Author: Joanne Phillips
Sting – Seven Days
- Artist: Sting
- Song: Seven Days
- Album: Ten Summoner’s Tales
- Drummer: Vinnie Colaiuta
- Meter: 5 Five
A beautiful groove by Sting in five. Many live videos on youtube, just search Sting, Seven Days, Live.
Modern Drummer ~ October, 1993 interview:
Robyn Flans: Let’s talk about “Seven Days.” It’s in five, but the listener isn’t really struck by that. Was it intentional to mask it a little?
Yes and no. It wasn’t so much to disguise it for the sake of disguising it. I phrased it by playing over the bar line, so the hi-hat pattern resolves every two bars. That smooths it out and gives it a regularity that 4/4 has. There’s a brush overdub in the middle of one of the verses of the song, too. I overdubbed it to make it chug a little more and differently.
With all you have recorded, which songs are most representative of you?
(Song One is “City Nights” off of Allan Holdsworth’s Secrets)
Song number two:
“Seven Days” from Sting’s Ten Summoner’s Tales, 5/4 time. It represents a commutative painting of me now. In that situation I just reacted and pretty much did what I thought was appropriate at the time. I like the attitude, the character, and the mood of the song. I feel what everybody contributed to the song is very valid for it, and that the balance between the amount of structure and improvisation in my playing is good. And dynamically, we were very synergistic as a group. Also, it was indicative of the amount of time we spent together as a unit. That added another ingredient to that recipe, which can only come with time. You can’t rush the years. If somebody wanted me to play like I was ten years younger, I would say, “Go find somebody ten years younger.” I didn’t have ten years ago what I have now.
Vinnie Colaiuta explains Sting’s Seven Days:
Drumeo teaches the groove:
Spreadsheet of Songs
Spreadsheet of songs.
| Song Title | Artist | Drummer | Main Count | Notes |
| 15 Step | Radiohead | Philip Selway | 5 | 5 entire song |
| 1995 | Rx Bandits | Christopher Tsagakis | 7 | VR 4 CH:7 at 1:18 (faster) |
| 5 is The New 4 | Odd Meters | unknown | 5 | 5 entire song (swing) |
| 68 Bonus Track | Jawbox | Adam Wade | 7 | VR: 7 CH: 4, 6, 6, 6, 4, BR: other |
| 7/4 (Shoreline) | Broken Social Scene | Justin Peroff | 7 | 7 entire song |
| All Gone Now | O.S.I. | Mike Portnoy | 5 | start 6 to :33 , 5 to 2:46, then 6 to 4:09, then 5 to 4:37, then 6 to 4:50 then chaos |
| Anagram | Young the Giant | unknown | 7 | 7 (two bar groove) snare on 2,4,6, 1,3,5,7 |
| Animals | Muse | Dominic Howard | 5 | 5 entire song |
| Animals | Talking Heads | Chris Frantz | V: 5 CH: 7 | IN: 4, VR: 5, CH: 7, repeats then at goes to 4 at 2:11 ’til end |
| Anyone Who Had A Heart | Dionne Warwick | Gary Chester | 6 occ 3 | 6 with occasional 3 and 9 in turnaround (*early use of multiple time signatures) |
| Are You with Me Now? | Cate le Bon | Nick Murray | (6, 8) | alt (6, 8) or repeating (4,2,4,4) (listening to bass) |
| As We Go Along | The Monkees | Earl Palmer | 5 | VR: 5 (swing) CH: 6 BR: 6 |
