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

It's three bars of 3/4 and one of 4/4 per verse, innit?

71 - James Brown, "It's a Man's Man's Man's World"

predictable enough?

Anyway, 56. A Minor Forest - ...But the Pants Stay On

54. Eno - Back In Judy's Jungle

(...30. it should be, perhaps? for Alex fired in, attention span-lessly, Stranglers' "Golden Brown" that had already been mentioned upthread)

29. Kantner/Slick/Freiberg, "Harp Tree Lament" (my favorite Robert Hunter lyric)

21. Elvis Costello - "Sunday's Best"

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).

yeah most triple meter rock songs are in 6/8 (or use a shuffle beat in 12/8 a la everybody wants to rule the world or never tear us apart). 3/4 time is less driving, it can feel a little stilted in a rock context. 6/8 swings, sounds great in power ballads (we are the champions, nothing else matters)

actually never tear us apart is def 6/8 isn't it?

I'd definitely say 12/8. The chords change once every twelve eighth notes (four beats), the melodic phrases are built around the 12 (or 4) groupings, the guitar plays at the beginning of each grouping of 12 when it enters.

When there is a standard rock backbeat that would be analysed as 4/4 at any other time, it generally seems most logical/natural to me to continue counting it as quadruple metre even if it is subdivided into triplets, so I tend to default to 12/8 in these situations unless there is a really compelling reason to count 6/8.

Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" feels like an actual triple metre to me: the drums are actually playing groups of 3, the chords change once every three beats. Agree with "Manic Depression" upthread as well.

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).

(I agree with this 100%, to be clear. Obv there are wrong interpretations but there can definitely be multiple credible interpretations.)

"Cloudbusting" moves between 4/4 and 6/4, sorry. Remembered wrong.