# Popular songs that are waltzes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 25, 2007, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449 "2007-09-25T17:47:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449/61 "2007-09-27T00:31:47Z")
[QUOTE=Doug Bowe] Hmm. Nobody’s mentioned _The Star Spangled Banner_ . [/QUOTE] Holy Crap! Your right! ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449/62 "2007-09-27T02:02:11Z")
Speaking of Christmas, there’s that theme from **A Charlie Brown Christmas** , [Christmas Time Is Here](http://yule_rejoice.tripod.com/c-lyrics/christmas_time_is_here.html). ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449/63 "2007-09-27T02:51:52Z")
[QUOTE=rowrrbazzle] _The Rainbow Connection_ [/QUOTE] That was the first dance of at our wedding reception. Yes, we’re geeks. Our wedding ceremony ended with the music from the final scene of Star Wars. I’ll add Manilow’s Weekend in New England ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449/64 "2007-09-27T03:12:35Z")
“Breakaway” by Kelly Clarkson. Seems to me like Avril Lavigne or Christine Aguilera had one too, but it’s not coming to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449/65 "2007-09-27T07:27:18Z")
**I Me Mine** - The Beatles \*\* A Taste of Honey\*\* - The Beatles **Are You Lonesome Tonight** - Elvis **Happy Christmas (War is Over)** - John Lennon and Yoko Ono **Carol of the Bells** **Sofa** - Frank Zappa I suppose you could waltz to **Natural Woman** by Aretha Franklin. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449/66 "2007-09-27T07:42:04Z")
A lot of traditional southern gospel is in 3/4 time…which is kind of odd, considering many of the churches back in the day forbade dancing. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449/67 "2007-09-27T12:56:15Z")
“Sathington Waltz” by Primus. You could try using it, if you want the experience of an entire room full of people hating you. 😉 ---
**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:** [September 27, 2007, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449/68 "2007-09-27T15:38:32Z")
[QUOTE=Biffy the Elephant Shrew] Assuming you mean the opening theme (the “Exorcist” music), it’s actually in a compound meter that adds up to 30/8 (7+7+7+9/8). I think you may be hearing those 7s as a “limping” 3/4 (one-and-two-and-three-and-a). [/QUOTE] Not exactly. I’ve seen it arranged as 3/4 in sheet music but couldn’t remember the meter Oldfield used. ---
**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:** [September 27, 2007, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449/69 "2007-09-27T16:13:42Z")
[QUOTE=Lute Skywatcher] Not exactly. I’ve seen it arranged as 3/4 in sheet music but couldn’t remember the meter Oldfield used. [/QUOTE] Various sheet music transcribers seem to have made a pretty thorough mess of this tune. [You and I have discussed this before.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7478307&postcount=80). ---
**Author:** ![Tool\_of\_the\_Conspiracy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tool\_of\_the\_Conspiracy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tool_of_the_Conspiracy)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449/70 "2007-09-27T16:23:20Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] **The Pogues** have several: **Navigator** **A Pair of Brown Eyes** **I’m a Man You Don’t Meet Every Day** **The Band Played Waltzing Matilda** [/QUOTE] Also “Fairytale of New York”, another song that could evoke interesting reactions. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449/71 "2007-09-27T16:32:54Z")
Well, if you want a really _brief_ waltz, “Shiny Happy People” by R.E.M. goes into waltz-time for a few bars. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449/72 "2007-09-27T16:36:26Z")
Not “popular” I guess, but there are many Cajun songs that are great waltzes. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449/73 "2007-09-27T17:01:24Z")
Ok, like, how does one know the “time” of a song: 3/4, 4/4, 6/8 (ain’t that 3/4?), 5 and 3/8, 7 and 11/16? Huh? Maybe someone could explain this to a lay person like me? Is “Whiter Shade of Pale” a waltz? 'Cause it sounds kinda waltzy to me. ---
**Author:** ![Tabula\_Rasa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@Tabula\_Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabula_Rasa)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449/74 "2007-09-27T17:06:16Z")
Dylan’s “Wallflower”. Also, I think, “Winterlude”. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449/75 "2007-09-27T17:09:00Z")
Holy crap! I’ve got an electric guitar-laden version of Carol of the Bells, and that will make the most epic waltz ever! ---
