Songs About Time Signatures and Keys and Song Structures

[Man In The Mountain]

Ben Folds Five, One Chord Blues

[Baribrotzer]

Camel's "Song Within A Song"....

That's not uncommon in prog. I've done it, and it's fairly often that the bridge of a prog tune is really a whole 'nother short song. You could argue that "Close to the Edge" is an extended Chinese-boxes version of that concept.

[starless and bible black]

That's not uncommon in prog. I've done it, and it's fairly often that the bridge of a prog tune is really a whole 'nother short song. You could argue that "Close to the Edge" is an extended Chinese-boxes version of that concept.

Yes Indeed; so many of our favorite Prog songs (especially the extended length suites like "Close To The Edge", "Supper's Ready", "Lizard", "Tarkus" & "2112") are made up of 'songs within songs'.

[soundsweird]

Fever Tree's "Imitation Situation" (not the short version on the first album, the full-length version on their third album "Creation") has lyrics about the time signature(s) of the song...

[chalkpie]

Seven maids move in seven time
Have the lads up ready in a line

Seven druids dance in seven time
Sing the song the bells call, loudly chiming

Ian ("Ring Out Solstice Bells")

[mylard]

Not sure if Iamthemorning's 5/4 is actually about the time signature, but the title certainly is. The song's not exclusively in 5/4 though. https://youtu.be/JRlvqyjuxiM

[Crawford Glissadevil]

Seven maids move in seven time
Have the lads up ready in a line

Seven druids dance in seven time
Sing the song the bells call, loudly chiming

Ian ("Ring Out Solstice Bells")

Beat me to it. 7/4

[GuitarGeek]

That's not uncommon in prog. I've done it, and it's fairly often that the bridge of a prog tune is really a whole 'nother short song. You could argue that "Close to the Edge" is an extended Chinese-boxes version of that concept.

Yes Indeed; so many of our favorite Prog songs (especially the extended length suites like "Close To The Edge", "Supper's Ready", "Lizard", "Tarkus" & "2112") are made up of 'songs within songs'.

Yeah, I've always heard Supper's Ready as being essentially four different songs, as it were, with a few little bits connecting, with the first two being reprised at the end.

I remember Steve Howe saying that a lot of times, in Yes, one person would bring something they'd written, and then you'd look at everything you'd been playing recently, and you'd say "Well, maybe if we changed the tempo of this, or the change the key of that, we can insert into the middle". So a lot of times, I gather, let's say Jon ANderson or Chris Squire would have a song, and Steve or one of the others might say, "I have a bit we can stick into the middle", then someone else might say "I have a bit we can stick on the front of it", then someone else would say "I have a bit would stick at the end of Steve's bit", and so on.

[The Dark Elf]

"Take Five"...titled so because it is in 5/4. But perhaps I'm just Living in the Past.

[Mister Triscuits]

"Take Five"...titled so because it is in 5/4. But perhaps I'm just Living in the Past.

Nah. That mission would be impossible.

[rcarlberg]

"Take Five"...titled so because it is in 5/4.

Dave's entire Time Out album (and the ones that followed, Time Further Out and Time Changes) are collections of experiments in different time signatures: 5/4, 7/4, 11/8, etc.

But instrumentals in odd times don't really fit the OP.

[Buddhabreath]

[dlm]

Pat Metheny Group 5-5-7 and 45/8

[rcarlberg]

But instrumentals in odd times don't really fit the OP.

..

[The Dark Elf]

But instrumentals in odd times don't really fit the OP.

When the title of the song infers the signature of the composition, I would suggest that it does. Unless, of course, you'd like to affix a sternly worded proviso full of caveats and prohibitions in the original post.

[Baribrotzer]

Frank Zappa's "Five-Five-FIVE":

[jake]

When the title of the song infers the signature of the composition, I would suggest that it does. Unless, of course, you'd like to affix a sternly worded proviso full of caveats and prohibitions in the original post.

I thought the use of the word "songs" kinda laid it out. And if that didn't, the o.p. also asked for 'songs about time signatures...." is an instrumental in 5/4 'about' the time signature? Is it 'about' anything?

[rcarlberg]

There are dozens, possibly hundreds on instrumentals called "Six-Ate Suite" or "Raga in 7" or along those lines. I thought the list of lyrical songs referencing the actual structure of the song itself might be a more manageable topic.

[flowerking]

I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier, The Eleven by the Dead, which is of course in 11/8 time (starting around 3 1/2 minutes in). Not sure what the lyrics have to do with anything though.

[Bob Drake]

That 10 CC piece back there in the first post is fantastic, very clever and funny!

[rcarlberg]

I'm reminded it was by HALF of 10cc only, 5cc, or Godley & Creme.

[UnephenStephen]

Let in Hollywood by Karmakanic:

"I can't hear a single, this song in 7/8
It's dead has passed its sell by date
There's no spark no jingle, nor hooks nor four on the floor
Kick out the Harvard preppy dudes, let in Hollywood"

great song.. but i always thought he was saying 'separate'.

[ThomasKDye]

Chris Squire's "Lucky Seven" is in 7/8.

[Sterbus]

Faithfully complying with its title, which translates to The One-Note Song, most of the song is sung on one note, i.e. C or Do.

Living an existence of exertion
tailing the chimera of a composite melody,
extolled by exquisite exceptionalities.
And then you eventually find out
you were but missing that one note,
that one beautiful note.

How silly not to have come up before
with the one-note song!
A little-known song
that you make with one note,
and that note is this.

It's the one-note song:
you can change the rhythm;
you can change the tempo;
you can change the ambiance;
you can change the chords;
you can play it as major, minor, augmented, diminished.
You can change the singer;
you can change the subject;
you can sing it on your own,
you can sing it together with the choir.
You can have the orchestra play it
while you take a little break.
You can change the language:
per esempio la puoi cantare in italiano,
auf Deutsch, en français, en español,
in Chinese: "wang, twong, threeng..."

You can do so many things
without changing the note!
You can change the octave,
you can sing an octave down.
You can pretend... that it... is over.
But if you're not even good enough
to sing the one-note song,
we suggest you relinquish your singing dreams.
If you're a virtuoso singer,
beware,
for here, if you sing like "aeahah",
you're out.

The one-note song,
which does not make compromises,
and if it does, the compromise is tiny,
like: this.
The one-note song
has had its own forefathers:
above all, Rossini, and Bob Dylan, Tintarella di Luna.
It's even easy to whistle,
democratic, opposed by dictatorships.
Have you noticed? The Cuban anthem is full of notes!
Then there's the one-note samba,
but if you listen carefully, it changes after a while.

Jobim didn't have enough balls to carry out a goal;
he didn't believe it to the end.
But we... did.

[Progbear]

I'm reminded it was by HALF of 10cc only, 5cc, or Godley & Creme.

Actually Gouldman & Stewart. G&C weren’t members of 10cc anymore by the time this came out.