| Atlas Stone | Haken | Raymond Hearne | (5, 6) | slowed down song 50% to hear alternating 5 and 6 until 1:56, then ? |
| Autopsy | Fairport Convention | Martin Lamble | 5 | 5 swing until 1:15, returns at 3:08 |
| Big Lie Small World | Sting | Vinnie Colaiuta | (4, 5) | alt (4, 5) samba, (4,6 *extra beat) before chorus “big lies” |
| Black Widow Spider | Dr. John | John Boudreaux | 5 | 5 entire song |
| Brick Windows | Ministry | Rey Washam | 5 | 5 (listen to bass and occasional crash as snare is on quarters) occasional few bars in 4 with descending bass |
| Buzzard | Armageddon | Bobby Caldwell | 5 | drums in at :25, 5 to :53, 4 to1:08, 5 to 1:37, 8 to 5:28, break?, then 10 to end |
| By Crooked Steps | Soundgarden | Matt Cameron | 5 | mostly in 5 (don’t break speakers turning up beginning) |
| Chasing Shades | Aloa Input | Cico Beck | (6, 5) | count could be either (3, 3, 3, 2) or (6, 5 ) until 1:37, then 6 until 2:15, then (6, 5) until 2:46 *random (6, 6) at 2:28 |
| Cherokee | Stephen Stills | Dallas Taylor Jr | 7 | 7 except horn breaks in 8 |
| Come On! Feel the Illinoise – The Hot at Nights | The Hot at Nights | Nick Baglio | 5 | 5 until 2:32 |
| Commemorative T-shirt | Oceansize | Mark Heron | 11 | 11 (drums start with a fill on beat 5 around :53) |
| Cotopaxi | The Mars Volta | Thomas Pridgen | 11 | VR: 11 CH: 8, after 1:27 ??? fun song though… |
| Dance of the Little Fairies | Sky | Tristan Fry | 5 | 5 entire song |
| Death And All His Friends | Coldplay | William Champion | 7 | drums start at 1:53 in 4, then at 2:18 abruptly goes to 7 with pickup on 6, 7 – that groove ends at 3:31. |
| Demons | The National | Bryan Devendorf | 7 | 7 entire song |
| Do What You Like | Blind Faith | Ginger Baker | 5 | 5 (nice mix, hat on right, audience perspective), drum solo at 8:43 |
| Do You Want It All? | Two Door Cinema Club | unknown | 7 | 7 entire song |
| Down And Out – 2007 Remastered Version | Genesis | Phil Collins | 10 | into to :29 then 10 (pickup is on 9) this goes to 8 at 2:11, back to 10 at 2:52, back to 8 at 4:00 to end |
| Dreaming Tree – Live from Lucca, Italy | Dave Matthews Band | Carter Beauford | 7 | 7 entire song |
| Dreams of a Samurai | Red Hot Chili Peppers | Chad Smith | 10 | at :50 bass picks up groove in 10, drums in at 1:05, 4 at 2:32, 10 at 2:45, etc |
| Driven – Remastered | Rush | Neil Peart | V | Various |
| Echo – Joe Satriani | Joe Satriani | Jeff Campitelli (overdubs) | 5 | 5 entire song – programed drums with some overdubs |
| Eleven – Primus | Primus | Timothy Alexander | 11 | 11 (single bar of 9 at 1:51) (single bar of 12 at 2:00) (single bar of 9 at 3:41) |
| English Roundabout – 2001 Remaster | XTC | Terry Chambers | 5 | 5 entire song |
| Estimated Prophet – Grateful Dead | Grateful Dead | Mickey Hart Bill Kreutzmann |
7 | 7 |
| Ethiopia | Red Hot Chili Peppers | Chad Smith | 7 | VR: 7, CH 8, BR: 7 (some instruments play a two bar phrase in verse) |
| Exodus Of The Year | Royal Canoe | Derek Allard | 5 | 5 entire song |
| Face Dances – Pt. 2 | Pete Townshend | check | 5 | 5 (two bar phrase) short bridge at 2:00 in 4 |
| Fairy Dust | Joe Jackson | Dave Houghton | 5 | 5 entire song |
