Is That All There Is?
A man named Joshua Allen, using scientific methods, his internal good-taste barometer, and a whole lot of sass, has come up with the perfect song length. That length is 2:42. His article includes a link to a mix tape featuring songs that clock in at exactly 2:42.
The mix features twelve songs by some great bands and musicians, from The Beatles to The Breeders, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young to Tom Petty. Yet hardly any of the songs therein constitute those artists' best output. For instance, if "Don't Do Me Like That" is Petty's most perfectly timed song, then what are "American Girl" and "Free Fallin?" Grandiose and excessive? And "Get Up" by R.E.M? That's not even the best song on Green, let alone their most perfect tune ever.
Taking a look through my iTunes library, which allows me to sort songs by time—something I could not do with my vinyl without a massive headache, score one for technology—I found a few other songs at 2:42.
Them-"I Can Only Give You Everything" (I admit, one of their best)
MC5-"High School" (Nope. Not their strongest)
Judas Priest-"Deceiver" (Great Priest song but perfect?)
Blitzen Trapper-"Wild Mountain Nation" (I adore this song. F**k! This guy might be onto something)
Glen Campbell-"Galveston" (A hit, yes, but due to its length?)
Okay, so there are a lot of great songs at 2:42. But scrolling down to songs in the three or four minute range, I am bombarded with some of the best songs by The Clash, The Stones, X, Bee Gees, Pixies, Joy Division, and Dylan. I might concede that the two longest songs on my iTunes— Pink Floyd's "Echoes" and Can's "Halleluhwah" aren't in heavy rotation—but that doesn't mean I'm too lazy to sit through them once a... year.
Allen's strongest argument for 2:42 is The La's song "There She Goes." He says about the song, "[It] is so flawless that it instantly made everything else the band did pointless." I agree. Possibly, Allen's argument might be stronger if he could find a bunch of one-hit-wonder bands whose hit songs were all the same length. Because maybe 2:42 is the perfect song length for bands for whom we only care about one song. But the rest of the bands he mentions weren't one-hit-wonders. The fact that they have great songs at 2:42 cannot be separated from the fact that they are simply great bands; with some songs that leave us wanting more as well as songs with lengths we get lost in, whose musical stories are written in sentences not just in phrases and fragments. In fact, maybe we wouldn't even like a band's 2:42 song if all of their songs were 2:42. In other words, 2:42 might leave you wanting more, but if there isn't any more goodness to be had, then 2:42 is an empty number; it's an arbitrary shell that houses one amazing song.
Joshua Allen is joking—I think—but he brings up an interesting discussion. Is there a reason that short songs feel better? Easier? That they're the songs we put on mixes? The ones we use when we introduce a new band to our friends? Do these songs truly distill the best elements of a band, saving our ears from profligate solos, break downs so long they could be their own song, and too-slow-on-the faders fade-outs?
True, we're often impressed by succinctness, a tale trimmed of fat, getting knocked out before we knew what hit us. And we all like things quick and easy on occasion. But easy is only part of the story.
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I've often argued (with anyone who will listen) that Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" is the most perfect song ever written (I just checked and it's 2:50.... apparently 8 seconds too long to be perfect). I've never argued that it's the "best" song ever written, or even the best song Sabbath have ever written (I think that honour goes to Into the Void), but it's the purest distillation of everything that a great rock song should be, and the fact that it all clocks in under 3 minutes is a big part of that perfection.
Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, Talking Heads, The Velvet Underground, and many, many others have long songs that can only be appreciated when listened to in their entirety. Wilco's "Reservations" (and the album as a whole) really loses something if you hit the stop button before it goes into that tuneless yet haunting part at the end. (I think it's just various piano chords with some guitar feedback, if I remember right.)
But for "verse/chorus/verse" songs, yeah, 2-3 minutes seems about right. Could you imagine a 10-minute version of The Beatles' "Birthday"? Pass the Dramamine.
