View source for Time Warp (song)

{{Short description|Song from The Rocky Horror Picture Show}}
{{Other uses|Time Warp (disambiguation)#Music}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Advert|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox song
| name     = Time Warp
| cover    = Time Warp.jpg
| caption  = South African single A-side label
| type     = song
| artist   = {{flat list|
*[[Richard O'Brien]]
*[[Patricia Quinn (Northern Irish actress)|Patricia Quinn]]
*[[Nell Campbell]]
*[[Charles Gray (actor)|Charles Gray]]
}}
| album    = [[The Rocky Horror Picture Show (soundtrack)|The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]
| released = {{Start date|1975}}
| recorded =
| studio   =
| genre    = {{hlist|[[Glam rock]]|[[rock and roll]]<ref name="Segretto 2022">{{cite book|title=33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute - A Critical Trip Through the Rock LP Era, 1955–1999|first=Mike|last=Segretto|date=2022|chapter= 1975|pages= 313–314|publisher=Backbeat|isbn=9781493064601|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jtNtEAAAQBAJ}}</ref>}}
| length   = 3:18
| label    =
| composer = Richard O'Brien, [[Richard Hartley (composer)|Richard Hartley]]
| lyricist = Richard O'Brien
| producer =
}}
"'''Time Warp'''" is a song featured in the 1973 rock musical ''[[The Rocky Horror Show]]'', its 1975 film adaptation ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]'', and the 2016 TV production ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again]]''. The song title comes from a [[dance]] performed during the [[pre-chorus]] of the song.

==Composition and lyrics==

The song is both an example and a [[parody]] of the [[Novelty and fad dances|dance song]] genre, with much of its lyrics consisting of instructions for performing the dance. (Example: "It's just a jump to the left / And then a step to the right / Put your hands on your hips / Bring your knees in tight.")<ref>{{cite web|title="Time Warp Lyrics." Lyrics.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 Feb. 2024. |url=https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/19211444/The+Rocky+Horror+Picture+Show/Time+Warp}}</ref>

This dance became one of the major audience participation activities during screenings of the 1975 film ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]'' and live performances of the original 1973 stage production ''[[The Rocky Horror Show]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=TRHPS Official Fan Site: Participation: How to do the Time Warp |url=http://www.rockyhorror.com/participation/timewarp.php |website=rockyhorror.com}}</ref> 

The song is a [[glam rock]] and [[rock and roll]] song. It is written by Richard O'Brien and [[Richard Hartley (composer)|Richard Hartley]]. The song is in the key of [[A major]] with a tempo of 174 beats per minute.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Time Warp - Sheet Music |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/65295789/Time-Warp-Sheet-Music |website=Scribd}}</ref>

== Placement ==
[[File:How to dance the "Time Warp" from "The Rocky Horror Pictures Show".gif|thumb|right|upright|The choreography for "Time Warp".]]

"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]]") where it was performed by Riff-Raff ([[Richard O'Brien]]), Magenta ([[Patricia Quinn]]), Columbia ([[Nell Campbell]]) and the Narrator ([[Jonathan Adams (British actor)|Jonathan Adams]]), but fourth in the film (following "Over at the Frankenstein Place" and preceding "Sweet Transvestite"). O'Brien, Quinn and Campbell reprised their roles from the stage production in the film but the Narrator, now renamed the Criminologist, was instead played by [[Charles Gray (actor)|Charles Gray]]. In the 2016 TV production, ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again|The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time-Warp Again]]'', the number was performed by [[Reeve Carney]] (Riff-Raff), [[Christina Milian]] (Magenta), [[Annaleigh Ashford]] (Columbia) and [[Tim Curry]] (the Criminologist).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Payne |first=Chris |date=2016-08-16 |title=Let’s Do the Time Warp… Again! Hear Iconic ‘Rocky Horror’ Song Reworked For TV Special |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/hear-rocky-horror-picture-show-2016-lets-do-time-warp-again-soundtrack-7476056/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=Billboard |language=en-US}}</ref> 

Stage productions continued to use the original placement until Richard O'Brien revised the script for the 1990 [[West End theatre|West End]] revival in which he moved the song to the film's placement. For reasons of pacing, most productions now follow this order.<ref name="Thompson">{{Cite book |first=Dave  |last=Thompson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qx6GDAAAQBAJ |title=The Rocky Horror Picture Show FAQ: Everything Left to Know About the Campy Cult Classic |publisher=Applause Theatre & Cinema Books |year=2016|isbn=9781495063770 }}</ref>

