# Songs That Change Time Signatures **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 5, 2011, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-time-signatures/587867 "2011-07-05T01:35:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-time-signatures/587867/41 "2011-07-12T14:46:47Z")
missed the edit window… [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Agw5jQBZRc) is the _Apocalypse in 9/8_ part ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-time-signatures/587867/42 "2011-07-12T14:50:45Z")
“Hocus Pocus” by Focus. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-time-signatures/587867/43 "2011-07-12T15:01:05Z")
Turning to the blues, we have [Peaches](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5ZtM4xW4z8) by RL Burnside, which has really weird timing. It sounds to me like it starts with one measure of 7 beats, then another of 11 , then the lyric at 4/4 for four measures, followed by short measure of 2, then the intro theme again for 7 + 9 beats, then 4/4 lyrics again, etc. The funny thing is that it sounds not at all complex and flows in it’s own weird way. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-time-signatures/587867/44 "2011-07-12T15:03:32Z")
> [@Biffer\_Spice](#): > > well no, not really. No need for Ringo bashing in this thread - there’s plenty threads you can find where that is the main topic and make your case…it’s a tired topic and many/most of the musicians on the Dope have weighed in pretty strongly… ---
**Author:** ![Biffer\_Spice\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@Biffer\_Spice\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffer_Spice_1)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-time-signatures/587867/45 "2011-07-12T16:22:16Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > No need for Ringo bashing in this thread - there’s plenty threads you can find where that is the main topic and make your case…it’s a tired topic and many/most of the musicians on the Dope have weighed in pretty strongly… not up for bashing him for the hell of it. i made a joke in context to this thread. why would i want to find a different one? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-time-signatures/587867/46 "2011-07-12T17:42:25Z")
> [@Biffer\_Spice](#): > > not up for bashing him for the hell of it. i made a joke in context to this thread. why would i want to find a different one? :dubious: …in case it wasn’t a joke and you actually wanted to argue that Ringo was a lousy drummer…no biggie, just a tired issue/old trope… ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-time-signatures/587867/47 "2011-07-13T16:37:02Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > “Hocus Pocus” by Focus. Playing it back in my head and trying to find the change in time signature… all I can remember is in straight 4/4. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-time-signatures/587867/48 "2011-07-13T16:58:53Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > Playing it back in my head and trying to find the change in time signature… all I can remember is in straight 4/4. I just listened to it, and it all sounds 4/4 to me, even the “gibberish” section, the accordian-plus-flute part, etc. If it varies from 4 beats, perhaps I could see labeling parts as alternating cut time vs regular time, but it all added up to 4 in the end for me. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-time-signatures/587867/49 "2011-07-13T17:23:03Z")
For those good at picking out time signatures: does INXS’s [“Never Tear Us Apart”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryT9OX8ZHi0) have different instruments playing in different time signatures? The song really sounds like a waltz to me, but when I “listen hard” and try to hear the 1-2-3/1-2-3/1-2-3, it always sounds like a 4/4 song. Maybe the synth is in 3/4? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-time-signatures/587867/50 "2011-07-13T17:32:21Z")
Sounds like a fairly straightforward 12/8 to me. Four beats to the bar, each beat subdivided into three. (Or it could be 6/8 with two beats to the bar, each subdivided into three.) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-time-signatures/587867/51 "2011-07-13T17:41:49Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > I just listened to it, and it all sounds 4/4 to me, even the “gibberish” section, the accordian-plus-flute part, etc. If it varies from 4 beats, perhaps I could see labeling parts as alternating cut time vs regular time, but it all added up to 4 in the end for me. Fair enough. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-time-signatures/587867/52 "2011-07-13T20:22:58Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Fair enough. 🙂 While we’re on the topic of 70s instrumentals, however – “Frankenstein” by Edgar Winter goes from 4/4 to 6/8 and back again. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-time-signatures/587867/53 "2011-07-16T21:49:41Z")
Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out” ---
**Author:** ![bahia\_hombre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@bahia\_hombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bahia_hombre)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-time-signatures/587867/54 "2011-07-17T04:13:48Z")
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