Just wanted to add a few songs to the list & I'll let you decide if they support or negate the theory:
Michelle (Beatles)
Lovin in my Baby's Eyes (Taj Mahal)
Walk On (Neil Young)
Squeeze Box (Who)
Goodbye Guitar Town (Steve Earle)
Blue Moon (Elvis)
I used to be really militant about putting only short songs on mixes (in fact 2:45 or so was my ideal time limit), and I guess my reasoning was that assuming the songs and bands I'm putting on there are new to the listener, then short songs usually pack a solid punch that don't even come close to boring territory. I know that when I'm listening to a new musician for the first time, I prefer to hear the short songs first, because I assume that the longer songs may not be as easy to appreciate right away, probably because they ARE usually the 'better' songs in that band's catalog-- often songs that were created a little later in the band's chronology when the writing has evolved a little more.
I guess I'm saying that for me, longer songs need context, and short songs are that context. If I know a little something about a band's sound at 2:42 minutes, then I'm more likely to understand the reason for exposition in longer songs. If I didn't hear the short songs first, then the exposition in the longer songs might come across as boring or even haughty.
interesting, so i had to check my itunes and, true, while not all my favorites or the artist's best work--some very, very good ones: radiohead "thinking about you," dolly parton "jolene," the smiths "what she said," paul mccrane "is it okay if i call you mine," and desmond dekker "get up, edina."
Some of the highlights from my iTunes 4:42 songs-
"Baby, I'm an Anarchist!" by Against Me!
"Echoes Myron" and "The Best of Jill Hives" by Guided by Voices
"We Don't Have to Worry Anymore" by the Exploding Hearts
"Makes No Sense at All" by Husker Du
"About You" by Teenage Fanclub
"Motel Room in My Bed" by X
"Letter to Memphis" by the Pixies
"I Fought the Law" by the Clash
"Sheila Take a Bow" by the Smiths
A decent little collection, no? Of note: GBV contribute both a super-catchy track from the classic "Bee Thousand" AND perhaps Pollard's best post-Mag Earwhig! song from "Earthquake Glue." Might we have stumbled upon the secret to Bob? Has anybody scrolled through all of his 2:42 songs? Somebody with a bigger collection needs to look into this...
I've got Soul Brothers Six's "Some Kind of Wonderful" and Buzzcocks "Ever Fallen in Love?" No argument there. Too bad about that extra second, "What Do I Get?"
As I am sure many people are doing I sorted my library and came up with these worth mentioning..
Ween - "Mister Richard Smoker"
Smiths - "Sheila Take a Bow"
Police - "How Stupid Mr.Bates"
and of course the song that proves the point correct
Neil Diamond - "Cherry, Cherry"
I think Joshua might be onto something - only because I can always remember looking for that one song that fit perfectly in the last 3 minutes I had left at the end of a tape or CD....you can't just leave that space empty or have it ruin the mixtape's effectiveness. What was needed was 2:42 of concentrated awesome.
I guess it doesn't matter anymore since the "radio single" is practically dead and the "playlist's" length is determined in Gigabytes and not minutes.
...and while we're talking about song lengths I'd like to mention the impact of the 30 second clips you get on iTunes, Amazon etc.. You can get a pretty good idea of a Pixies or Husker Du song from 30 seconds but a Black Mountain or King Crimson song (yeah i said it), no chance.
2:42 from mitunes:
thrice???under a killing moon (artist in the ambulance)
black keys???act nice and gentle (rubber factory)
t(i)nc???only lovers left alive (survival sickness)
all very good songs, but like you say, not even the best on each album let alone each band's catalog.
I spent several years in the gothic/industrial scene, where songs stretching out to 7 or 8 minutes are the norm. I found songs at that length tiresome, mostly because it seemed that the bands (Sisters of Mercy in particular) would write a great song and then just play it twice through without stopping in between. I was indignant about my ability to rewind (in those days) to hear a song again if I liked it enough! It became enough of a joke that some friends in a band actually wrote a song for me --"She likes Short Songs!" I don't actually have an innate preference for short songs, though. It's a preference for songs that tell their full story, say what they need to say, and then stop. To use the same band as an example, Dominion/Mother Russia is great song not diminished by its 7:01 length. But This Corrosion clocks in at 10:55 and gets dull.
Ironically, one of the seminal (and I use that in the fullest sense of the word) bands in the industrial scene was Front 242. Perhaps they were on to something.
