Not In Common Time

The following songs do not follow the conventional 4/4 time signature in all or part of the song:

2/2 (Cut Time)

• Choo Choo Express - Alternates with 12/8 time
• Certain People I Could Name
• Everything Right Is Wrong Again - Drums switch to a 2/2 groove for the first four bars of each chorus, as well as in the "slowed down" section.
• Fake-Believe & Fake-Believe (Type B) - A marching band/polka beat. Free-form 4/4 in intro/outro. Otherwise both songs are in 4/4 time (slow tempo).
• Fibber Island
• Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
• Lucky Ball & Chain - Country & Western two-step beat.
• Michigan
• Particle Man
• Stalk Of Wheat
• Stomp Box
• Stand On Your Own Head
• They'll Need A Crane
• They Might Be Giants

2/4

• Bee Of The Bird Of The Moth
• The Famous Polka
• Haunted Floating Eye
• Pirate Girls Nine - Verse is in 2/4, bridge is in 12/8, chorus is in 9/8. 8th note stays constant throughout.
• Bangs - Some parts alternate between 4/4 - 2/4. Most of the song is in 4/4.

3/4

• Another Weirdo
• Burnice
• California As An Island
• Drink! Most of the song is in 3/4 while the transitions from the verse to the chorus is in 9/8
• I Blame You
• Lines Upon A Tranquil Brow - The first half, the rest is in 4/4.
• The Day
• Tres Quatro
• Utah
• Violin - The "Hippo" section
• Wait Actually Yeah No
• When It Rains It Snows - Standard waltz-style beat

5/4

• Healer's Lament - The "Come in to my crystal..." part
• I Wouldn't Be Mad
• Now That I Have Everything - Only the drum track and the chorus. The rest of the song is in 4/4.

6/4

• Bangs - Mostly in 4/4 but some measures have a 4/4 - 2/4 alternation during the chorus, verse, and guitar solo transitions.
• It Was A Very Good Year - The second bar of the second verse, following a bar of 7/4
• Now That I Have Everything - The looped "Now there's everything / Don't remind me of yesterday" section at the end
• Other Father Song
• Please Pass The Milk
• The Secret Life Of Six - Intro and refrains in 6/4, with the rest in 4/4
• She Was A Hotel Detective - The first two lines of each section of the chorus are in 6/4, then it goes back to 4/4: "She was a hotel detective / but now she's better connected..." etc.
• Sleepwalkers - Verse is in 6/4, phrased 4/4 - 2/4, switches to 4/4 when the whole band comes in
• The Statue Got Me High - Mostly in 4/4 but some bars of 6/4 in the "The stone, it called to me (and now I see the things the stone has shown to me) A rock that spoke a word (an animated mineral, it can be heard)" section.
• What Is Everyone Staring At? - Same as "Sleepwalkers" above
• Women & Men - The verses are in 7/4, then 6/4, then 7/4, then 6/4.

7/4

• Hello Radio - Has a couple bars of 9/4, the rest are bars of 7/4.
• It Was A Very Good Year - The first bar of the second verse - apparently to give the singer time to say "the square root of a negative number" in one bar
• Sketchy Galore - The "he looks down, down, down" section
• Women & Men - The verses alternate between 7/4 and 6/4 (see above).

10/4

• The Bells Are Ringing - The "The bells are ringing..." parts. The rest is in 4/4
• I'm All You Can Think About - The "bup ba bup ba ba, bup ba bup ba bow" parts
• Thermostat - Chorus alternates 4/4 - 4/4 - 2/4

6/8

• 100 Cars For Good
• About Me
• All Alone, All By Myself - First few beats are in 6/8 while the rest is in 9/8.
• Asheville
• Brooklyn
• C Is For Conifers
• Darlin' Allison
• Dead
• DeWitt Clinton
• Drink!
• Drinkin' - The middle section
• End Of The Rope
• I Am A Ring
• I'll Sink Manhattan
• I Know What I Saw
• Jazz Waltz in C
• King Weed
• Letterbox
• The Life Of Doug
• Museum Of Idiots
• No Cops
• Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes - The part after the chorus
• O Tannenbaum
• The Other Side Of The World
• Replicant
• Space Suit
• Sorry I Fucked Up The Show - Some performances
• St. Louis
• Stormy Pinkness
• Stranger
• Ten Mississippi
• Tiny Doctors
• Town To Town - The "Hey Mr. Vu" part.
• Tumbleweed
• When Tornadoes Take Over The World
• Who's That Standing Out The Window?
• Xanthus Saves (for most of the song)
• Z Y X

7/8

• Here Comes Science - The "Ready or not, Here Comes Science" part.

9/8

• All Alone, All By Myself - Mostly in 9/8 but song begins in 6/8.
• Drink! - At the transition of each verse to the chorus. The rest is in 3/4.
• Pirate Girls Nine - Chorus is in 9/8, bridge is in 6/8, verse is in 2/4. 8th note stays constant throughout. Otherwise the song alternates 4/4 in the verses and 3/4 in the chorus and bridge.

12/8

• Apophenia - A very fast 12/8; the continuous triplet pattern in the drums distinguishes it from a swung 4/4.
• Choo Choo Express - Alternates with Cut time
• Maine - Fast shuffle, Harpsichord plays eighth-triplets throughout.
• Nine Bowls Of Soup - Marching feel
• Ondine
• Pencil Rain
• Pirate Girls Nine - Bridge is in 12/8, chorus is in 9/8, verse is in 2/4. 8th note stays constant throughout.
• Shape Shifter
• Spoiler Alert
• Synopsis For Latecomers
• Three Might Be Duende
• Trees
• We Live In A Dump
• Where Your Eyes Don't Go
• Whistling In The Dark - Marching beat, otherwise the song is in 4/4