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

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Beat me daddy, three to the bar...
Also, is there any hip-hop in 3/4?

100. The Byrds - "Get To You"

Nag! Nag! Nag! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 07:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Broadcast to thread.

hmmm (hmmm), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 07:33 (twenty-one years ago)

99. Metallica - Orion (well, parts of it)

M Carty (mj_c), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 07:57 (twenty-one years ago)

98. Norwegian Wood, Bealtes / Fourth Time Around, Dylan / Sing it Again, Beck - so similar as to count as one entry?

bham, Tuesday, 4 May 2004 08:29 (twenty-one years ago)

except Fourth Time Around is in 6/8, i think...

97: diamonds and gold - Tom Waits

Robbie Lumsden (Wallace Stevens HQ), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 08:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Do Belly's 12/16 shanties count?

Super-Kate (kate), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 08:50 (twenty-one years ago)

95: "High School Dance Hit"(i think its called) and the whole of "waltz" by Rex

Flotsam of the Fishfolk (Flotsam of the Fishfolk), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 08:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Mention 3/4 time and I can't shift "Eye Dancing" out my head. But you won't have heared that one...

mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 08:58 (twenty-one years ago)

94: The Waltz by Dexys Midnight Runners

Robbie Lumsden (Wallace Stevens HQ), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 09:28 (twenty-one years ago)

93. Boom Bang-a-Bang - Lulu
92. A Mouse Lived In A Windmill - Des O'Connor

Quality records, methinks.

NickB (NickB), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 09:37 (twenty-one years ago)

91-87. er, lots of Modern Life/Parklife-era Blur, can't remember titles, can anyone help?

CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 09:44 (twenty-one years ago)

86. The Carny - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Onimo (GerryNemo), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 10:38 (twenty-one years ago)

85. 'my sweet prince' - placebo.

our brian kisses goodbye 2 the hard stuff but writes about doing so as if he were saying goodbye to a lover.

piscesboy, Tuesday, 4 May 2004 10:40 (twenty-one years ago)

There are no bad songs in 3/4 time - it just WORKS for ballads so much better than 4/4 - far more swoony and romantic with a natural momentum to it.

Actually, a few of the Blur-esque farting fairground type ones Charlie talks about were pretty piss poor.

Matt DC (Matt DC), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 10:48 (twenty-one years ago)

84. "Fairytale of New York" (the main part of the song) - Pogues and Kirsty MacColl

83. "Innocent When You Dream" - Tom Waits

Joe (Joe), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 11:07 (twenty-one years ago)

82. "Hickory Wind" - The Byrds/Gram Parsons

Joe (Joe), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 11:08 (twenty-one years ago)

81. Red House - Jimi Hendrix (hey! a non-ballad!)

Robbie Lumsden (Wallace Stevens HQ), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 11:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Red House, at least any version of it that I've heard, is in 4/4, not 3/4.

Palomino (Palomino), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 11:24 (twenty-one years ago)

oooops. i mean

81: Manic Depression - Jimi Hendrix

Robbie Lumsden (Wallace Stevens HQ), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 11:32 (twenty-one years ago)

80. Into U - Richard X feat. Jarvis Cocker
79. Static's Waltz - Kid Koala
78. Two Hearts In 3/4 Time - The Avalanches
77. Shadow - Britney Spears
76. I Want You - Janet Jackson

Barima (Barima), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 11:42 (twenty-one years ago)

75. Monday Morning - The Church

Palomino (Palomino), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 11:47 (twenty-one years ago)

74. Kiss from a Rose - Seal

Palomino (Palomino), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 11:48 (twenty-one years ago)

74. Ditchdigger--Rocket from the Crypt

and Kanye has one, but I'm too lazy to check it right now

dr. phil (josh langhoff), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 11:48 (twenty-one years ago)

73--sorry!

dr. phil (josh langhoff), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 11:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Can we bow to the inevitable right now and declare Golden Brown the #1?

Palomino (Palomino), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 11:51 (twenty-one years ago)

A 1/3 of Give It To You - Jordan Knight would qualify here.

Barima (Barima), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 11:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Golden Brown is not in 3/4 at all! It's in 5/4 or 7/4 or something seriously odd. That's another thread, and one that involves Paranoid Android.

Super-Kate (kate), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 11:58 (twenty-one years ago)

> Golden Brown is not in 3/4 at all!

