Time Warp (song)
| "The Time Warp" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Richard O'Brien/Patricia Quinn/Nell Campbell/Charles Gray from the album The Rocky Horror Picture Show | |
| Released | 1975 |
| Genre | Glam rock, rock and roll |
| Length | 3:18 |
| Composer(s) | Richard O'Brien |
| Language | English |
"The Time Warp" is a song featured in the 1973 rock musical The Rocky Horror Show and in its 1975 film adaptation The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and a 2016 TV production, as well as a dance performed during the chorus of the song. The song is both an example and a parody of the dance song genre in which much of the content of the song is given over to dance step instructions. The dance is one of the major audience-participation activities during screenings of the film and performances of the show.[1] It has become a popular song beyond the reaches of the film and show, and is often played at dances and weddings.[2]
The song is in the key of A major.[3]
Placement
"The Time Warp" was the fifth song in the original stage show (after "Science Fiction/Double Feature", "Dammit Janet", "Over at the Frankenstein Place" and "Sweet Transvestite"), but fourth in the film (following "Over at the Frankenstein Place" and preceding "Sweet Transvestite"). Stage productions continued to use the original placing until Richard O'Brien revised the script for the 1990 West End revival in which he moved the song to the film’s placing. For reasons of pacing, most productions now follow this order.
The song begins at 19:35 in the DVD release.
The song consists of verses sung by alternating characters, serving as the introduction to two of them, and choruses sung by the chorus of "Transylvanians" (Movie) or "Phantoms" (Musical), and the Criminologist/Narrator (played by Charles Gray in the movie). The characters that sing the verses are, in order, Riff-Raff (Richard O'Brien in the movie), Magenta (Patricia Quinn in the movie), and Columbia (Little Nell Campbell in the film). After the second full chorus, Columbia often launches into her tap dance.
The order of the solos varies in certain albums. In the movie and Roxy cast album, Columbia's solo is right after Magenta's, then Columbia does her tap dance after a second chorus. The version that has been in stage shows more recently is similar to the movie and Roxy cast, with Columbia singing her solo right after Magenta's, but then she does her tap dance right after her solo, leaving only two choruses. Occasionally, Columbia's solo and tap dance come after the chorus after Magenta's solo.
Meat Loaf's voice is prominent in the chorus of the film version of the song. It is assumed that he is voicing a Transylvanian rather than the yet-to-be-introduced character of Eddie.
The song is reprised/revisited briefly at the end of the film, in flashback, and in the show as an encore, led by Dr Frank N. Furter.
In 1980, the song reached number three on the Australian ARIA chart.[4]