The original post: /r/music by /u/Longjumping-Wish7948 on 2024-10-11 12:36:01.

I’m wondering if there’s a specific term for the inability to hear beats correctly at the beginnings of songs, and if it’s deliberately pursued by musicians when they create music. It’s like a rhythmic dislocation.

The example I always cite is the beginning of “Spirits in the Material World” by The Police. Copeland’s drum fill intro always seems to set me up to invert the beats when the rest of the band comes in, and I can’t seem to flip it back until the chorus.

To be clear, I’m not talking about, for example, a crowd clapping along on one and three when they should be clapping on two and four (in this case, they probably do know they’re clapping on one and three); rather, actually hearing one two three and four incorrectly and being unable to switch due to the strength of the musical suggestion.

In regards to The Police, I like to think they were all in the studio having a laugh knowing the beginning of Spirits would be misheard.