The song is reprised briefly at the end of the film, in [[flashback (literary technique)|flashback]], and in the stage show it serves as an encore led by Dr. Frank N. Furter (played by Tim Curry in the original stage production and film).<ref name="Thompson"/>

==Charts==
===Weekly charts===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan=3| Original Australian cast recording
|- 
!Chart (1977)
!Peak<br/>position
|-
|Australia ([[Kent Music Report]])<ref name=aus>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=281}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|85
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan=2| ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show''
|- 
!Chart (1980–81)
!Peak<br/>position
|-
|Australia ([[Kent Music Report]])<ref name=aus/>
| style="text-align:center;"|3
|-
|Canada ([[RPM (magazine)|''RPM'']] Top Singles)
| style="text-align:center;"|12
|-
|Europe ([[Euro Digital Songs]]) (''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'')
| style="text-align:center;"|16
|-
|France
| style="text-align:center;"|20
|-
|UK ([[UK Singles Chart]])
| style="text-align:center;"|13
|-
|U.S. (''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'') ([[Billboard Hot 100|Hot 100]])<ref>''Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990'' - {{ISBN|0-89820-089-X}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|29
|}

===Year-end charts===
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
! Chart (1980)
! Position
|-
! scope="row"| Australia ([[Kent Music Report]])<ref name="aus80">{{cite web|url=https://imgur.com/a/kTGdGUZ|title= National Top 100 Singles for 1980|publisher= [[Kent Music Report]] |issue= 341 |via= [[Imgur]] |date= January 5, 1981 |access-date= January 17, 2022 }}</ref>
| 66
|-
! Chart (1981)
! Position
|-
! scope="row"| Australia ([[Kent Music Report]])<ref name="aus81">{{cite web|title= National Top 100 Singles for 1981 |publisher= [[Kent Music Report]] |issue= 393 |page= 7 |via= [[Imgur]] |date= 4 January 1982 |access-date=January 11, 2022 |url= https://i.imgur.com/RgsDOOc.jpg}}</ref>
| 27
|}

==Certifications==
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Richard O'brien/Patricia Quinn|title=Time Warp|award=Silver|relyear=2011|certyear=2021|id=17627-5766-1|access-date=November 5, 2021}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}

== Other appearances ==
''The Hillywood Show'' used the song in a 2014 ''[[Doctor Who]]'' parody, which actor [[David Tennant]] (who portrayed the [[Tenth Doctor|Tenth]] and [[Fourteenth Doctor|Fourteenth Doctors]] on the series) called "extraordinary".<ref name="nerdistdw">{{Cite web |last=Anderson, Kyle |date=May 27, 2014 |title=The Hillywood Show: Doctor Who Parody Does The Time Warp |url=http://www.nerdist.com/2014/05/doctor-who-parody-does-the-time-warp/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531033426/http://www.nerdist.com/2014/05/doctor-who-parody-does-the-time-warp/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 31, 2014 |access-date=December 19, 2016 |publisher=[[Nerdist.com]]}}</ref><ref name="metrodw">{{Cite web |last=Campbell, Tina |date=May 28, 2014 |title=David Tennant does the Time Warp in Doctor Who musical parody video |url=http://metro.co.uk/2014/05/28/forget-house-parties-its-all-about-tardis-parties-in-the-doctor-who-musical-parody-video-4741981/ |access-date=December 19, 2016 |publisher=Metro.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=April 21, 2015 |title=David Tennant Knows Who We Are! |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oynMTTKBTxA  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/oynMTTKBTxA| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|access-date=December 20, 2016 |publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In the S1E9 of the English dub of [[The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World]], Carol makes the Grim Reapers dance the Time Warp.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3NdXbLZbws&feature=youtu.be&t=339 Patricia Quinn discusses the Time Warp on Studio 10]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w0WPkB3XJ4 Fandango Movieclips: The Rocky Horror Picture Show - The Time Warp Scene]
{{subject bar|auto=y|d=y}}
{{The Rocky Horror Picture Show}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Time Warp}}
[[Category:American novelty songs]]
[[Category:1973 songs]]
[[Category:2008 singles]]
[[Category:1970s fads and trends]]
[[Category:Novelty and fad dances]]
[[Category:Songs from Rocky Horror]]
[[Category:Songs with lyrics by Richard O'Brien]]
[[Category:Group dances]]
[[Category:Line dances]]
[[Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles]]
[[Category:Songs about dancing]]
[[Category:Songs with music by Richard Hartley (composer)]]