The Strange Brew podcast on Lennon’s musical influences circa Double Fantasy sent me down some rabbit holes: Touch and Go, and time signatures. This was never one of my Cars favorites, but I’m totally fascinated by it now.
The song’s verses feature the use of polymeter. The bass and drums are playing in a time signature of 54, while the vocals, keyboards, and guitar are playing in 44.
Bastards! While my rather limited rhythm lobe tried to tap out the beats, my remaining auditory cortex projected the contemporaneous Spirits in the Material World, which only confused me more. Apparently that tune is 44 but so ska and misleading that you’ll fool yourself trying to count it out.
Available musicians please fix my brain and/or comment.