# Great songs that are just too damned short **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 31, 2020, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774 "2020-05-31T04:03:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774/41 "2020-06-01T14:24:02Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > The 39 second rendition of the skiffle song _Maggie Mae_ by The Beatles is barely a tenth of the full lyrics and could really use a lead guitar bridge: [Here’s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4NFxoN4pok)my favorite version. Note the lyric, “she robbed so many sailors, and dosed so many whalers,” which is a bit saucier than the version quoted above. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774/42 "2020-06-01T14:39:26Z")
Alice in Chains “Would”. Not super short at 3:30 or so, but I’m always disappointed it’s over. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774/43 "2020-06-01T15:33:22Z")
Black Flag’s “Wasted”. Clocks in around 50 seconds depending on the version/recording and singer. Here is the version I like the most: Circle Jerks also recorded the tune after Keith Morris moved on. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774/44 "2020-06-01T17:52:45Z")
Three Dog Night’s “[It’s For You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlozPIoSOzw)” ends just as the song’s intro ends. It sounds like it’s about to really crank and then just…dissipates. ---
**Author:** ![SingleMalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/singlemalt/32/3961_2.png) [@SingleMalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleMalt)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774/45 "2020-06-01T18:40:23Z")
I always thought that “A Whiter Shade of Pale” by Procul Harum sounded like it needed at least one more verse. It just kind of… ends. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774/46 "2020-06-01T18:58:01Z")
**“Toads Of The Short Forest”** (Zappa) A pleasant little trifle in 3/4 time, 60 seconds of Frank showing how lovely his music could be, abruptly interrupted by nearly 4 minutes of Frank at his obnoxiously self-indulgent worst. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/acpOO0kvfn4/hqdefault.jpg "Frank Zappa - Toads Of The Short Forest (HQ)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acpOO0kvfn4) ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774/47 "2020-06-01T18:58:59Z")
Squeeze Box by the Who. they never thought it would be a hit. A rare Who song with a banjo. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774/48 "2020-06-01T19:36:40Z")
There are some days I wish 4’33" was 12 hours long. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774/49 "2020-06-01T19:48:57Z")
Last year at a festival, String Cheese Incident played a 75-minute-long version of _Rosie_. Way too short. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774/50 "2020-06-02T02:01:03Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > As a 6th grader on a bus trip, we once took it to zero. Same here, as one of a dozen backpacking Boy Scouts in 1963. Fortunately our Scoutmaster was a wonderfully patient man with a good sense of humor. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774/51 "2020-06-02T02:19:20Z")
Then there’s [“Ratface”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll-bjjV04pg) by Michael Hurley 😉 ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774/52 "2020-06-02T09:03:51Z")
“Girlfriend in a Coma” is one of the Smiths catchiest and wittiest songs. At 2:03, it’s over way too quickly. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/bQPN07nqT3g/maxresdefault.jpg "THE SMITHS \* Girlfriend In A Coma 1987 HQ") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQPN07nqT3g) ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774/53 "2020-06-02T09:46:47Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > Neil Young’s “The Needle and the Damage Done” is just over 2 minutes (2:03 or so). Excellent example. Great song that just sort of…ends, abruptly, in its prime. Like Danny Whitten\*. mmm \*the song is about Neil’s friend and band mate Whitten who died suddenly of an overdose. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774/54 "2020-06-02T19:50:43Z")
Theme to Sealab 2021. 30 seconds of pure pop perfection. ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774/55 "2020-06-03T19:40:36Z")
“Broon’s Bane” by Rush (specifically Alex Lifeson) on **Exit … Stage Left** runs about 1:30. It’s a very nice classical guitar piece. ---
**Author:** ![Anglachel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Anglachel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anglachel)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774/56 "2020-06-06T16:36:08Z")
Fell in Love with a Girl by The White Stripes. Under two minutes. I don’t have cause to complain about the length, but I’ve been known to play it again. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774/57 "2020-06-06T17:53:46Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > …All eight numbers in the side B medley from _Abbey Road_. Might’ve made for an interesting double album counterpart to the White Album if they’d fleshed out those numbers a bit more? Some of those songs, possibly, were good at they length they were… Not all eight, but as “Golden Slumbers” is one of my all-time favorite Beatles songs, I would love for it to have been longer. After all these years, still a lush, heartfelt, stunningly beautiful song: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcQjM7gV6mI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcQjM7gV6mI) ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774/58 "2020-06-06T18:24:02Z")
The coda to Sloan’s “44 Teenagers” should be longer. Just as I start trying to sing the harmony, if fades out during the second verse! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/kawZWN4Inlw/maxresdefault.jpg "Sloan "44 Teenagers"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kawZWN4Inlw) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774/59 "2020-06-06T18:51:58Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > Neil Young’s “The Needle and the Damage Done” is just over 2 minutes (2:03 or so). Neil Young likes both his interminably long songs and his overly short songs( almost more song fragments, really ): [Cripple Creek Ferry, 1:33](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_4qLDUoBX0) [Till the Morning Comes, 1:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCqb1iht-j0) ---
**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:** [June 6, 2020, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774/60 "2020-06-06T23:10:21Z")
U2’s _Rattle and Hum_ album: “Freedom for My People” and “The Star Spangled Banner”. 38 & 43 seconds, respectively. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-songs-that-are-just-too-damned-short/854774.md?page=4)