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

Palomino (Palomino), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 12:01 (twenty-one years ago)

72 - Killer Mike's verse on Outkast's "The Whole World"

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

Joseph McCombs, Tuesday, 4 May 2004 12:02 (twenty-one years ago)

70. Rebel Waltz - The Clash

paulhw (paulhw), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 12:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Waltz #2 - Elliot Smith

predictable enough?

umop apisdn (umop apisdn), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 12:07 (twenty-one years ago)

68. Third Stream - 4 Hero

Barima (Barima), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 12:22 (twenty-one years ago)

61: Once around the block - Badly Drawned Boy

mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 12:25 (twenty-one years ago)

60 - "Luau" - Drive Like Jehu

gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 13:12 (twenty-one years ago)

59. 7 Juillet - Dots And Borders

Barima (Barima), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 13:21 (twenty-one years ago)

58. Beach Boys - Busy Doin' Nothing
57. Beach Boys - Time To Get Alone

mms (mms), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 13:23 (twenty-one years ago)

"Busy Doing Nothing" is in 4/4 all the way through. Try counting it.

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

Colin Meeder (Mert), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 13:32 (twenty-one years ago)

55. Animals - House of the Rising Sun (*unless that's actually 6/8 time - I'm not always sure)

54. Eno - Back In Judy's Jungle

Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 13:40 (twenty-one years ago)

53. Turn Back The Hands Of Time - R Kelly

Barima (Barima), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 13:48 (twenty-one years ago)

52. "Waltzinblack" by the Stranglers
51. "Golden Brown" by the Stranglers

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 13:50 (twenty-one years ago)

50 A bunch of songs bu Calexico ('Sunken Waltz')
49 Almost every ballad by cowboy junkies

Rush Rhees (Rush Rhees), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 13:57 (twenty-one years ago)

The Rascals (or David Cassidy, or Dusty Springfield) - "How Can I Be Sure"

Joseph McCombs, Tuesday, 4 May 2004 16:03 (twenty-one years ago)

(very x-post)
One of the Blur songs you're talking about is called 'The Debt Collector'

Jamie Fake (the pirate king), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 18:10 (twenty-one years ago)

47. Patti Smith - Birdland

Marcel Post (Marcel Post), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 18:26 (twenty-one years ago)

46. Jay-Z, 'My First Song'
45. D'Angelo, 'Untitled'

Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 18:29 (twenty-one years ago)

44. Ween - "The Blarney Stone"

Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 18:44 (twenty-one years ago)

43. Jimmy Buffet, "Living and Dying in 3/4 Time"

hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 19:44 (twenty-one years ago)

42. carole king (or dusty springfield), "no easy way down." (though maybe that's actually 6/8 or 12/8, as i imagine at least a few of the above are.)

fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 19:49 (twenty-one years ago)

41. Black Sabbath "Behind the Wall of Sleep"

dave q, Tuesday, 4 May 2004 19:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music to thread.

jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 4 May 2004 19:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Sea Song by Doves

alternative ballroom, Wednesday, 8 September 2010 03:44 (fifteen years ago)

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

jorgybear, Saturday, 11 September 2010 14:18 (fifteen years ago)

'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.

Fruitless and Pansy Free (Dr. Joseph A. Ofalt), Sunday, 12 September 2010 00:25 (fifteen years ago)

Fever Ray "I'm Not Done"

Doctor Madame Frances Experimento LLC (SNM), Sunday, 12 September 2010 08:49 (fifteen years ago)

Tom Waits, "Another Man's Vine"

Flergblergtennis (aog208), Sunday, 12 September 2010 13:16 (fifteen years ago)

four months pass...

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.

rosareetie, Saturday, 22 January 2011 17:30 (fourteen years ago)

Cass McCombs- You Saved My Life

ridiculoud (mizzell), Saturday, 22 January 2011 17:31 (fourteen years ago)

that's.......ballroombythe✧✧✧@gm✧✧✧.c✧✧

rosareetie, Saturday, 22 January 2011 17:33 (fourteen years ago)

those diamonds are very pretty, rosareetie.

the loneliness of the dexys midnight runner (unregistered), Saturday, 22 January 2011 18:15 (fourteen years ago)

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

^ love this

busytits (rip van wanko), Saturday, 22 January 2011 18:23 (fourteen years ago)

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

Kerm, Saturday, 22 January 2011 18:41 (fourteen years ago)

four years pass...