I agree that his arbitrary time limit doesn't exactly capture performers' best songs. But I did find another sublime example (like "There She Goes.") "Come Go With Me" by The Del Vikings is also 2:42. To me it's absolutely perfect.
Notably, it was the backdrop for some of the greatest choreography set to film. (Tom Hanks, Joe Vs. the Volcano) Okay, so it's not great choreography but it sure is entertaining!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=74AaRCxZcTo (Zoom ahead to 1:50 to see the dance.)
It really depends on the song, I think. There are some songs that feel too long and drawn out at under three minutes, and there are some that go on for six minutes plus but you still want them to keep going. I've never thought "How Soon Is Now?" was too long, for instance, and it's almost seven minutes.
On the other hand, other good/great 2:42 songs:
Johnny Cash, "Folsom Prison Blues"
The Avengers, "We Are The One"
The Beatles, "Lovely Rita"
Art Brut, "Emily Kane"
Neko Case, "The Tigers Have Spoken"
The Clash, "I Fought the Law"
Looking at that list, I almost wonder if there is something to the 2:42 thing...
I am beginning to believe more and more in the "leave 'em wanting more" philosophy of music making and listening. There is something oddly peculiar but fun and satisfying about obsessively hitting the rewind or back button over and over and over again...
Ikea furniture may be versatile, convenient and cheap, but it doesn't hold a candle to its hand-crafted counterpart. I guess what I'm saying is that it serves a purpose and can be great, but is hardly a reason to dismiss the rest.
Inspired by your post, I checked my iTunes, too, and discovered that the Magnetic Fields' "The Book of Love" is 2:42, which presents a damn strong argument for Allen's theory...
(My favorite Clientele song, "K," is also 2:42, and The Buzzcocks "Ever Fallen in Love..."!)
That is amazing. There are an amazing number of songs that don't event make his list:
'School Day' - The Chuck Berry song with 'Hail Hail Rock and Roll'
'The Book Of Love' - seems like the popular favorite of the Magnetic Field's 69 Love Songs.
'Providence' - on the short side for a song from Daydream Nation.
'School' - Nirvana.
'Center of Gravity' - Yo La Tengo
'Rebel Rebel' - David Bowie
'Streets Of Fire' - the best song from 'Challengers' from The New Pornographer's Challengers
The advantage of these shorter (but not Minutemen-short) songs is that they let the band come up with one good idea and see it through to its conclusion, but not mess around along the way. They are like a first audition about whether you want them to do something more complex.
I guess people are going to try anything to see what is causing this slump in the music biz. The best song at the "2:42" mark in my Itunes; "Divine Hammer" by The Breeders.
"Let's Go" by The Feelies is 2:42 and perfect. The longest song on my office computer is Bob Dylan's "Highlands" at 16:32. It might not be perfect, but I wouldn't want it any shorter either.
Any song over 6 minutes is perfect for me because it says that the artist cares less about making a hit and more about making a good piece of music (regardless if the song is actually good or not).
Here's some of what I've got at 2:42
Tegan and Sara - "I Won't Be Left"
Shirley Bassey - "Diamonds Are Forever"
Le Tigre - "Cry for Everything Bad That's Ever Happened"
Gillian Welch - "One Morning"
My Chemical Romance "Teenagers" - ick, not perfect but really the only "hit" in my 2:42 collection.
Short songs are fine, but sometimes long ones are better.
After an amazing Springsteen show a few weeks ago in Seattle, my daughter and I were discussing some of the rarities Bruce has been playing during this part of his tour. She pointed out how lucky we were to have heard "Rosalita" - "not only is it really good, but it is also really long."
Oddly, I recently was tempted to make a mix tape of all songs UNDER 2mins...
So it would be loaded up with 50's/60's rock... songs like Break on Through from the doors (think thats like 2:04 but its one of my all time favs) or just about anything Elvis did in the 50's...
But 2:42 for the perfect song lenght?
seems a bit short to me...
Most songs that short... tend to make me feel like somethings missing... probably why I prefer the live versions of Break On Through over the studio...
