# Songs with a long version & short version that each get airplay **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 10, 2014, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-long-version-short-version-that-each-get-airplay/688140 "2014-05-10T19:22:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-long-version-short-version-that-each-get-airplay/688140/1 "2014-05-10T19:22:04Z")
Perhaps the best-known example is The Doors’ “Light My Fire,” where the 7-minute version with the prolonged organ solo gets played on the radio quite often, but sometimes they play a shortened version instead. Don Henley’s “Heart of the Matter” is another. Sometimes they leave in the bridge that begins, “I’m learning to live without you now…” and other times a shortened version without the bridge gets played. Semisonic’s “Closing Time” is a third example. What are some others? ---
**Author:** ![split\_p\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19b73/32.png) [@split\_p\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/split_p_j)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-long-version-short-version-that-each-get-airplay/688140/2 "2014-05-10T19:56:28Z")
The Who, “Who are you?”. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-long-version-short-version-that-each-get-airplay/688140/3 "2014-05-10T20:45:18Z")
American Pie, Don McLean In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, Iron Butterfly Frankenstein, Edgar Winter ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-long-version-short-version-that-each-get-airplay/688140/4 "2014-05-10T22:07:39Z")
Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love” is sometimes played with their cover of “Where Did Our Love Go?” immediately after, which is blended together like a medley. ---
**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:** [May 10, 2014, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-long-version-short-version-that-each-get-airplay/688140/5 "2014-05-10T22:44:28Z")
[Thread I attempted in 2011](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=628469). In particular, Billy Idol’s “White Wedding”. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-long-version-short-version-that-each-get-airplay/688140/6 "2014-05-10T22:58:22Z")
Have I or have I not heard a short version of “Radar Love?” ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-long-version-short-version-that-each-get-airplay/688140/7 "2014-05-10T23:07:46Z")
The Knack’s _My Sharona_. The short/single version gets played on Top-40-oriented stations, while the longer album version shows up on classic rock stations. I was 13 years old when the song came out and I bought the single, and I was flabbergasted a few years later when i finally heard the album version and realized how much of Berton Averre’s awesome guitar solo had been cut out for the single/Top-40 version of the song. Seriously, that’s a great guitar solo. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-long-version-short-version-that-each-get-airplay/688140/8 "2014-05-10T23:20:54Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > The Knack’s _My Sharona_. The short/single version gets played on Top-40-oriented stations, while the longer album version shows up on classic rock stations. I was 13 years old when the song came out and I bought the single, and I was flabbergasted a few years later when i finally heard the album version and realized how much of Berton Averre’s awesome guitar solo had been cut out for the single/Top-40 version of the song. > > Seriously, that’s a great guitar solo. Came in here to post exactly this. I’m always sad when I realize it’s the short version on. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-long-version-short-version-that-each-get-airplay/688140/9 "2014-05-10T23:35:51Z")
Fergie’s _Clumsy_ (2006) is 4:00 on the album but 3:21 on a radio-mix, but both got radio play. Omitted is a talking verse and some other lines. (I don’t know if I should admit I know this.) ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2014, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-long-version-short-version-that-each-get-airplay/688140/10 "2014-05-11T00:07:13Z")
Hey, look! I still have that single: [http://mister-rik.com/hosted/mysharonasingle.jpg](http://mister-rik.com/hosted/mysharonasingle.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2014, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-long-version-short-version-that-each-get-airplay/688140/11 "2014-05-11T00:10:49Z")
_Free Bird_ has a studio version that gets most of the airplay–and is also the version used as entrance music by The Fabulous Freebirds. There are also multiple live versions, including the one that is associated with the meme of calling “Free Bird” at concerts, where Ronnie Van Zant asks “What song is it you want to hear?” at the beginning…this one gets some airplay, I suspect mostly when the DJ wants a smoke/bathroom break. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2014, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-long-version-short-version-that-each-get-airplay/688140/12 "2014-05-11T00:11:52Z")