| Fake Empire | The National | Bryan Devendorf | Poly | 3 and 4 polyrhythm – some articles online |
| Family Man | Blackfield | Tomer Zidkyahu | 7 | 7 entire song |
| Fifty-Eight | The Prayer Chain | Wayne Everett | 5 | VR: 5 CH: 8 |
| Fives | Guthrie Govan | Pete Riley | 5 | 5 entire song |
| Frequency | IQ | Andy Edwards | 7 | at 3:55 starts with CH- repeating pattern (8, 7, 8, 7) then VR: 7, BR: 7, Interlude at 6:45, then CH, big ending in 8 |
| From Eden | Hozier | Andre Antunes | 5 | Most of song in 5, count breaks in 4 |
| Get Closer | Linda Ronstadt | Russell Kunkel | 7 | 7 entire song |
| Ghosting | Freelance Whales | Jacob Hyman | 7 | 7 when full drums are playing, otherwise 8 |
| Go To Sleep | Radiohead | Philip Selway | 10 | 10 until 1:23, then 4 to end |
| Golden Brown | The Stranglers | Jet Black | 6 occ 8 | 6 with occasional 8 |
| Gone | Tokyo Police Club | Greg Alsop | (6, 6, 2, 6, 4) | repeating pattern of (6, 6, 2, 6, 4) |
| Gravity | A Perfect Circle | Joshua Freese | 7 | VR: 7 CH: 7 – after 3:03 – 3x (3,6,6,) 6,6 / 7,7,7,7 / 7,7,7,8 / then 8s to end |
| Hack or Shack | Fernández 4 | Daniel “Pipi” Piazzolla | (5, 9) | repeating (5, 9) after 2:40 not sure |
| Hanging Tree | Queens of the Stone Age | Dave Grohl | 5 | 5 entire song (keep counting 5 at change at 2:15) |
| Happy Jack – Soundtrack Version | The Who | Keith Moon | 5 | Verses when singing are 5, 4, 4 |
| Have a Good Time | Paul Simon | Ralph MacDonald | 7 | 7 entire song |
| Heart of Lothian | Marillion | Ian F. Mosley | 5 | Intro to :30 in 7, then :30 to 1:06 in 5, then 1:06 to end in 4 |
| Heat Of The Moment | Asia | Carl Palmer | 10 | Intro: 10, 10 VeR: (10, 10, 10, 10, 4) CH: 4 – BR: 4 |
| I Hung My Head | Sting | Vinnie Colaiuta | 9 | 9 entire song |
| I Should Live in Salt | The National | Bryan Devendorf | (9, 8) | Intro/VR: repeating (9, 8) CH: 8, 8, 8, 9 – BR 8 8 8 9, |
| I Swallowed Hard, Like I Understood | 65daysofstatic | programmed | 5 | Starts in 5, at 1:30 starts repeating (6,5) 2:00 back to 5, at 3:43 (6,5) again to end |
| If You Can See Me | David Bowie | Zack Alford | 4 | 4 with occasional 3 – two bars of 3 at these times: :30, :43, :56, 1:08, 1:42, 1:56, 2:08 |
| In Her Eyes | Josh Groban | Josh Groban | 5 | 5 entire song |
| Jetson | Dutch Uncles | Andrew Proudfoot | 7 | 7 entire song |
| Just Like You Imagined | Nine Inch Nails | unknown | (4, 3, 3) | (4,3,3) entire song |
| Kid Gloves | Rush | Neil Peart | 5 | some verses in 5 |
| Light Flight | Pentangle | Terry Cox | (5, 7) | Intro: 6, VR/CH (5, 7) BR: 6 |
| Limelight | Rush | Neil Peart | V | See Chart |
| Living in the Past | Jethro Tull | Clive Bunker | 5 | 5 entire song |
| Losing It | Rush | Neil Peart | 5, and (6, 5) | 5 until 2:03, then 2:45 to 3:56 repeating (6, 5), ending in 4 |
| Love Is Stronger Than Justice (The Munificent Seven) – Sting | Sting | Vinnie Colaiuta | 7 | V: 7, CH: 4, BR: 7 |
| Lucky Seven | Chris Squire | Bill Bruford | 7 | Intro: 7, V: 7, CH: 7 – at 1:36 takes12 beats before everyone is back together, 2 extra beats at 4:36 |
| Lunar Sea | Camel | Andy Ward | 5 | long intro then 5 (fast) |
