The 100 best pop/rock/etc songs in waltz time

6/8 = ONE two three TWO two three
12/8 = ONE two three TWO two three THREE two three FOUR two three

so wait, what's the difference between 12/8 and just going 'ONE two three TWO two three ONE two three TWO two three'? HOW CAN YOU TELL, aside from actually looking at the written music?

Radiohead have a couple - Subterranean Homesick Alien and Nude, maybe more.

so wait, what's the difference between 12/8 and just going 'ONE two three TWO two three ONE two three TWO two three'? HOW CAN YOU TELL, aside from actually looking at the written music?

12/8 and 6/8 sound a lot alike, depends on where you draw the bar line in the written music, like you said. In fact, most people would say "This Boy" is 6/8, not 12/8.

My text rendering of the time signatures didn't quite do them justice -- the difference between 6/8 and 12/8 is like the difference between 2/4 and 4/4. The former has two beats, strong and weak. The latter has four beats, strong, weak, medium, and weak. 12/8 is the typical meter for doo-wop music. I don't have a recording of This Boy handy, but in my Beatles book it's notated in 12/8.

Beach Boys - Let the Wind Blow
Beatles - Baby's in Black
Nilsson - 1941
Stereolab - One Small Step
XTC - 1000 Umbrellas

A 1/3 of Give It To You - Jordan Knight would qualify here.
-- Barima (Barima), Tuesday, May 4, 2004 11:55 AM (4 years ago) Bookmark Link

Seconded

Mull of Kintyre- Wings
I actually learned to waltz to this one.

Sea Song by Doves

The Beach Boys: Disney Girls
Weezer: My Name Is Jonas
The Corrs: Runaway
The Eagles: Hollywood Waltz
Razorlight: Los Angeles Waltz

'Waltz' by the Mekons, from The Curse Of The Mekons, is fantastic. If you don't know it, go listen to it right now. I am sure you will not regret it. Plus, Sally Timms sings it, beautifully.

Fever Ray "I'm Not Done"

Tom Waits, "Another Man's Vine"

A really good one to waltz to is Open Arms, Journey and don't forget more Eagles: Saturday Night and Pretty Maid all in a Row. There are many country waltzs. I especially like, A woman has her way by Clint Black and When Love Finds you by vince Gill. Anyone interested in ballroom dancing to mank of the pop/rock hits mentioned above check out ballroombythebay.com A ballroom dance every Wed. at 7:00 p.m. in Santa Monica. For more info you can email ballroombythe✧✧✧@gm✧✧✧.c✧✧ Check it out! It's a lively group of friendly dancers and a dance lesson is included with the $10. admission. Tell them Rita sent you.

Cass McCombs- You Saved My Life

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those diamonds are very pretty, rosareetie.

50 A bunch of songs bu Calexico ('Sunken Waltz')

^ love this

Drive-by Truckers - The President's Penis is Missing

Better late than never:
Sofa by Frank Zappa. A rousing waltz.

<3 waltz time

apparently Jason Isbell does too bc:
• Drive-By Truckers, "Outfit"
• Jason Isbell, "Cover Me Up"

and also The National bc:
• "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks"
• Carin at the Liquor Store"

One Crowded Hour by Augie March in, I think, 6/8. Magnificent song.

R.E.M. - Try Not to Breathe

^^ so good

Surprised no one mentioned “Take This Waltz” by Leonard Cohen. I also have a soft spot for Billy Joel’s “Piano Man”.

America by Simon and Garfunkel.

Surprised no one mentioned “Take This Waltz” by Leonard Cohen

It was mentioned, in 2005

One, Two, Three and then a ROCK!!

No mention of the Banshees' Melt, although it is more like 6/8

Magazine, The Great Beautician in the Sky, verse sections are in 3/4, chorus in 4/4

Isn’t the chorus of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds “ also 4/4? Someone mentioned it up thread.

Beatles - I, Me, Mine

Van Morrison - The Way Young Lovers Do (ok, prob 6/8 again)

"Has he got a friend for me"

Donovan - "Catch the Wind". "Norwegian Wood" is probably the best but it was nominated in the second post.

"Piano Man" and "Try Not to Breathe" are in 12/8 imo.

Ha, online sheet music seems to transcribe "Piano Man" in either 3/4 or 6/8 so. I can see how 6/8 makes sense but the drum beat doesn't support counting it in 3/4 imo.

Thread title says waltz time. I'm using the more expansive definition of waltz time as any triple meter.

At least in standard classical theory, 6/8 = (compound) duple metre; 12/8 = (compound) quadruple metre.

I'm using the more expansive definition of triple meter as any meter with a waltz feel.

"Try Not to Breathe" (is) in 12/8 imo.

This article on the song suggests it may actually be 6/8:

The waltzing instrumental returned for the 1992 demo and recording sessions for Automatic, some of which took place at Woodstock, N.Y.’s Bearsville Sound Studios. At that point, the song was nicknamed “6/8 Sailor” for its time signature, then was marked “Passion” when the final touches were added at Bad Animals in Seattle.

Read More: Michael Stipe Explores Life’s Last Moments with ‘Try Not to Breathe’: The Story Behind Every ‘Automatic for the People' Song | https://diffuser.fm/rem-try-not-to-breathe/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral

(sorry, don’t know that extra junk came along with the paragraph I pasted.)

I mean isn't "Norwegian Wood" more 6/8 too? I wouldn't be suprised if a lot of pop/rock songs with a waltz feel are 6/8 rather than 3/4.

Apparently the official sheet music of "Norwegian Wood" has 12/8, and "Piano Man"'s has 3/4. I rest my case!

The beat and phrasing in "Try Not to Breathe" suggest groupings of 4 to me but duple vs quadruple can get blurry with pop music.

I agree that 6/8 works with the phrasing of "Norwegian Wood", and I'm pretty sure I've actually used it as an example of 6/8 previously. I think I would still object to identifying a waltz feel in anything with an obvious backbeat.

xp

Where did you find the official sheet music?

Well, just looking at the first page of the most reputable looking sheet music that came up on the first page of Google results, with official looking copyright etc. I admit this may not be the dispositive finding.

Even the 'scores' that get registered with copyright offices are often after-the-fact, sometimes sketched-out transcriptions and are not necessarily dispositive tbh. The Donovan song is actually one of the only rock-era songs I can think of that feels to be inarguably in triple metre to me, not counting songs with 3/4 passages juxtaposed with other metres (Rush - Limelight, Sonic Youth - Pipeline/Kill Time). "Get to You" is mostly 5/4, surely, except for the bridge.

"Cloudbusting" another example of a song that moves between 4 and 3.

I just noticed that the Byrds song I nominated in the first post all those years ago is actually 5/4 much of the time, only moving to 3/4 in certain sections. LOL. (Arguably making it *more* noteworthy, but not so great as an opening post re 3/4.)

Haha XP!!

xxxp I get you on the fuzziness of sheet music in this context. The canonical text for rock/pop is the recording, and different people can interpret it differently. Heck probably even different musicians who played on it interpreted it differently (such as the drummer vs the singer or guitarist).