c89c15/32.png) [@buns3000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buns3000)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052/33 "2005-04-13T06:34:46Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > “Hey Ya!” by Outkast is in some crazy meter, like 11/4 or something like that. Actually, I think you’ll find its 3 bars of 4 followed by a bar of 2 then 2 more bars of 4… or, if you prefer, 2 bars of 4, a bar of 6 and then 2 bars of 4. Then there’s pretty much every song by the band I am currently playing in… ---
**Author:** ![Made\_in\_Macau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@Made\_in\_Macau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Made_in_Macau)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052/34 "2005-04-13T13:44:34Z")
Didnt think I’d get to the bottom of that page without reading ‘Golden Brown’ by The Stranglers which I think is generally in 6/4 but in the turnaround alternates between that and 4/4 (says he counting the drumming fingers on desk). MiM ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052/35 "2005-04-13T14:13:07Z")
> [@Suburban Plankton](#): > > \*\*Rush \*\* has quite a few songs with unusual meters. Unfortunately, I can’t think of any rught at the moment, and I can’t locate my Rush Songbook. Yeah, when you reach RUSH you basically have to give up. I once heard drummer Neil Peart say something like ‘The important thing is the music. Write the music you want to write and work out what time signature it’s in later.’ Oy! ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052/36 "2005-04-13T14:30:47Z")
_Paranoid Android_ by Radiohead has some passages of 7/8 in the choruses. That was before they went in for the really weird stuff. Re _Hey Ya_, I always figured it was just 4/4 and 2/4 as **buns3000** said. However, _Rolling Stone_ magazine seems to think [it is in 11/4](http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/6596025/outkast?pageid=rs.ArtistArticles&pageregion=mainRegion&rnd=1113401074594&has-player=false). I just had another listen and you _can_ count it in 11/4 but it really doesn’t fit with the beat IMO, as the snare beats come on the offbeat if you count it like that: Basic drum tab, S= snare, B = bass. A and B stand in for 10 and 11, hexadecimal fans! ```auto S x x x x x x x x x x x x B x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x : 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + A + B + ``` It makes much more sense to think of it like this: ```auto S x x x x x x x x x x x x B x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x : 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 ``` Also, if we’re talking timing weirdness on this song, note how the count-in at the start only goes up to three! ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052/37 "2005-04-13T14:33:51Z")
> [@pokey](#): > > Soundgarden had a lot of songs with unusual meters. I believe Soundgarden’s big single “Outshined” was in 7/4. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052/38 "2005-04-13T14:37:14Z")
> [@Made in Macau](#): > > Didnt think I’d get to the bottom of that page without reading ‘Golden Brown’ by The Stranglers which I think is generally in 6/4 but in the turnaround alternates between that and 4/4 (says he counting the drumming fingers on desk). The intro/instrumental breaks are 3+3+3+4; the verses and outro are straight 3/4. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052/39 "2005-04-13T15:25:21Z")
What about Black Dog by Led Zep? That’s a bizarre time signature. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052/40 "2005-04-13T16:01:19Z")
The Who’s “Music Must Change” is in 6/8. The percussion on the song is Pete Townshend’s footsteps, recorded for the song’s demo. Keith Moon was nearing the bottom of his downward spiral and was apparently unable to manage drumming with that time signature. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-rock-songs-with-unusual-meters/299052.md?page=3)