| Make A Fist | Phantogram | unknown | 5 | 5 entire song |
| Make Believe | Silversun Pickups | Christopher Guanlao | 7 | V: 7, CH: 8 |
| Make Yourself | Incubus | Jose Pasillas | (7, 8) | V: (7, 8) CH: 4, BR: 4 |
| Mariela’s Dream | Paquito D’Rivera | Mark Walker | 5 | 5 entire song |
| Money | Pink Floyd | Nick Mason | 7 | 7 to 3:05 – 4 to 5:04 |
| Morning Bell | Radiohead | Philip Selway | 5 | 5 entire song |
| Mother | The Police | Stewart Copeland | 7 | mom… |
| Murmuration | Nomad Soul | emailed for info | 7 | drums :50 to 1:39 and 2:12 to 3:20 (snare sounds like bird wings) |
| My Wave | Soundgarden | 5 | 4 from 0 to :12, then 5 to :58, then 4 to 1:06, then 5 to 1:44, then 4 to 2:15, then 5 to end (transitions re not super clear) | |
| New Horizons | Don Ellis & His Orchestra | *research | 17/4 | reseach says it’s 17/4… |
| Nostalgia | Andrew Huang | NA | 15 | only rap i could find … |
| Old house | Nik Kershaw | Vinnie Colaiuta | 5 | 5 entire song |
| Out of the Beehive | Royal Canoe | Derek Allard Michael Jordan |
5 | 5 entire song |
| Possum Kingdom | Toadies | Mark Reznicek | (4 3 4 4) | V: (4 3 4 4) CH: (4 3 4 4) Bridge: 2:33 to 3:30 in 4, 2nd bridge (4,3,4,4,) to 4:40, then 4 to end |
| Pussy Wiggle Stomp | Don Ellis & His Orchestra | *research | 7 | 7 entire song *continues after break at 3:30 see http://jazzmostly.com/don-ellis-time-lord |
| Reminding Me to Live | Rare Futures | Rich Bozek | 7 | entire song |
| Same Old Story | Blodwyn Pig | Ron Burg | 5 | 5 entire song |
| Second Life Syndrome | Riverside | Piotr Kozieradzki | (6, 7, 6, 8) | repeating (6, 7, 6, 8) at 2:35 |
| Seven | Dave Matthews Band | Carter Beauford | 7 | V: 7 BR: 5 |
| Seven Days | Sting | Vinnie Colaiuta | 5 | 5 entire song |
| Spin The Bottle | The Juliana Hatfield Three | Todd Philips | 5 | 5 entire song |
| Statues | Something For Kate | Clint Hyndman | 5 | 5 entire song |
| Stone Pushing Uphill Man | Paul Gilbert | Kenny Aronoff | 10 | long intro to 1:58 (10, 10, 10 10) then repeating (10 10 9 6 6) and later (10 10 9 6 6) |
| Sufi Nightmare | ESW | Adam White | 5 | 5 entire song |
| The Comedians | Elvis Costello | Pete Thomas | 5 | Short intro then 5, (6 bars in 6 for chorus) |
| The Day I Tried To Live | Soundgarden | Matt Cameron | (4, 3, 4, 4) | at :33 repeating (4, 3, 4, 4) a few places it’s in 4 for a few bars |
| The Dragonfly | Clutch | Jean-Paul Gaster | 7 | After intro, 7 to 1:28, 8 to 1:41, 7 to 2:36, 8 to 2:50, 6 to 3:33, 7 to end |
| The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus) | Yes | Bill Bruford | 7 | 7 entire song |
| The Past Recedes | John Frusciante | Carla Azar | 7 | V: 7 CH: 4 |
| The Sound Of Muzak | Porcupine Tree | Gavin Harrison | 7 | V: 7 (two bar phrase) Ch: 8 BR: same as verse |
| The Start of Something Beautiful | Porcupine Tree | Gavin Harrison | 9 and 5 | V: 9, CH: 5, BR: 5 |
| This Town | Monday Tramps | Max Blank | 7 | V: 7 CH: 8 BR: 8 then 7 |
| Tribal Gathering | The Byrds | Michael Clarke | 5 | 5 until weird edit at 1:30 |
| Wanderluster | Band Of Skulls | Matt Hayward | 7 | entire song |