Course, we could get really crazy and go with songs under 1 min... and make a CD with 80 songs on it...
Lunk - Pearl Jam
Little Room - The White Stripes
my "divine hammer" is 2:44...
here's what i have at 2:42:
tegan and sara - like o, like h (not their best)
shannon wright - wish you well (a current favorite of mine)
the muffs - upside down (good, not great)
the undertones - jimmy jimmy (its no teenage kicks)
the mamas and the papas - california dreamin'
mudvayne - dig (that's embarrassing)
cat power - half of you
my conclusion: 2:42 is a bs number.
Some other good 2:42 tracks:
* The Groovie Ghoulies - Graveyard Girlfriend
* (There's a great Gorelord track at 2:42 but I'd rather not write the name of the track; it's gross)
* Nazi Halo - Jack Off Jill
* Food, Clothes + Shelter pt. 2 - Dead Prez
* Dramamine - Seabadoh
* Johnny Cash - Cocaine Blues (Live)
Here's a muxtape of the above.
More 2:42 songs:
Providence-Sonic Youth
Thinking About You-Radiohead
So Tough-The Slits
Stay Where You Are[live]-Sleater-Kinney
Tell The Others-The Butchies
One Song For You-Sleater-Kinney
Half Of You-Cat Power
First Timer-Elliott Smith
Boys Don't Cry-The Cure
Angeles[demo]-Elliott Smith
If I were to make a mix of songs under a minute, it would have Yoko Ono, The White Stripes, The Polyphonic Spree and the mustard song from the musical episode of Buffy. It would definitely be eclectic, that's for sure.
I don't really care about song length. As long as the song is well composed and doesn't lag, I'm all about it. Mars Volta songs really piss me off. Twenty minutes later I'm like, "So. You're still going." Then I hit "next."
Seven times? That might be a record for writing 2:42 in a single paragraph.
My best 2:42ers not yet listed:
The Supremes - Nothing But Heartaches
Richard Thompson - Razor Dance
Run DMC - Beats to the Rhyme
based on mu iTunes, 2:42 does seem to be the perfect length for a classic pop song.
"Tally Ho" by The Clean
"Legal Man" by Belle and Sebastian (their best single, as such, for sure)
"California Girls" by the Beach Boys
"I'm on Fire" by Springsteen
"You Keep me Hangin' On" by the Supremes
"Goodnight Sweetheart" by the Spaniels
"Summertime" by Billy Stewart
"Blank Generation" by Richard Hell
"Way Out West" by Big Star
it may be crazy, but that's a lot of close-to-perfect songs.
Is it any coincidence that not only is 2:42 a palindrome, but also contains within itself the answer to life, the universe, and everything?
So I discovered that a lot of iTunes have different times than others. Only two Tee and Ess songs showed up under my 2:42 and they both weren't mentioned and others were. My Breeders Divine Hammer was also not on the 2:42 list. So technically how can you call these songs perfect length songs when from person to person it seems to be different? Hmmmm? I saw Dig Me Out under 2:41. I figured that's worthy of the list anyway.
I see two flaws for using iTunes as the sorting device. One is the amount of buffer time added to a ripped song. You might have a second or two added to what is actually a 2:40 long song. The other is the source of the song. The original album cut of a song could be 2:43, but the same track on a greatest hits album could have had a second knocked off during editing to make sure it fits on one disc. I probably put too much thought into it.
As far as my feelings on song length, I don't shy away from lenghy tracks. To me a great song is great song, regardless of length.
Fed-Ex mentality has things too easy.
If it's good, it's good, you're heart feels it, no matter how long.
Peace~
d
I also have these clocking in at 2:42-
Love- Hey Joe (this is a classic!)
Moe Tucker- Hey Mersh
Pere Ubu- Navvy
Fugazi- Facet Squared
REM- Swan Swan Hummingbird (from Athens inside out)
YLT- Rocket #9 (quite a bit shorter than the original Sun Ra version)
Unwound- Re-enact the crime
Young Marble Giants- Clicktalk
Mr. Pitiful - Otis Redding
Rascal King - Mighty Bosstones
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight - Bob Dylan
Pictures of Lily - The Who
Little Triggers - Elvis Costello
Little triggers, you pull, with your tongue...