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

bravenewmalden, Monday, 16 March 2015 11:52 (ten years ago)

four years pass...

<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"

Larry Elleison (rogermexico.), Thursday, 16 January 2020 05:43 (five years ago)

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

Life is a meaningless nightmare of suffering...save string (Chinaski), Thursday, 16 January 2020 09:22 (five years ago)

R.E.M. - Try Not to Breathe

stop creeping my instagram storiez (morrisp), Thursday, 16 January 2020 14:28 (five years ago)

^^ so good

Larry Elleison (rogermexico.), Thursday, 16 January 2020 21:55 (five years ago)

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

o. nate, Thursday, 16 January 2020 22:05 (five years ago)

America by Simon and Garfunkel.

Life is a meaningless nightmare of suffering...save string (Chinaski), Friday, 17 January 2020 08:19 (five years ago)

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

It was mentioned, in 2005

van dyke parks generator (anagram), Friday, 17 January 2020 08:31 (five years ago)

One, Two, Three and then a ROCK!!

Mark G, Friday, 17 January 2020 12:23 (five years ago)

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

Dr X O'Skeleton, Friday, 17 January 2020 18:11 (five years ago)

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

Dr X O'Skeleton, Friday, 17 January 2020 18:15 (five years ago)

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

o. nate, Friday, 17 January 2020 18:17 (five years ago)

Beatles - I, Me, Mine

Dr X O'Skeleton, Saturday, 18 January 2020 13:56 (five years ago)

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

Dr X O'Skeleton, Saturday, 18 January 2020 13:57 (five years ago)

"Has he got a friend for me"

thomasintrouble, Saturday, 18 January 2020 16:08 (five years ago)

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.

One must put up barriers to keep oneself intact (Sund4r), Sunday, 19 January 2020 00:20 (five years ago)

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.

One must put up barriers to keep oneself intact (Sund4r), Sunday, 19 January 2020 00:27 (five years ago)

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

o. nate, Sunday, 19 January 2020 02:12 (five years ago)

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

One must put up barriers to keep oneself intact (Sund4r), Sunday, 19 January 2020 02:38 (five years ago)

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

o. nate, Sunday, 19 January 2020 02:43 (five years ago)

"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

stop creeping my instagram storiez (morrisp), Sunday, 19 January 2020 02:45 (five years ago)

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

stop creeping my instagram storiez (morrisp), Sunday, 19 January 2020 02:46 (five years ago)

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.

o. nate, Sunday, 19 January 2020 02:47 (five years ago)

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

o. nate, Sunday, 19 January 2020 02:54 (five years ago)

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

One must put up barriers to keep oneself intact (Sund4r), Sunday, 19 January 2020 02:55 (five years ago)

Where did you find the official sheet music?

One must put up barriers to keep oneself intact (Sund4r), Sunday, 19 January 2020 02:58 (five years ago)

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.

o. nate, Sunday, 19 January 2020 03:00 (five years ago)

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.

One must put up barriers to keep oneself intact (Sund4r), Sunday, 19 January 2020 03:08 (five years ago)

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

One must put up barriers to keep oneself intact (Sund4r), Sunday, 19 January 2020 03:09 (five years ago)

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.)

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Sunday, 19 January 2020 03:17 (five years ago)

Haha XP!!

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Sunday, 19 January 2020 03:20 (five years ago)

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).

o. nate, Sunday, 19 January 2020 03:32 (five years ago)

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)

culture of mayordom (voodoo chili), Sunday, 19 January 2020 04:27 (five years ago)

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

culture of mayordom (voodoo chili), Sunday, 19 January 2020 04:28 (five years ago)

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.

One must put up barriers to keep oneself intact (Sund4r), Sunday, 19 January 2020 04:44 (five years ago)

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.

One must put up barriers to keep oneself intact (Sund4r), Sunday, 19 January 2020 04:49 (five years ago)

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.

One must put up barriers to keep oneself intact (Sund4r), Sunday, 19 January 2020 04:59 (five years ago)

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.)

One must put up barriers to keep oneself intact (Sund4r), Sunday, 19 January 2020 05:02 (five years ago)

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

One must put up barriers to keep oneself intact (Sund4r), Sunday, 19 January 2020 05:12 (five years ago)


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