# Best long songs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 1, 2004, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-long-songs/272401 "2004-11-01T20:46:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-long-songs/272401/1 "2004-11-01T20:46:14Z")
In my experience, most songs put out these days rarely seem to top three minutes. Sometimes a band’ll put out a five-minute song. Me, I like a song that goes on. And on. It’s one of the reasons I dig classical music, for instance. I like sitting down and going through a single song and feeling _satisfied_ at the end. That’s also why one of my favorite albums is Pink Floyd’s _Animals_… the bulk of the album is three songs, _Dogs_ (17 minutes), _Pigs_ (11 minutes), and _Sheep_ (10 minutes)… each song has several different movements while maintaining cohesiveness. What other awesome, long songs are there? By “long song”, I mean one that tops out at around 8-10 minutes… again, Pink Floyd has a crapload of 'em (_Echoes_, _Shine On You Crazy Diamond_, etc.)… how many other bands have regularly delved into this style? ---
**Author:** ![malden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@malden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malden)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-long-songs/272401/2 "2004-11-01T21:04:55Z")
**Genesis** : Supper’s Ready, 23 minutes; The Battle of Epping Forest, 11+ minutes; One for the Vine, about 10 minutes; Firth of Fifth, 9 minutes; and many others; those are the ones I like the most. They did a lot of songs longer than 8 minutes on the old days when Peter Gabriel was part of the band. **Yes** had a lot of them too: Close to the Edge & And You And I were around 10 minutes each, and Heart of the Sunrise was nearly 19 minutes long. There are a lot more from the early seventies. **Traffic** has a great tune called “Roll Right Stones” that’s over ten minutes long, and “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys” is also long (at least 9 minutes IIRC). ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-long-songs/272401/3 "2004-11-01T21:08:24Z")
The Revolting Cocks put a couple of extra-long tracks on their Beers, Steers and Queers and Linger Fickin’ Good albums - they were just fairly extended regular songs and I chalk it up to the drugs. Come to think of it, most of the Wax Trax! era industrail bands put a 7-13 minute song on their albums. One that I really think is impressive is Nile, who put a 7 or so minute song (To Dream of Ur) on their Black Seeds of Vengeance CD and have the mind-blowing Usan, Slayer of the Gods which they apparently have only performed live once and I happened to catch them that night! Of course, they’re death metal songs and not everyone’s cup of tea, but the accomplishment is quite astounding. ---
**Author:** ![AndyPolley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@AndyPolley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyPolley)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-long-songs/272401/4 "2004-11-01T21:14:07Z")
I’ve always been partial to some of Phish’s long songs from their early releases. They, as a band, have a habit of jamming an 8 minute song into a 20 minute song. On my mind right now are the tunes “You Enjoy Myself,” “Harry Hood” & “Divided Sky.” These songs clock in around 8-10 minutes each, chock full of great changes. Oh…include “Reba” in there as well. I need to mention Genisis in here too. “Supper’s Ready” off of Foxtrot clocks in around 23 minutes. Some of their early work was great prog stuff. Rush used to be great with the long song as well. I’ve always loved “Cygnus X-1” and “The Trees” There’s probably a million Yes & ELP songs that qualify too. Fates Warning has a CD called “A Pleasant Shade of Grey” which is one hour-long song. It’s divided into chapters though, so they kind of cheated. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-long-songs/272401/5 "2004-11-01T21:17:40Z")
Ten minutes? You’re a piker. I know some great 20 minute long songs. **The Allman Brothers Band** have some terrific long live jams: “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” “Whipping Post,” “Mountain Jam” (some versions of that run 30-45 minutes). **Soft Machine’s** album _Third_ was originally released as a double disk. It had four songs on it, one for each side. And there’s always _Thick as a Brick_ by **Jethro Tull** , which consists of one song. (There is a radio edit that cuts the 40+ minutes down to a single piece of about 5 minutes, though). _Tales from Typographic Oceans_ by **Yes** – Shortest cut clocks in at over 18 minutes. Add “Atom Heart Mother” to **Pink Floyd**. “The Soft Parade” and “The End” by **The Doors** ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-long-songs/272401/6 "2004-11-01T21:22:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Ten minutes? You’re a piker. I know some great 20 minute long songs. Yes, ten minutes, buddy-boy. Compared to the usual fare that most musicians put out, that’s practically an eternity. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-long-songs/272401/7 "2004-11-01T21:28:14Z")
**Meatloaf’s** Paradise By The Dashboard Lights ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-long-songs/272401/8 "2004-11-01T21:38:25Z")
Just about anything from **Meatloaf.** **Peter Frampton** -\* Do you feel like we do?\* The live version. The solo is awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-long-songs/272401/9 "2004-11-01T21:56:48Z")
Kraftwerk’s “Autobahn” (LP version) - 22:30 Rare Earth’s “Get Ready” (LP version) - 23:30 Dire Straits’ “Telegraph Road” - 14:15 ELO’s “Kuiama” - 11:19 ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-long-songs/272401/10 "2004-11-01T21:57:44Z")