The 70's classical rock band (when there was such a thing as classical rock) Renaissance made several albums of songs that were 7, 8, or more minutes long and were all outstanding (in my humble opinion). They probably would have been more popular if they were radio-playable length.
I think he's on to something too...
Slipin' and Slidin' -Little Richard
Hot Night Crash -Sahara Hotnights
A Well Respected Man - The Kinks
May Queen - Liz Phair
Sex Objects - The Briefs
Introducing Morrissey - The Ergs!
They Caught Us All - Toys That Kill
the ronettes - be my baby!
nancy sinatra - get it while the gettin's good
13th floor elevators - i've got levitation
the cure - boys don't guitat
pretty damn good
My itunes 2:42a
Facet Squared - Fugazi
Wild Mountain Nation - Blitzen Trapper
Where You Go - Au Revoir Simone
London Half Life - Metric
First Timer - Elliott Smith
Its Not You Its Me - Coconut Records
There She Goes - The Las
Counting up Your Bones - Nina Nastasia
Michelle - The Beatles
Chasing After Deer - Midlake
I gotta say I'm looking at the songs that clock in at 2:44 and am liking those better including Pompeii by Sleater-Kinney.
I also did my own muxtape with songs much shorter than 2:42 clocks in at less than 12:00.
"scientific methods"?
I smell a questionable tincture consisting of the holy trinity [i.e. mean, median, & mode] served with a dash of golden ratio, a splash of the Pythagorean theorem, & a game of pin the one hit on the wonder.
Here are some songs from my music library (not a "proper library" but a Home Depot shed out back that I put a state flag on) that are dangerously close to 2:42, I think. These may not be the best in my collection, but maybe they are. Who am I to judge?
Hoyt Smackton- "Seacret Sauce Revealed"
Uri Gellars Spoon-"Good Enough For Who's Gettin' It"
Paul Paule-"Phoenix Is Stinkin Hot In July"
River O Filth (parental warning-ed)- "This Bandaid Is Not Working"
Rodger-"I'm Simple, Deal With It"
Nifty Bike-"Shake It, Then Steady It"
There may be more, but the library is closing in 15 minutes and I still need to check out. Jay
This is a fascinating and fun discussion, though the 2:42 constraint is obviously somewhat arbitrary -- many songs I checked in iTunes at that length actually start fading from 10 to 5 seconds before the "entire" 2:42.
The songs that work best for me are definitely more poppy/R&B songs from decades ago that take the limit of under 3 minutes seriously. The modern songs from album artists that clock under 3 minutes feel more like rave-ups or complementary album tracks. (though "Dig Me Out" at 2:41 will always rock my world, and Big Star, even as a nearly 40 year old band, feels like one of the best 3 minute "modern" pop bands ever)
On my iTunes, these were the more interesting and worthy 2:42 songs:
Mess Around -- Ray Charles
Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow -- Shirelles
You Could Have It So Much Better - Franz Ferdinand
Drop It Doe Eyes -- Los Campesinos
I Won't Die Alone -- Shelby Lynne
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight -- Bob Dylan
Revolving Dora -- Fountains of Wayne
We Must Have Been Out of Our Mind -- George Jones and Melba Montgomery
Dear Hearts and Gentle People -- Bing Crosby
Mama Nantucket -- Michael Nesmith
Safe, Sane and Single -- Louis Jordan
Pouring Water on A Drowning Man -- James Carr
Hey Western Union Man -- Jerry Butler
Sheila Take a Bow -- The Smiths
Glory Train -- Ricky Nelson
I Will Always -- The Cranberries
Your Cheatin Heart -- Hank Williams
Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans -- Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Black Starliner Must Come -- Culture
MIA/Cutty Ranks -- MIA
Daddy -- the Maytals
Back of A Car -- Big Star
California Dreamin -- Mamas and Papas
My Divine Hammer came in at 2:41. The only 2:42 song I have that hasn't been mentioned is Astro by the White Stripes.
some highlights in my itunes that clock in at 2.42:
sheena is a punk rocker - the ramones (it is a perfect song!)
michelle - the beatles
ever fallen in love (buzzcocks)
i consider too drunk to fuck by the dead kennedys also a part of this list even though it is 2.41
i have to say i thought this guy was just saying stupid stuff, but i have to admit i think this guy maybe onto something....
my list:
shirelles- baby it's you (classic)
the buzzcocks-ever fallen in love? (classic)
modest mouse- sun spots in the house of the late scape goat (not the best track on this record)
also: hell bent for leather clocks in at 2:41. too bad!