**Author:** ![Tabula\_Rasa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@Tabula\_Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabula_Rasa)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449/76 "2007-09-27T17:12:19Z")
Also, “Norwegian Wood”. Dylan’s “Fourth Time Around” (6/8), “Hickory Wind” by Gram Parsons or the Byrds (depending on how you want to look at it), and about half of everything the Cowboy Junkies ever did. And this is snipped from the Popular Waltzes section of the Waltz entry on Wikipedia: From the 1950s: The Tennessee Waltz, If, I Went To Your Wedding, (How Much Is) The Doggie in the Window, Song from Moulin Rouge (Where Is Your Heart), True Love, Allegheny Moon, Rock and Roll Waltz, Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom), Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be), Tammy, Around the World, The Chipmunk Song, El Paso, Edelweiss, My Favorite Things. From the 1960s: Moon River, Charade, Dear Heart, Somewhere, My Love (Lara’s Theme from Dr. Zhivago), The Sweetheart Tree, What the World Needs Now Is Love, (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, The Last Waltz, Jean. From the 1970s: Time in a Bottle, Annie’s Song, When I Need You, You Light Up My Life, If You Don’t Know Me By Now, Three Times a Lady. ---
**Author:** ![MrFloppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@MrFloppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFloppy)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449/77 "2007-09-27T17:51:07Z")
[QUOTE=Leaffan] Ok, like, how does one know the “time” of a song: 3/4, 4/4, 6/8 (ain’t that 3/4?), 5 and 3/8, 7 and 11/16? Huh? Maybe someone could explain this to a lay person like me? Is “Whiter Shade of Pale” a waltz? 'Cause it sounds kinda waltzy to me. [/QUOTE] No. I would say that Whiter Shade of Pale is 4/4. Play it and try counting one..two..three..one..two..three to it. It won’t ‘fit’. Basically the ‘time signature’ tells you how many beats to the bar and the value of those beats. So 3/4 indicates 3 beats to the bar (a waltz - 1-2-3, 1-2-3) and the 4 indicates quarter notes. 6/8 indicates 6 beats to the bar and eighth notes. To the layman, 6/8 _is_ 3/4. If you are a fan of Pink Floyd, hum or listen to ‘Money’ from DSOTM. It is in 7/4 time. You can count to 7 and it ‘fits’. ‘Take 5’ by Brubeck is named because it is in 5/4. ‘Mars’ from Holst’s Planets (very famous) is also in 5/4. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449/78 "2007-09-27T18:05:06Z")
I must say, if ‘waltz’ as a description of music is to mean anything, then quite a few - perhaps most- of these aren’t waltzes. I mean calling a piece of music a waltz should imply that one could indeed waltz to it. I find it difficult to imagine anyone performing anything that could be called a waltz step to “You Light Up My Life” or “Manic Depression”. Good Lord people, a waltz is more than just any old song in 3/4 or, God forbid, 6/8. At a minimum it should be in a slow-medium (waltzable) tempo, with minimal tempo variation and very few pauses or other suspensions of the beat (in a word, danceable); have a fairly steady three beat, with only a minor to medium accent on the first beat; and have a reasonably smooth and flowing sound. Of course, there are going to be judgement calls at the boundaries, but since the OP refers to actual, you know, dancing, I say we should be concentrating on real waltzes, not just any music with a vague three-beat. (And aren’t “Taste of Honey” and “I Me Me Mine” in 4/4 anyway?) [\grumpy elderly Englishman] ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449/79 "2007-09-27T18:44:57Z")
[QUOTE=Leaffan] Ok, like, how does one know the “time” of a song: 3/4, 4/4, 6/8 (ain’t that 3/4?), 5 and 3/8, 7 and 11/16? Huh? Maybe someone could explain this to a lay person like me? Is “Whiter Shade of Pale” a waltz? 'Cause it sounds kinda waltzy to me. [/QUOTE] From another lay person - More or less, the top number says “the ryhthm in this music is in sets of \_\_ beats.” So, when you listen to the rhythm of WSoP, you can hear “chord, drum, drum, drum, chord, drum, drum, drum, chord, drum, drum, drum” or a bunch of groups of 4. If you listen to “House of the Rising Sun,” you can hear groups of 6 in the guitar. When waltz dancing, the steps come in groups of three - so it needs to be done to music where the beats come in groups of three (or a multiple of three). If you try to do it to a music where there are four beats, there’s this extra beat hanging around where you have nothing to do. ---
**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:** [September 27, 2007, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449/80 "2007-09-27T19:11:29Z")
[QUOTE=Quercus] (And aren’t “Taste of Honey” and “I Me Me Mine” in 4/4 anyway?) [/QUOTE] (Assuming we’re talking about the Beatles’ arrangement of the former; I don’t know how it was originally written…) Both songs have 3/4 verses and but go to 4/4 for the bridge. In the _Let It Be_ movie you actually see John & Yoko waltzing to “I Me Mine.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-are-waltzes/420449.md?page=5)