# What's the shortest single album track you know? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 3, 2019, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-shortest-single-album-track-you-know/834951 "2019-06-03T14:34:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-shortest-single-album-track-you-know/834951/1 "2019-06-03T14:34:15Z")
We’ve had the longest, now it’s time for the shortest. The shortest track I have is from Mozart’s _The Magic Flute._ It consists of the spoken words “Ist es denn wirklichkeit, was ich sah?” or “Is it really what I saw?” The track is 3 seconds long. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-shortest-single-album-track-you-know/834951/2 "2019-06-03T14:37:47Z")
[Napalm Death - You Suffer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z1IGjr2cT0) (1.316 seconds) ETA: [Wikipedia article about the song](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Suffer). ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-shortest-single-album-track-you-know/834951/3 "2019-06-03T14:53:52Z")
The shortest track I’ve heard that could still be considered a “song” by me is Weinerschnitzel by the Descendants at around 10 seconds. They also had a couple shorter tracks called some variant on “All” but I wouldn’t consider those songs per se. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-shortest-single-album-track-you-know/834951/4 "2019-06-03T14:57:05Z")
**Snowboarder Bo** ’s example may be impossible to beat. They Might Be Giants’ album _Apollo 18_ contains a medley of very short songs called “Fingertips,” each of which is its own track on the CD. (It was written to take advantage of the then-somewhat-novel shuffle play feature on CD players.) The shortest songs (“[I heard a sound](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnmdN31wZ_A)” and “[Who’s knocking](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMlwnODOQ5Y)”) are 4 seconds each. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-shortest-single-album-track-you-know/834951/5 "2019-06-03T15:34:55Z")
“I Say Fuck” by the Supersuckers is really short, but it’s long compared to some of the offerings here. Maybe it qualifies as the shortest song with 2 verses and a drawn out ending. (At work, can’t currently get a youtube link for a song with that title 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-shortest-single-album-track-you-know/834951/6 "2019-06-03T15:44:49Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > “I Say Fuck” by the Supersuckers is really short, but it’s long compared to some of the offerings here. Maybe it qualifies as the shortest song with 2 verses and a drawn out ending. (At work, can’t currently get a youtube link for a song with that title 🙂 ) Here you go: (My work has a pretty liberal internet use policy. I mean, I wrote it...) ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-shortest-single-album-track-you-know/834951/7 "2019-06-03T16:05:03Z")
The Beatles _Her Majesty_ at 23 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-shortest-single-album-track-you-know/834951/8 "2019-06-03T16:35:08Z")
Stormtroopers Of Death’s brilliant debut album _Speak English Or Die_ (1985) featured 3 songs under 10 seconds: [S.O.D. - Hey Gordy!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qySKwhhT_cA) (:08) [S.O.D. - Diamonds and Rust (Extended Version)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2scotwl4DsM) (:07) (yes, this is their version of the Joan Baez song; inspired no doubt by the Judas Priest cover on _Sin After Sin_) [S.O.D. - The Ballad of Jimi Hendrix](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qySKwhhT_cA) (:06) For their 1999 follow-up _Bigger Than The Devil_ they kept that last joke alive with 2 songs: [S.O.D. - Ballad of Michael H.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-6qJXYNBfE) (:12) [S.O.D. - Ballad of Phil H.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvonXMd3zCg) (:08) ---
**Author:** ![Helmut\_Doork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e8c25b/32.png) [@Helmut\_Doork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helmut_Doork)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-shortest-single-album-track-you-know/834951/9 "2019-06-03T16:37:33Z")
“There’s a Riot Goin’ On” by Sly and the Family Stone, listed on the (original album) label as 0:00! ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-shortest-single-album-track-you-know/834951/10 "2019-06-03T17:03:04Z")
> [@Helmut\_Doork](#): > > “There’s a Riot Goin’ On” by Sly and the Family Stone, listed on the (original album) label as 0:00! I just searched my music folders for short tracks, and this was the shortest I came up with, but it’s only 4 seconds of silence, so I thought it was a badly ripped file. I’ve ripped all my CDs and have never noticed this oddity when listening to the CD. The other short track I found is the last track on Kyuss’ “Blues For The Red Sun” called “Yeah”, a four second track of someone saying, well, “Yeah”. ETA: the shortest track I found with actual music is “No Money, No Honey (intro)” from “Stereopathetic Soulmanure” by Beck, 6 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-shortest-single-album-track-you-know/834951/11 "2019-06-03T17:22:58Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > “Yeah”, a four second track of someone saying, well, “Yeah”. Queen’s posthumous album [Made In Heaven](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Made_in_Heaven) also includes a four-second track “Yeah.” ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-shortest-single-album-track-you-know/834951/12 "2019-06-03T17:30:02Z")
Off the top of my head, I’d say one of Blink 182’s joke tracks, [Build this Pool](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM6B7UABirs), at 15 seconds. ETA, **Snowborder Bo** ’s knocking it out of the park! ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-shortest-single-album-track-you-know/834951/13 "2019-06-03T17:30:36Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Queen’s posthumous album [Made In Heaven](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Made_in_Heaven) also includes a four-second track “Yeah.” Well, in this case I guess that Kyuss paid tribute to Freddie. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-shortest-single-album-track-you-know/834951/14 "2019-06-03T17:37:52Z")
Government Issue - [Stepping Stone](https://youtu.be/mpoRr3kjKuE?t=188) (listed at 7 seconds, but there’s about 1.5 combined seconds of silence at the beginning and end of the track, so more like 5). ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-shortest-single-album-track-you-know/834951/15 "2019-06-03T18:38:31Z")
Janet Jackson’s album **janet.** includes a dozen tracks that are under 15 seconds each, with the shortest at 4 seconds long. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-shortest-single-album-track-you-know/834951/16 "2019-06-03T19:02:41Z")
My first thought was the “filler” tracks on CDs to space out the hidden tracks. E.g., on Cracker’s _Kerosene Hat_. But [those](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerosene_Hat#Track_listing) are apparently 4-6 seconds long. Surely there must be some really short such filler out there. And if you don’t think silence isn’t a song, tell that to John Cage. Well, or his ghost or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-shortest-single-album-track-you-know/834951/17 "2019-06-03T19:09:37Z")
Another four-second track: The Flower Kings, “Ikea by Night”, _Flower Power_. ---
**Author:** ![Clawdio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Clawdio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clawdio)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-shortest-single-album-track-you-know/834951/18 "2019-06-03T19:21:46Z")
Just for posterity: remember the _Broken_ EP by **Nine Inch Nails**? On the CD: tracks 1-6 were songs, then tracks 7-97 were each 1 second long silent tracks, and tracks 98 & 99 were two more “hidden” songs. Maybe other artists employed this trick too, but this is the one i remember/am aware of. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-shortest-single-album-track-you-know/834951/19 "2019-06-03T19:23:38Z")
Not that it’s going to beat anything already here, but I just want to add “Harvey the Wonder Hamster” by Weird Al Yankovic from the \*Alapalooza \*album clocking in at 21 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-shortest-single-album-track-you-know/834951/20 "2019-06-03T19:57:49Z")
“Ban the Game” by Men Without Hats. There’s a longer version, but the one on the _Rhythm of Youth_ album was [48 seconds.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKj_5XLF_Lw) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-shortest-single-album-track-you-know/834951.md?page=2)