Jolie Holland, Sonic Youth, Hole, The White Stripes, Tegan and Sara, Ted Leo...
None of them humdingers.
I found my skepticism eroding, my eyes widening as i looked at the growing list of amazing 2:42 songs in the comments. But I stopped myself. If carrie threw out another number I bet we could rack up an equally amazing mixtape. Although I think the "perfect length" is defined by the context, I might start at 3:05, the length presumed perfect by the fictional company in Billy Joel's "The Entertainer"
One might make the statement: The longer the song is the more talent/skill/effort it takes to make it "perfect". We've all heard songs that last 20sec too long.
We might then theorize that the time of 2:42 is, on average over all recorded music, that very threshold of time where a song starts to lose it's potency. And thus is the length of a "perfect" song as theorized by Joshua Allen.
Then again, we'd need a whole shaker full of salt grains to stomach the correlation between perfection and a net average...
I've been hooked on Built to Spill's "Keep it like a secret" because as rambling as the songs can be, the changes in each song are what keep me hooked. Sometimes, I won't know if the song ended or if it is just another part of it. How about the relationship between song and album? Keep it like a Secret conflates these two as its songs suspend time and dissolve it into its awe-inspring vortex of melodies, jamming, squealing harmonizing and shooting the breeze.
The exact number of seconds seems slightly random to me, do those songs that come in at 2:41 and 2:43 not count? So, in their honor, here's a few of those that I think should make the cut. Only Wilco - We're Just Friends made my 2:42 slice.
Also, I'm only working w.my secondary collection here...the big one is on the other 'puter.
2:41
Arthur & Yu - Lion's Mouth
Alela Diane - My Tired Feet
2:43
Nick Cave - Fable of the Brown Ape
The Goof/Bad/The Queen - Kingdom of Doom
In my 2:42 list, I found "Stand By Your Man" and "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?"
My "California Dreamin'" clocks in at 2:43, otherwise I might have been sold on the idea.
There are indeed some doozies at 2:42.
In the spirit of FM radio, here's a killer rock block of songs that haven't been mentioned. (By the way, how has Dock Of The Bay slipped through?)
Otis Redding: Dock Of The Bay
Cheap Trick: He's A Whore
Wilco/Billy Bragg: Secrets Of The Sea
Elvis Costello: Strict Time
The Cure: Catch
The Auteurs: Everything You Say Will Destroy You
Elvis Presley: Only The Strong Survive
Marshall Crenshaw: Cynical Girl
2:42 not to be missed:
Kitty Wells -- Amigo's Guitar
on my iTunes, some of the 2:42 songs that i didn't see mentioned yet are:
sucked out - superdrag
mr. pitiful - otis redding
fox confessor brings the flood - neko case
backlash jack - naked raygun
dirt to mud - paul westerberg
la ferrassie - toyko police club
school - nirvana
hair of the dog - bauhaus
this charming man - the smiths
super sexy woman - sufjan stevens
facet squared - fugazi
some of those are great songs, while others, being good songs, aren't the best those artists put out. and what about the times when the same song recording is put on different records but with possible a second or two difference in space around the song...and then it's a different time length. is it no longer such a perfect song? :)
Let's see here, 2:42...
"Heartbeat" by the Detroit Cobras
"Come See About Me" by the Supremes (those girls hit that sweet spot a lot, it seems)
"Hellbent for Leather" by Judas Priest (better than "Deceiver," you ask me)
"That's What the Little Girls Do," by the Knack (yesssss!)
"I'm On Fire" by Bruce Springsteen (hells, yeah)
"Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix(!)
