Songs Over Eight Minutes That Earn It

Long songs that justify the bathroom break they cause.

Entries
10
Category
Music
Updated
  1. A white dove taking flight above a stage of guitar amps, a lighter flame held aloft in the darkness.

    10. Free Bird

    Lynyrd Skynyrd · 1973

    Executives wanted it cut to three minutes and asked why they would ruin a pretty song with an LSD-type ending. The band said no. The solo is long enough to cover the entire Kingsman church fight, which is why Matthew Vaughn picked it. People still yell for it at jazz shows.

  2. A red knit scarf draped over the back of a kitchen chair in an upstate farmhouse, autumn leaves blowing past the window.

    09. All Too Well (10 Minute Version)

    Taylor Swift · 2021

    The first song written for Red, trimmed in 2012, restored nine years later on the re-record. It broke American Pie's nearly 50-year record as the longest song to hit number one on the Hot 100. The scarf has had a better career than most actors.

  3. A Chevy parked by a dry levee at dusk with a slice of apple pie on its hood and a stack of newspapers tied with string.

    08. American Pie

    Don McLean · 1971

    8:42, split across both sides of the 45, and it still went to number one, the longest chart-topper for almost 50 years. McLean refused to explain the lyrics until the manuscript sold for $1.2 million in 2015. The king is not Elvis, he says. Bar bands have not been told.

  4. A tenor saxophone resting on the hood of a sleek car parked on a New Jersey boardwalk at night, a violin on the passenger seat.

    07. Jungleland

    Bruce Springsteen · 1975

    Over nine minutes closing Born to Run: a violin prelude, the Magic Rat, the Barefoot Girl, and then Clarence Clemons' sax solo, which Springsteen calls Clarence's greatest recorded moment. New Jersey has produced no longer drive than this song.

  5. A long train disappearing into a tunnel at night, a single white glove and a glass of milk on the platform.

    06. Station to Station

    David Bowie · 1976

    Over ten minutes, Bowie's longest studio recording: a train noise made by Earl Slick's flanger, then the debut of the Thin White Duke. Bowie lived on milk, peppers and cocaine during the sessions and later said he barely remembered making it. Somebody did, and did it well.

  6. A vintage modular synthesizer with patch cables glowing under a mirrored disco ball, a tuning fork on top of it.

    05. I Feel Love

    Donna Summer · 1977

    The 12-inch runs 8:15 of borrowed Moog that kept drifting out of tune, so it was recorded in 20-second bursts. Per Bowie, Brian Eno ran in to tell him he had heard the sound of the future. The Library of Congress agreed in 2011. Disco, dance and techno all filed in behind it.

  7. A spiral staircase rising into clouds from the floor of a guitar shop, a double-neck guitar hanging on the wall beside it.

    04. Stairway to Heaven

    Led Zeppelin · 1971

    8:02, never released as a US single, and still the most requested song on FM radio in its day. It survived a copyright suit over Spirit's Taurus all the way to the Ninth Circuit. Guitar stores ban it, which is the only award it had left to win.

  8. An old home organ with a blinking rhythm box on top, a smashed guitar and a toppled drum kit behind it on a stage.

    03. Won't Get Fooled Again

    The Who · 1971

    The closer of Lifehouse, a rock opera that never happened, salvaged for Who's Next at eight and a half minutes. The synth pulse came off Townshend's home demo and Keith Moon had to lock to it. Dave Marsh called Daltrey's scream the best of a career full of screams.

  9. A full moon hanging behind a lit-up theater marquee on an empty downtown street at night, two guitar cases on the curb.

    02. Marquee Moon

    Television · 1977

    Two interlocking guitars, then Tom Verlaine solos for the entire second half. The original LP faded it out just short of ten minutes; CDs restored the full 10:40. It was somehow a UK single, split across both sides of a 7-inch. Punk was supposed to be short.

  10. A lone electric bass leaning against a hi-hat cymbal on a dark stage, a dusty wedding photo propped on the amp.

    01. Papa Was a Rollin' Stone

    The Temptations · 1972

    Norman Whitfield stretched an Undisputed Truth flop into 11:45, with a 3:53 instrumental intro before anyone sings. The Temptations resented waiting for their own song. It went to number one and won three Grammys, one of them for the B-side instrumental. Whitfield was right.

Honorable mentions

  • A wedding cake toppled into a swimming pool in the rain, a grand piano on a cliff in the background.

    November Rain

    Guns N' Roses · 1992

    Almost nine minutes, a number three hit, and the longest song in the Hot 100 top ten until 2021. Slash says they cut an 18-minute version in 1986, so this is the edit. Fake ending, orchestra, one of the priciest videos ever made. It earns about seven of the nine minutes.

Dishonorable mentions

  • A tangle of loose magnetic tape loops hanging from studio machines, piled waist-high on the floor of an empty control room.

    Revolution 9

    The Beatles · 1968

    8:22 of tape loops, reversed Schumann and an EMI test voice saying number nine, the longest track the Beatles released while together. McCartney was out of the country when it was assembled and unimpressed on his return. Most listeners have been out of the room for it since.

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