Songs with misleading time signature intros (or "Where's the 1?")

Alain Rieder said:
This one is a little tricky too

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Yeah. In the intro before the drums start, other than the low simmering loop, we hear the keyboard first, but that's on 2. The bass is always on 1 until after the drums kick in.
 
BobC said:
My choice too. Someone counted it out for me a while ago, but I don't remember what he said. It's always screwed me up. When we do it live, we just skip the intro and start with the riff and that solves any problems that existed. "All Along The Watchtower" by Jimi is also weird.
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This video explains Drive My Car because there’s a click that counts it in. The first note comes in on the and of 4:

 
Here’s my favorite…Devo doing Satisfaction. I always hear it as the snare is the and of 4, but the way Mark Mothersbaugh sings it puts the snare on 1. I asked Jeff Friedl about it once and he said he feels the snare on the and of 4, too. But that crazy Mark screws it up:

 
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green glass drum said:
How does one count that one? thanks
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You can map it all you like, but it still won't make sense till the drum fill come in. It should be simple... guitar lick is just a pickup on the & of 4, and the bass comes in on 2, and it's only 2 bars (and an 1/8 pickup) but it's just one of those feel things. You can count it all you like but it remains a mystery how Ringo found the "3" to do the fill!
 
Devo "Girl U Want" starts right on the 1, but really throws people for a loop.

Al's keyboardist could not figure it out despite several run-throughs. Luckily, he's barely in the mix here. :)

 
bermuda said:
Devo "Girl U Want" starts right on the 1, but really throws people for a loop.

Al's keyboardist could not figure it out despite several run-throughs. Luckily, he's barely in the mix here. :)

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That I don’t get. It’s straightforward to me.
 
JimmyM said:

Had to look it up, but apparently it starts on the and of 1 and it’s 4/4 the whole time. Never would’ve guessed that.
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I hear it now! Haha, thanks.

I initially heard the first guitar note as being on the and of 4. It's quite a deceptive intro without the actual count-off.

Weirdly enough, when playing it with the band, we've never had an issue with me being off by an 8th note. I guess our guitarist starts on beat 1?
 
Matt Suda said:
Kate — Ben Folds Five
Marc Cohn — Walking in Memphis

Jay Fenichel aka @thedrummersalmanac on instagram has made a bunch of posts on the topic, including:

Motley Crue — Kickstart My Heart
The Police — Murder by Numbers
Cliff Richard & the Shadows — Move It
Sting — Fortress Around Your Heart
Phish — It’s Ice
Rufus and Chaka Khan — Tell Me Something Good
Hendrix — All Along the Watchtower
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Anyone here ever tried dancing to "Tell Me Something Good" by Rufus? 🙈
 
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