Wrong Time Signature or Syncopated?

Question

I am trying to assess the time signature of a song I'm transcribing. Initially, I thought it was in 4/4, but with this, very few of the verse chord changes happen on the beat. 4/4 might still be correct, but is there a term (like syncopated) that describes this?

If it helps, the song I'm trying to transcribe is Coconut Records - West Coast. Here's what I've transcribed so far in respect to the chord changes & beats. The numbers represent the measure number and the first beat in each measure, each dot represents the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th beat in the measure.

Intro
Riff1           Riff2
1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . . 

Verse 1
    Bb  EbGm      Bb  EbBb
5 . . . 6 . . . 7 . . . 8 . . . 
Bb  EbGm       Bb   EbCm       Dm
9 . . . 10 . . . 11 . . . 12 . . .

Chorus
     Gm  Eb   Cm  Dm   Gm  Eb   Cm     
13 . . . 14 . . . 15 . . . 16 . . .
Dm   Gm  Eb   Cm  Dm   Gm  Eb   Cm  
17 . . . 18 . . . 19 . . . 20 . . .
Dm      
21 . . . 

Verse 2
Bb   EbGm       Bb   EbBb
22 . . . 23 . . . 24 . . . 25 . . .
(Same chords as verse one)...

Answer 1

Intro   |4|4|4|4|  

        |2| 

Verse   |3|4|3|4|  
        |3|4|3|4|4|  

Refrain |4|4|4|4|  
        |4|4|4|4|  

        |2| 

Vers    |3|4|3|4|  
        |3|4|3|4|4|  

Refrain |4|4|4|4|  
        |4|4|4|4| etc.

---

Well, the intro is like the refrain - straight 4 beats, then you have a little break of 2 quarters, verse is 4 groups of 7 quarters (3+4) with a little 4 quarter extension (bridge) at the end...

Drums come in on bar 4 of the first verse!

---

Intro   |4      |       |       |       |  

        |2      |  

Verse   |3 Bb_Eb|4 Gm   |3 Bb_Eb|4 Bb   |  
        |3 Bb_Eb|4 Gm   |3 Bb_Eb|4 Cm   | Dm   |   

Refrain |4 Gm Eb| Cm Dm | Gm Eb | Cm Dm |   
        |4 Gm Eb| Cm Dm | Gm Eb | Cm Dm |   

        |2 Dm   |   

Verse   |3 Bb_Eb|4 Gm   |3 Bb_Eb|4 Bb   |  
        |3 Bb_Eb|4 Gm   |3 Bb_Eb|4 Cm   | Dm   |  

Refrain |4 Gm Eb| Cm Dm | Gm Eb | Cm Dm |  
        |4 Gm Eb| Cm Dm | Gm Eb | Cm Dm | etc.  

---

Of course you could - because of the chord changes - interpret the Refrain with the additional 2 quarter bar as

---

Intro   |4|4|4|2|  

        |4| 

Verse   |3|4|3|4|  
        |3|4|3|4|4|  

Refrain |4|4|4|4|  
        |4|4|4|2|  

        |4| 

Vers    |3|4|3|4|  
        |3|4|3|4|4|  

Refrain |4|4|4|4|  
        |4|4|4|2| etc.

---

respectively

---

Intro   |4      |       |       |2      |  

        |4      |  

Verse   |3 Bb_Eb|4 Gm   |3 Bb_Eb|4 Bb   |  
        |3 Bb_Eb|4 Gm   |3 Bb_Eb|4 Cm   | Dm   |   

Refrain |4 Gm Eb| Cm Dm | Gm Eb | Cm Dm |   
        |4 Gm Eb| Cm Dm | Gm Eb |2 Cm   |   

        |4 Dm   |   

Verse   |3 Bb_Eb|4 Gm   |3 Bb_Eb|4 Bb   |  
        |3 Bb_Eb|4 Gm   |3 Bb_Eb|4 Cm   | Dm   |  

Refrain |4 Gm Eb| Cm Dm | Gm Eb | Cm Dm |  
        |4 Gm Eb| Cm Dm | Gm Eb |2 Cm   | etc.  

---

But you'd better go for the first variant because before the repetition of the last Refrain they keep on playing 4 straight 4 beat bars and repeat them - until they are stuck with the Dm for the Coda (fade)...

Answer 2

Lets get clarity on what syncopation is. Syncopation is at its core a emphasis on the weak part of a beat. If you would have syncopation in 4/4 time it would be something resembling this.

The 4/4 Time signature would have the strong pulses on the 1 and third beats and by playing a long note on the second pulse you would be emphasizing a weak pulse.

Now bringing it back to your example you may very well have syncopation depending on how your strumming is accentuated. Seeing as there is no indications of emphasis it is really hard to say for sure.

What I rather see here is simply 4/4 time signature with a lot of chord changes that change on the quaver beats ie two changes in one pulse.

This could be played by accenting certain strums in slew of ways that may include syncopation or not.