# The best music with wonky time signatures **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 23, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909 "2006-08-23T17:43:35Z")\ **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:** [August 24, 2006, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909/21 "2006-08-24T02:26:24Z")
The Toadies’ “Possum Kingdom” has alternating measures of 7/4 and 8/4. Or really big measures of 15/4. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909/22 "2006-08-24T02:45:37Z")
Yes’ _The Fish_, which follows _Long Distance Runaround_on the _Fragile_ album is in 7/8. And, **Hey You** , I think you mean Led Zeppelin’s _The Crunge_. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2006, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909/23 "2006-08-24T02:47:13Z")
[QUOTE=hawksgirl] Must have gotten my songs from that show confused. Might have been RX Bandits Sell You Beautiful? [/QUOTE] That must be the one. Just had a listen. This one’s all over the place. Intro: 4/4, 4/4, 4/4, 2/4 Versie: 5/4, 5/4, 5/4, (some combination of meters that adds up to 9/4) etc… This is definitely the one you’re thinking of. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909/24 "2006-08-24T02:53:24Z")
[QUOTE=fishbicycle] Yes’ _The Fish_, which follows _Long Distance Runaround_on the _Fragile_ album is in 7/8. And, **Hey You** , I think you mean Led Zeppelin’s _The Crunge_. [/QUOTE] Yes :smack: _Has anybody seen the bridge?_ ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909/25 "2006-08-24T03:32:04Z")
Lots of Sting songs fit in here. “Murder By Numbers” (with The Police) “Straight To My Heart” “Love Is Stronger Than Justice (The Munificent Seven)” “Seven Days” (I think) ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909/26 "2006-08-24T03:37:37Z")
There’s also _Living In The Past_ by Jethro Tull, in 5/4. Where _is_ that confounded bridge? ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909/27 "2006-08-24T06:00:57Z")
Does “Holiday Song” by Pixies have anything interesting going on time-signaturewise? I’m pretty sure that at least it switches time signatures between the verse and the chorus. ---
**Author:** ![bundykala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@bundykala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bundykala)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909/28 "2006-08-24T07:16:31Z")
Drum Dances by John Psathas! He’s a NZ composer. I couldn’t keep up with the piece even with the score right in front of me. Oh, and this is my first ever post by the way. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909/29 "2006-08-24T07:27:54Z")
[QUOTE=riker1384] **The Rite of Spring** by Igor Stravinsky is just nuts as is **The Firebird**. [/QUOTE] There’s not really anything in the Firebird with particularly unusual time signatures - certainly nothing like the Rite. The finale has a section in 7/4, arranged 3+2+2 | 2+2+3, which doesn’t sound anything like as complex as that makes it seem. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909/30 "2006-08-24T07:34:44Z")
Can anyone else say [Gang of Four](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_Of_Four_%28band%29) ? ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909/31 "2006-08-24T07:37:18Z")
…or for that matter [Mission of Burma](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_of_burma)? Wonky time signatures all over the place. ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909/32 "2006-08-24T07:40:54Z")
Dream Theater has a ton of stuff with odd signitures. According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_works_in_irregular_time_signatures) some of DTs stuff has the following sigs. “Learning To Live” includes 7/4, 13/4, 11/8, 14/8, 15/8. “Metropolis Part 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper” contains 5/8, 12/16, 13/16, 5/16, 13/8, 7/4, 9/8, 18/16, 7/8, 9/16, 7/16, 3/16, 10/16. “Home” by Dream Theater has parts in 31/16 (played as 6/4 + 7/16) and, at the end, 19/16. “The Dance of Eternity” incorporates an incredible amount of time signature changes (in order, each entry written once): 4/4, 7/8, 3/4, 13/16, 15/16, 17/16, 14/16, 5/4, 6/8, 2/4, 5/8, 11/4, 9/4, 7/16, 6/16, 5/16, 10/16, 9/8, 15/8, 12/16, 16/16 (3+3+3+3+2+2), 3/8.\* I saw DT not too long ago and they pull off that stuff live amazingly well. Slee \*I snipped the time sigs from Wikipedia. I don’t have the patience to sit down and count out some of that stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909/33 "2006-08-24T10:39:45Z")