"Oceans" by Pearl Jam
"No Class" by Motorhead (perfect for *something*, surely)
"The Great Pretender" by the Platters (now we're talking)
"Just Tell Me" by Toots and the Maytals (all-time favorite Toots song, makes me cry like a girlie girl)
"Lovely Rita" by the Beatles
"Tainted Love" by Soft Cell (nothing wrong here)
Oh, you've got to be kidding me. "Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay" *and* "Mr. Pitiful!" Go, Otis!
Great, great blog, Carrie!
Interesting topic. Carrie mentioned succinctness. When discussing the perfect pop song and succinctness, I always turn to Wire's Pink Flag. What's remarkable about Ping Flag is that track after track consist of perfect pop gems that have been reduced to their bare minimum. Many clock in at 1:00 or so. Other bands sitting on such fine raw materials (hooks, melodies, lyrics) would have lengthened the songs, highlighted the choruses, amped up the emotion, rocked us with a guitar solo, etc. Wire's record company even tried to lengthen "Fragile" by adding a piano solo to the single radio edit -- it was too short. Too perfect for the masses, perhaps? I'm not suggesting Wire was right or wrong with their approach. They could have, perhaps, turned some of those tracks into 2:42 length tunes of great merit. Maybe too short is too short? Is one bite of ice cream enough? Or is three the right amount?
I love short songs.
Here's my list of good 2:42s:
Desaparecidos - Mall of America
Weezer - American Gigolo
Sahara Hotnights - Hotnight Crash
The White Stripes - Astro
The Distillers - Young Girl
Against Me! - Baby, I'm an Anarchist
Rancid - Ruby Soho
The Beatles - Lovely Rita
Vaselines - Bitch
And one of my band's songs! Score.
Choice 2 Forty 2's:
Paul Westerberg - dirt to mud
the Queers - punk rock girls
Magnetic Fields - the book of love
Otis Redding - sittin on the dock...
Anti-Nowhere League - we are the league
The Time Has Come-Dresden Dolls
Strange Powers-Magnetic Fields
So Tough- The Slits (one of my favorite songs by them)
Xavier Says-Magnetic Fields
More 2:42 tunes:
Smackdembongos - Silas Denton
Mile High Grass - Albert And The Finks
Bereft Of Cheese - Mortimer Fenwick
Top o' the world - See Jane Run
I Want To Be An Astronaut - Rusty Sneakers
Leaves On Fire - George Stilp
Lipstick On My Car = "Crone" Gustaveson
Latch Off - Percy and Doshie
Obscure stuff, but all worth a listen!
Yes I also checked my 2:42 songs and wondered why Divine Hammer never came up. Then I checked and it's at 2:41 for me. So if this guy can be lenient about 1 second then that means that Dig Me Out falls into this category also!
I came up with some pretty awesome songs as well:
Your Gonna Miss Me- Radio Birdman (13th Floor Elevators cover)
Rebel Girl- Bikini Kill
Pink Padded Slipper- Blitzen Trapper
Beechwood Park- The Zombies
They Walked In Line- Warsaw
Firecracker- Half Japanese
Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad- Wanda Jackson
I had quite a few more, but they were either mentioned by other people or not worth embarassing myself over.
The Clash apparently had a similar theory regarding 2 minutes and 58 seconds. One of them apparently thought that the best singles were 2:58; no more, no less. If the liner notes of "Clash on Broadway" can be believed, this explains Kosmo Vinyl's interruption at about the 3 minute mark of "Armigideon Time."
Josh is definitely joking--which some people seem to have trouble believing--his writing persona is one of sass and authority. On Twitter he is "fireland", and he's writing a novel called "Chokeville" that is ungodly good.
Them is cool, but The Troggs do a better version of 'I Can Only Give you Everything'. Check it out if you haven't.
Very interesting post. I don't know if 2:42 is the optimum length but I do know some songs seem *too* short. Dylan's "Knocking on Heaven's Door" is a prime example of a song that seems a verse too short (perhaps intentinally edited in order to fit in the Peckinpah film.) Another more recent example is Moby's "Extreme Ways" which also seems to be truncated. Perhaps that's a topic for a future blog post? :)
