What recent pop songs are in 3/4 (waltz time) and have a tempo between 110 and
135 BPM?  I already know of a few:

"Kiss from a Rose" by Seal
"A New Day Has Come" by Celine Dion (album version, not radio version)
"Scarborough Fair" by S&G
"Lucky" by Bif Naked
Several songs by Enya
"Satellite" by Dave Matthews
"Ice Cream" by Sarah McLachlan
"Something in Red" by Lorrie Morgan

Songs like "Open Arms" by Journey (96 BPM) are too slow, and songs like "I'll
Be" by Edwin McCain (144 BPM) are too fast.

I'd be willing to pay $1 for each song not on this list and its tempo, or $25
for a total of 25.  They don't have to be that recent (Scarborough Fair isn't
recent, for example), or even in English, as long as I can find them in music
stores in this country.  No church music though, please.

Thanks,

John

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Request for Question Clarification by missy-ga on 24 Apr 2002 19:14 PDT

Are you interested only in a specific list and exact tempos, or are you looking 
for songs with sheet music available?

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Clarification of Question by horatio-ga on 24 Apr 2002 23:18 PDT

Thanks!  I'm just looking for the songs titles and exact tempos, not
the sheet music.

Here are 2 links that may help:

http://www.quickstartbooks.com/Firstdance.htm

http://216.239.33.100/search?q=cache:PcWVcF_Rg3gC:www.softcom.net/users/bcdancer/music1.html+songs+waltzes+beats-per-minute+song+list+bpm&hl=en

Thanks for the suggestion!  Unfortunately, all of the waltzes listed
on these pages are either standard ballroom waltz tempo (80-100 BPM)
or Viennese waltz tempo (160-180+ BPM).  (The pages both list
"measures per minute", which you can multiply by 3 to get the beats
per minute.)  The speeds I'm looking for are in between these two
ranges... songs that people usually won't play for ballroom music :)

Ah .. you're looking for the waltzes that are most frustrating to a
ballroom dancer like me ...I've found a couple of Elvis songs listed
as being in the tempo you're looking for: Love Letter (39mpm = 117bpm)
and Suspicious Minds (38mpm = 114 bpm), these from

http://www.djzone.net/pg/resources/musiclists/ballroom/waltz.shtml

I think that Sad Songs and Waltzes by Cake is in the high 30s mpm --
if you don't mind a little twang.  Also What the World Needs Now by
Burt Bacharach comes to mind.

Piano Man by Billy Joel might be in the right range, or maybe a bit
too fast.

If you're willing to go country or celtic/irish, I think you might be
able to find more waltzes at this speed, but I can't suggest specific
titles.

Are you only looking for pop music? Or are songs like Ohureo by Baka
Beyond (world music genre) acceptable?

Are you only looking for pop music? Or are songs like Ohureo by Baka
Beyond (world music genre) acceptable?

This is by ear, so I'm not sure how fast these actually are, but they
may be worth checking out:

Satellite, Elvis Costello (album: Spike)
It's a Raggy Waltz, Dave Brubeck (instrumental, or sung by Carmen
McRae, album: Take Five)

I dunno how long it will take to get signed up as an official
answerer, and it's sad to think of someone dancing cross-step waltz
(or whatever) to uncomfortably-tempoed music, so here are some songs
for you. <p>

(FYI, I figured out the tempos for all these songs using the BeatMatch
utility for the palm...you can download it at <A
HREF="http://www.geocities.com/levittben/beatmatch">http://www.geocities.com/levittben/beatmatch</A>,
and never be lost for the bpm of a song again!)<p>

Song Title(Artist): bpm <p>

Sad Songs and Waltzes (Cake): 109-112 (varies a little)<br>
River Waltz (Cowboy Junkies): 129<br>
What's Simple is True (Jewel): 135<br>
The Rainbow Connection (Kermit the Frog): 117<br>
My Skin (Natalie Merchant): 132<br>
Angel (Sarah McLachlan): 118-119<br>
Victory Waltz (Ochestral Maneuvers in the Dark): 111<br>
Between (Vienna Teng): 135 - go to viennateng.com to get this one<p>

Here are a few that are 5 bpm or fewer out of your specified range,
but still really great for x-waltz and such...<p>

Kaze (Cirque du Soleil): 140<br>
Wallflower Waltz (k.d. lang): 103 - 105<br>
Lady, Your Roof Brings Me Down (Scott Weiland): 140<br>
Greensleeves (Loreena McKennitt): 105<br>
Spark (Tori Amos): 138 - this one gets a little wacky in spots, but
it's fun to dance to<p>

Enjoy!<p>