[QUOTE=Plynck] **“Apocalypse in 9/8”** (from the **Supper’s Ready** suite on _Foxtrot_). Genesis when they were good (before Peter Gabriel left). [/QUOTE] I love that song (that bit and the whole thing). Every time I hear it I try to keep up with the beat bom bom bom - bam bom bom - bam bom - bam bom bom bom - bam bom bom - bam bom - bam bom bom bom - bam bom bom - bam bom - bam and on and on I can keep up in my head for about 15 seconds. If I tap the boms on a table with one hand and the bams with the other, I can keep up for about 30 seconds, then I just get lost in the music, give up and enjoy it. It’s very cool though. [Here’s a video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keaI8FQwG40) on YouTube that uses that bit from the song. ---
**Author:** ![Heckxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@Heckxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heckxx)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909/34 "2006-08-24T13:36:25Z")
If you’re into heavier music at all: Dillinger Escape Plan Meshuggah Dream Theater ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909/35 "2006-08-24T13:58:45Z")
_All You Need Is Love_ is 7/4 during the verse and 4/4 during the chorus. _We Can Work It Out_ is the one that’s 4/4 with a bar of 3/4 in the chorus. I once (ias part of a choir) sang part of Mozart’s Requiem that was in 12/8 but that’s not all that odd compared to all these one people are coming up with. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2006, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909/36 "2006-08-24T14:26:20Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] _All You Need Is Love_ is 7/4 during the verse and 4/4 during the chorus. [/quote] No, it’s not. It’s 4/4, with the last line being in 3/4. > [@](#): > > _We Can Work It Out_ is the one that’s 4/4 with a bar of 3/4 in the chorus. Yes, there is a section of 3/4 in there, too. The Beatles have done the 4/4 to 3/4 shift a lot, but I still think there’s another song I’m thinking of. For some reason, I’m thinking there’s a Beatles song which does this in the verse: three bars of 4/4, one bar of 3/4. > [@](#): > > I once (ias part of a choir) sang part of Mozart’s Requiem that was in 12/8 but that’s not all that odd compared to all these one people are coming up with. 12/8 is extremely common. Pretty much all of swing/blues/etc is 12/8, although it is often notated as 4/4. ---
**Author:** ![NE\_Texan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e99b99/32.png) [@NE\_Texan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NE_Texan)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909/37 "2006-08-24T14:35:10Z")
“Woke Up Laughing” by Robert Palmer sounds like an odd time signature. In the liner notes, he wrote something about superimposing two others that explains it, but I can’t remember it at the moment, and I’ve long since lost those liner notes. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909/38 "2006-08-24T15:17:49Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] No, it’s not. It’s 4/4, with the last line being in 3/4. For some reason, I’m thinking there’s a Beatles song which does this in the verse: three bars of 4/4, one bar of 3/4. [/quote] Actually, “All You Need Is Love” _is_ the song I was thinking of. I guess you can say it’s 7/4 in the verse, but I’ve always thought of it as alternating 4/4 and 3/4. It goes: (4/4 - 3/4), (4/4 - 3/4), (4/4 - 4/4), (4/4 - 3/4). At any rate, if you’re looking at it as 7/4, it’s not a constant 7/4 as there’s two measure of 4/4 thrown in there. I look at it as 4/4 and 3/4. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909/39 "2006-08-24T15:50:30Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] I guess you can say it’s 7/4 in the verse, but I’ve always thought of it as alternating 4/4 and 3/4. It goes: (4/4 - 3/4), (4/4 - 3/4), (4/4 - 4/4), (4/4 - 3/4). At any rate, if you’re looking at it as 7/4, it’s not a constant 7/4 as there’s two measure of 4/4 thrown in there. I look at it as 4/4 and 3/4. [/QUOTE] I agree - the 3/4 bars are a compression of what one expects to be a 4/4 bar. And if you get someone to sing it from memory, they’ll often sing a straight 4/4 version. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909/40 "2006-08-24T16:05:17Z")
Two of my favorites are both by Rush: “Subdivisions” (7/4) and “Losing It” (5/4), both from “Signals” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-music-with-wonky-time-signatures/369909.md?page=3)