Sometime in the 1990s (I think), a “Best of Billy Joel” set if CDs came out. To fit the chosen songs on the discs, the record company, unbelievably, removed measures and phrases from several songs, including “Big Shot” and “My Life.” I have occasionally heard these awful monstrosities on the radio. ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-long-version-short-version-that-each-get-airplay/688140/13 "2014-05-11T00:15:03Z")
There’s a single version of Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” which is shorter than the album version. In the old days, many classical pieces were sometimes recorded in shorter versions, usually to fit the album side. Once CDs became common, this practice doesn’t happen as much. However, many of the classical pieces from the two _Fantasia_ movies are considerably shorter than the full piece. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-long-version-short-version-that-each-get-airplay/688140/14 "2014-05-11T00:19:59Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Sometime in the 1990s (I think), a “Best of Billy Joel” set if CDs came out. To fit the chosen songs on the discs, the record company, unbelievably, removed measures and phrases from several songs, including “Big Shot” and “My Life.” I have occasionally heard these awful monstrosities on the radio. > [@MrKnowItAll](#): > > There’s a single version of Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” which is shorter than the album version. “Just the Way You Are” has the 2nd verse cut out. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2014, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-long-version-short-version-that-each-get-airplay/688140/15 "2014-05-11T00:46:28Z")
El Paso by Marty Robbins i think the first single over 4 minutes with a shorter on the flip. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2014, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-long-version-short-version-that-each-get-airplay/688140/16 "2014-05-11T01:20:15Z")
Chicago seems to be the king of these. “Beginnings” loses its final half on oldies stations, while these stations also air “Does Anyone Know What Time It Is?” minus the opening piano solo. Classic rockers air these tracks in full. The oldies version of “Make Me Smile” is actually a frankenedit of sections of the "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon " suite on the second album, of which “Make Me Smile” is just a part. Sometimes stations will play “Get Away” right after “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” (they are fused together on the album), but usually they just air “Hard to Say” by itself. “Knights In White Satin” by the Moody Blues gets played in full on classic rock stations, while oldies stations omit the monologue that ends the song. My local alternative station has started playing “Champagne Supernova” in its full seven minutes plus version, while before they (and everyone else) faded out the song about 4:30 in. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2014, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-long-version-short-version-that-each-get-airplay/688140/17 "2014-05-11T01:25:30Z")
I’ve also heard “Spinning Wheel” by Blood Sweat and Tears both in the full version and the single version (which omits the jazzy interludes and bandmembers talking at the end) fairly often. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2014, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-long-version-short-version-that-each-get-airplay/688140/18 "2014-05-11T01:29:49Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > I’ve also heard “Spinning Wheel” by Blood Sweat and Tears both in the full version and the single version (which omits the jazzy interludes and bandmembers talking at the end) fairly often. While we’re on the subject of B,S & T, “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” sometimes gets the organ interlude chopped out of the middle. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2014, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-long-version-short-version-that-each-get-airplay/688140/19 "2014-05-11T01:51:12Z")
“Stay” by Jackson Browne. I have the shorter version on my iPod, prefer extended version. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2014, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-long-version-short-version-that-each-get-airplay/688140/20 "2014-05-11T02:21:49Z")
Sort of an anti-example: Metallica’s “One” was shortened by about two minutes for the music video; however, I’ve never heard this version on the radio. > [@installLSC](#): > > “Knights In White Satin” by the Moody Blues gets played in full on classic rock stations, while oldies stations omit the monologue that ends the song. The ending monologue is technically a separate track, called “Late Lament”. > [@MrKnowItAll](#): > > There’s a single version of Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” which is shorter than the album version. Famously referenced in his song “The Entertainer”: _“It was a beautiful song, but it ran too long / If you’re gonna have a hit, you gotta make it fit / So they cut it down to 3:05.”_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-a-long-version-short-version-that-each-get-airplay/688140.md?page=2)