Songs Under Two Minutes

Ten songs that said it and left before the second chorus could get comfortable.

Entries
10
Category
Music
Updated
  1. A small pink flag planted in a closely mown field, a stopwatch beside it reading 28 seconds.

    10. Field Day for the Sundays

    Wire · 1977

    Twenty-eight seconds on Pink Flag, an album that fits 21 songs into 35 minutes. Wire's debut taught R.E.M., Hüsker Dü and Blur that a song ends when the idea does. Most bands still have not taken the note.

  2. A four-track cassette recorder in a cluttered Ohio basement surrounded by empty beer cans and a ten-dollar bill.

    09. Game of Pricks

    Guided by Voices · 1995

    1:33 on Alien Lanes, a 28-song album recorded for about ten dollars, beer not included, after Matador offered close to a hundred grand. It's the album's most covered song, with versions by Jimmy Eat World and Owen Pallett. Robert Pollard does not do second verses twice.

  3. A black marker resting beside a glass of water and a carton of milk on a dingy punk club bar.

    08. Straight Edge

    Minor Threat · 1981

    Ian MacKaye's 46-second list of things he will not be doing named an entire hardcore subculture. MacKaye then spent years as its reluctant spokesman. That is the highest ratio of song length to lifelong obligation on record.

  4. A muted bass guitar leaning against an amp with its volume knob cranked to the max, a still glass of water rippling on top.

    07. Tame

    Pixies · 1989

    1:55 of Kim Deal's three-note bass line, whispered verses and Black Francis screaming the title until it stops sounding like a word. Kurt Cobain had it in mind writing Smells Like Teen Spirit. Under two minutes, it got a whole decade's quiet-loud thing started.

  5. A tenement rooftop at night with beer cans, a ripped leather jacket on a chair, and a water tower against the skyline.

    06. Judy Is a Punk

    Ramones · 1976

    Joey wrote it after walking past a rooftop where neighborhood kids drank. It runs 1:30, the shortest song on a debut recorded in a week for $6,400. The lyric announces it is the third verse, same as the first. The Ramones respected your time.

  6. A lawnmower abandoned on a sunny suburban lawn beside a transistor radio and a sealed letter addressed to a capitol dome.

    05. Summertime Blues

    Eddie Cochran · 1958

    In 1:59 a teenager gets denied by his parents, his boss and his congressman, and that's the whole civics unit. Cochran and Jerry Capehart wrote it; it went to No. 8. Blue Cheer and The Who later made it louder. Nobody made it longer and better.

  7. A shaking snow globe of a 1950s jukebox on a vanity next to a comb and a tub of pomade.

    04. All Shook Up

    Elvis Presley · 1957

    Otis Blackwell wrote it off the phrase alone at Shalimar Music, and Elvis got a co-writing credit for being Elvis. 1:57 long, nine straight weeks at No. 1. The hiccup vocal does in two minutes what most bands need four for.

  8. A horse saddle draped over a laptop on a hay bale, a pair of headphones hanging from the saddle horn at sunset.

    03. Old Town Road

    Lil Nas X · 2018

    The original runs 1:53, built on a $30 beat by YoungKio that samples Nine Inch Nails. Add Billy Ray Cyrus and 44 seconds and it sat at No. 1 for a record 19 weeks. The shortest route to a country hit is apparently through a Trent Reznor banjo.

  9. A 1960 jukebox glowing in an empty diner, one 45 mid-spin and a single slow-dance spotlight on the floor.

    02. Stay

    Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs · 1960

    Williams wrote it at 15 and it hit No. 1 in November 1960 at 1:36, the shortest chart-topper America had seen. It lasted one week before Elvis took over, which fits. Then it got a second life on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. Brevity is a long game.

  10. A tiny reel of tape spliced onto the end of a much bigger reel, a small crown resting on the tape deck in a wood-paneled studio.

    01. Her Majesty

    The Beatles · 1969

    Twenty-three seconds, and the shortest Beatles song. Paul cut it from the Abbey Road medley; engineer John Kurlander was told never to throw Beatles tape away, so he stuck it after The End. Paul liked it there. The first hidden track was a filing decision.

Honorable mentions

  • A 7-inch record with only a single thin groove cut into it, sitting under a magnifying glass.

    You Suffer

    Napalm Death · 1987

    About one second long, four words, on the debut Scum. The 1989 single version, with an Electro Hippies song on the flip, is often called the shortest single ever. Justin Broadrick admitted it was largely a comedy thing. Rolling Stone ranked it a top 100 metal song anyway.

Dishonorable mentions

  • A stadium scoreboard-style digital clock reading 2:02, with a deflated football on the turf beneath it.

    Song 2

    Blur · 1997

    Pitched as a joke on the record company, named for its spot on the tracklist, and yelled in every stadium since. It runs 2:02. The whole song is a dare to be short and it blew it by two seconds. The woo-hoo is doing a lot of loitering.

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