# Best under 2 minute and over 8 minute pop songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 5, 2006, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-under-2-minute-and-over-8-minute-pop-songs/355525 "2006-05-05T13:21:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mbossa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Mbossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mbossa)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-under-2-minute-and-over-8-minute-pop-songs/355525/41 "2006-05-07T09:42:39Z")
[QUOTE=Team of Scientists] Short: [snip] “I Will” by **Radiohead**. One of the best tracks on _Hail to the Thief_. [/QUOTE] Abso-felching-lutely. Couldn’t have put it better myself. Looking over my MP3 collection, here are some other good short ones: Jefferson Airplane’s _Embryonic Journey_. Not really a song per se, but an absolutely incredible instrumental. Pink Floyd’s _Eclipse_. It’s listed in my library as 2:04, but that includes several seconds of Dark Side’s trademark heartbeat and whispering voices. Radiohead’s _You Never Wash Up After Yourself_, off the My Iron Lung EP. Not quite as good as _I Will_, but a very beautiful song. Everclear’s _Nehalem_. I didn’t even realise it was particularly short until now, but I suppose it is one of their more ‘punky’ songs, and full songs under 2 minutes seem to be fairly common in the world of punk. Now for long songs. I’ve got to resist the urge to fill this list with Pink Floyd: Led Zep’s _Kashmir_. Nuff said. Moby’s _Face It_, off his Animal Rights album. If you’ve never heard Animal Rights, it’s nothing like any of his other music. Think powerful guitars and screaming vocals. _Face It_ is no exception, plus it concludes with a decent guitar solo. Pink Floyd’s _Dogs_. This will be my only mention of Pink Floyd in this post. Well, apart from _Eclipse_. But I will mention Led Zep a couple more times. _No Quarter_ and _In My Time Of Dying_. Both magnificent. I also have to mention that quite a few of Led Zep’s songs are extended well beyond eight minutes (and, incidentally, made even better) when played live. _Dazed and Confused_, for example. OK, that’s enough Zep for today. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-under-2-minute-and-over-8-minute-pop-songs/355525/42 "2006-05-07T11:07:10Z")
best under 2 minutes: I was about to claim the best short beatles number: sgt peppers reprise, but then bup mentioned the brilliant blitzkrieg bup, which I think is the winner. Another strong contender is the meat puppets - lake of fire (which is better than the nirvana cover). > [@](#): > > Mbossa: > But I will mention Led Zep a couple more times. No Quarter and In My Time Of Dying. Both magnificent. I also have to mention that quite a few of Led Zep’s songs are extended well beyond eight minutes (and, incidentally, made even better) when played live. Dazed and Confused, for example. OK, that’s enough Zep for today. No quarter is 6:59 on the album version. Which Dazed version do you have that is better live? I only have the one from “when the west was won”, and that one is a real disappointment. I think plant was in love or something when he made this show, because he messed up the lyrics. (adding “and I like it” to “Soul of a woman was created below”, and more like that.) best over 8 minutes: I Want You (She’s So Heavy) is unfortunately short by just 13 secs. My pick is then tool with pushit or right in two. ---
**Author:** ![Calavera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calavera/32/70_2.png) [@Calavera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calavera)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-under-2-minute-and-over-8-minute-pop-songs/355525/43 "2006-05-07T15:09:17Z")
Under 2- Firefly’s main theme: ‘The Ballard of Serenity’ Over 8- Meatloaf’s ‘Paradise By the Dashboard Lights’ ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-under-2-minute-and-over-8-minute-pop-songs/355525/44 "2006-05-07T17:01:54Z")
I waded in here to mention **The Needle ad the Damage Done** by Neal Young, but AMG says that it’s exactly two minutes. But an incredible two minutes it was. 🙂 Over 8 minutes? I think many of the answers posted to this thread stretch the bounds of what would be considered “pop” (if “pop” has any connotation of appealing to the mainstream). That debate probably belongs in a different thread. Being an old prog rock fan, I have loads of songs over 8 minutes… King Crimson had three of them just on their first album. Other examples: Supper’s Ready by Genesis Close to the Edge by Yes Take a Pebble, Tarkus, Trilogy, Karn Evil 9, Fanfare for the Common Man and Pirates by ELP etc… ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-under-2-minute-and-over-8-minute-pop-songs/355525/45 "2006-05-11T18:40:19Z")
Korn’s cover of “Another Brick in the Wall” (all three parts) would make this list easily if it weren’t abridged. The track on their _Greatest Hits Vol. 1_ comes in at just over 7 minutes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-under-2-minute-and-over-8-minute-pop-songs/355525.md?page=2)