> [@Chairman Pow](#): > > One that I really think is impressive is Nile, who put a 7 or so minute song (To Dream of Ur) on their Black Seeds of Vengeance CD and have the mind-blowing Usan, Slayer of the Gods which they apparently have only performed live once and I happened to catch them that night! Of course, they’re death metal songs and not everyone’s cup of tea, but the accomplishment is quite astounding. Unas, not Usan. But it’s a fantastic song. Opeth’s “Black Rose Immortal” is my favorite song, but their entire catalog qualifies here. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-long-songs/272401/11 "2004-11-01T22:03:25Z")
_Insanity_ by Oingo Boingo. Danny Elfman knows a thing or two about writing long songs that work. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Vega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a9adbd/32.png) [@Lord\_Vega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Vega)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-long-songs/272401/12 "2004-11-01T22:12:57Z")
One of my favorite bands, Focus. A Dutch pop, jazz, classical, rock, (insert genre here) band. Some of their longer ones: Eruption - 23:04 Hamburger Concerto - 20:19 Answers? Questions? - 13:48 Anonymous II - 26:24 Or Iron Butterfly In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (live) 19:00 The longest song I can think of, Jethro Tull Thick As A Brick - 43:50 (parts 1 & 2) Cheers, Vega ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-long-songs/272401/13 "2004-11-01T22:15:22Z")
> [@Lord Vega](#): > > The longest song I can think of, > > Jethro Tull > > Thick As A Brick - 43:50 (parts 1 & 2) Got you beat with Green Carnation’s “Light of Day, Day of Darkness”, which clocks in at 60:06. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-long-songs/272401/14 "2004-11-01T22:24:51Z")
Where are you guys getting your times from? Do I have go downstairs and paw through every one of my albums? :smack: Anyway, guaranteed to be over ten minutes and - I hope - not yet mentioned: **Bob Dylan** - “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” The original full-side long pop song, AFAIK **Quicksilver Messenger Service** - “The Fool” **The Doors** - “When the Music’s Over,” "Celebration of the Lizard (live) Be back after I check a few disks. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-long-songs/272401/15 "2004-11-01T22:27:28Z")
Love the extended version of Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” Animals is my alltime favorite album (and Floyd is my alltime fave group), and to me, it’s just one song. There’s no way I can listen to any one track off that album - it’s got to be from beginning to end. The full version of “Layla” is (as the DJs always seem to say at the end of it) good to the last drop. Same applies to John Cougar Mellencamp’s (or whatever form of his name he was using at the time) “I Need a Lover”. The intro to that just rocks. And I’m not much of a Mellencamp fan. Traffic’s (already mentioned) Low Spark of High Heeled Boys is also a great one, as well as Yes’ “Long Distance Runaround” I know that some of these aren’t really particularly long in the grand scheme of things, but they are comparatively long when you consider the length of most radio-played songs. ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-long-songs/272401/16 "2004-11-01T22:28:38Z")
Guns N’ Roses November Rain Estranged Locomotive ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-long-songs/272401/17 "2004-11-01T22:35:53Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Ten minutes? You’re a piker. > > **The Allman Brothers Band** have some terrific long live jams: …“Mountain Jam” (some versions of that run 30-45 minutes). 😃 I used to go drinking at this place that had “Eat a Peach” on the jukebox. I would always spend my quarter and play “Mountain Jam” (33:40). Always got my moneys worth and pissed most everyone else off as a bonus! ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-long-songs/272401/18 "2004-11-01T22:35:59Z")
So-called “Post rock” artists are the king of this, but especially Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mogwai do well with this. Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada is a triumph, and it’s also a 30-minute EP that contains two songs. Mogwais’ Young Team is incredibly amazing, especially its closer, the 17-minute odyssey Mogwai Fear Satan (it’s a hell of a lot more interesting than it sounds). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-long-songs/272401/19 "2004-11-01T23:19:09Z")
> [@gatopescado](#): > > 😃 > > I used to go drinking at this place that had “Eat a Peach” on the jukebox. I would always spend my quarter and play “Mountain Jam” (33:40). Always got my moneys worth and pissed most everyone else off as a bonus! That’s hilarious. Due to my Allman Brothers addiction, I can’t call 8 or 10 minutes a long song… once you get to around 15 or 20, I guess that’s long. Anyway I don’t think anybody beats the Allmans in that category, today or 30 years ago. There’s an hour-long version of Mountain Jam out there somewhere, from 1970. I hope I get to hear it someday. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-long-songs/272401/20 "2004-11-02T00:05:11Z")
As much as i love the Floyd (they’re also my favorite band,) I’m not a big fan of their longer songs. That said, my favorite three long songs are probably SOYCD, Dogs, and the live version of Echoes. But the Atom Heart Mother Suite, Interstellar Overdrive (long for an _instrumental_ rock song,) Saucerful of Secrets, and the instrumentals of Ummagumma just don’t really do anything for me. (However, The Narrow Way off Ummagumma is a great song, I just wish it had been produced better, it’s certainly up their with their epics.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-long-songs/272401.md?page=2)