History Main / CommonMeter

* "O Little Town of Bethlehem" is almost common meter double (the third line has only 13 syllables instead of 14), but it can easily be sung to any common meter melody. Many non-American congregations sing it to the melody "Forest Green", which is easily adapted to other hymns in common meter double.

* "Beer Gut" and "Dear Mr. Governor" by Music/DaYoopers

* "Faster Horses (The Cowboy and the Poet)" by Tom T. Hall is almost common meter double, but the last line is only 10 syllables instead of 14.

** "Angels We Have Heard on High"

* Many Christmas carols, such as "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night", "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" and "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen"

[[PainfulRhyme And some rhymes are]] [[AccentUponTheWrongSyllable stilt-ED.]]

As [[TitleDrop Common (Ballad) Meter]].

* The first verse of "Lose My Mind" by Brett Eldredge.

* "Every Second" by Collin Raye is common meter double on the verses.

Please note that this is a good bit more specialized than just [[IThoughtItMeant two songs that share the same meter]]. "Common meter," as the poem above demonstrates, is a specific (though very popular) rhythm. Tune-swapping in general is covered by the trope ToTheTuneOf.

* It has been pointed out that any Creator/EmilyDickinson poem can be sung to "The Yellow Rose of Texas": the phenomenon gets a mention in a fifth-season ''Series/BabylonFive'' episode, and also features in Sharyn [=McCrumb=]'s (Literature/BimbosOfTheDeathSun), ''Zombies of the Gene Pool'', where a Hillybilly folk singer (with a Ph.D.) mentions that he did exactly this to fool a visiting scholar. It was also discussed in ''Series/HeadOfTheClass.'' Dickinson poems can be sung to the ''Series/GilligansIsland'' theme, as well, but don't bring it up in a literature class!

* [[https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/2l29zh/what_would_be_your_preferred_instrument_of_death/clqtoay?context=1 This poem]] from {{Reddit}}'s Poem_for_your_sprog.

Is commoner than bread.\\

* The writer of the webcomic ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes'' likes to start new chapters with a bit of allegedly humorous verse, done in CommonMeter. Examples can be found [[http://www.webcomicsnation.com/eddurd/everydayheroes/series.php?view=single&ID=83940 here]], [[http://www.webcomicsnation.com/eddurd/everydayheroes/series.php?view=single&ID=103116 here]], [[http://www.webcomicsnation.com/eddurd/everydayheroes/series.php?view=single&ID=158728 here]], and [[http://www.webcomicsnation.com/eddurd/everydayheroes/series.php?view=single&ID=179899 here]].

->I learned from ''Webcomic/{{Achewood}}'' that since [[http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/stop.html this poem]] is in ballad meter, it can be sung to the tune of ''GilligansIsland''. Since then, [[EarWorm try as I might]], I haven't ONCE been able to read it normally.

* The writer of the webcomic EverydayHeroes likes to start new chapters with a bit of allegedly humorous verse, done in CommonMeter. Examples can be found [[http://www.webcomicsnation.com/eddurd/everydayheroes/series.php?view=single&ID=83940 here]], [[http://www.webcomicsnation.com/eddurd/everydayheroes/series.php?view=single&ID=103116 here]], [[http://www.webcomicsnation.com/eddurd/everydayheroes/series.php?view=single&ID=158728 here]], and [[http://www.webcomicsnation.com/eddurd/everydayheroes/series.php?view=single&ID=179899 here]].

* Much of [[BobDylan Bob Dylan's]] "My Back Pages" ([[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FUGzwUTN80 more famously]] CoveredUp by TheByrds)

* It has been pointed out that any EmilyDickinson poem can be sung to "The Yellow Rose of Texas": the phenomenon gets a mention in a fifth-season ''Series/BabylonFive'' episode, and also features in Sharyn [=McCrumb=]'s (Literature/BimbosOfTheDeathSun), ''Zombies of the Gene Pool'', where a Hillybilly folk singer (with a Ph.D.) mentions that he did exactly this to fool a visiting scholar. It was also discussed in ''Series/HeadOfTheClass.'' Dickinson poems can be sung to the ''Series/GilligansIsland'' theme, as well, but don't bring it up in a literature class!

Please note that this has ''nothing'' to do with songs that happen to be in the same tempo. For instance, it's a well-known and curious fact that Music/{{LMFAO}}'s "Party Rock Anthem" matches the ''Franchise/StarWars'' Cantina theme [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=84WpcmJ28Yg in the middle]], as well as [[TheRoaringTwenties the Charleston]] (as seen [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj9_PKu9UzE here]].) But this trope is about ''lyrics'', which the Cantina theme and the Charleston don't really have. ("Party Rock Anthem"'s, amusingly, are in Inverted Common Meter, six beats followed by eight.) As such, this fact is cute trivia, but has nothing to do with this trope. Besides, songs being in the same tempo is a "Administrivia/PeopleSitOnChairs" thing.

Not to be confused with CommonTime. A tune can scan to CommonMeter, be in CommonTime, neither, or both.

* [[ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents "The Little Snicket Lad"]]

* Demonstrated on an episode of ''Series/TheOffice'': Michael learned the Pledge of Allegiance by singing it to "Old McDonald."

One line has four iambic beats.\\

And then the pattern once repeats\\
And rhymes, as you can see.

That nothing could be neater\\

* Lots of EmilyDickinson poems (e.g. "Because I Could Not Stop For Death")

* Parts of "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" fit this meter ("You've painted up your lips and rolled in curls your tinted hair/Ruby, are you contemplating going out somewhere?")

* "Lose My Mind" by Brett Eldredge (verses)

* "Half a Heart Tattoo" by Jennifer Hanson, but only the first half of each verse.

* It has been pointed out that any EmilyDickinson poem can be sung to "The Yellow Rose of Texas": the phenomenon gets a mention in a fifth-season ''Series/BabylonFive'' episode, and also features in Sharyn [=McCrumb=]'s (Literature/BimbosOfTheDeathSun), ''Zombies of the Gene Pool'', where a Hillybilly folk singer (with a Ph.D.) mentions that he did exactly this to fool a visiting scholar.

Tune-swapping is a breeze.\\

* "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". Possibly one of the more amusing tunes to sing "Amazing Grace" to. (For maximum effectiveness, at the "wimoweh" parts, say "amazing grace" instead.)