love for long songs
I've much to say about listening to entire albums and the soundscapes they're able to create, but I'd like to direct some appreciation towards singular, long-length tracks. To categorize a song as "long" or not is gonna be left ambiguous, and you may disagree if a song here belongs. However, I think my choices were predicated not on which one was longer, but how it used its length throughout. It'll make more sense as I go on. I also limited myself to one song per artist or group, but it usually means most of their other works are absolutely worth checking out as well. There's also an interesting read here about the phenomena of songs lengths are shrinking that inspired this idea as well (also, it was posted on my birthday. anyways), so I've tried to look for some more recent examples as a result.
LCD Soundsystem's "All My Friends" from Sound of Silver (from was my original inspiration for making this list, and definitely one of my all time favourite songs in general. The single chord that persists throughout the entire songs is so perfectly integral to the song, despite how boring it would seem originally to situate the almost 8 minute song on it. That single chord is probably burned into my ears at this point, whatever that means.
"It comes apart
The way it does in bad films
Except the part
Where the moral kicks in"
Especially for the part of my life that I'm in right now, this song means so much to me. I'm scared that I'll be alone, that I'll live such a pointless life despite the opportunities I've been given. That I'll let everyone that depends and will depend on my future self. I think what attaches me to this song is that, as opposed to many other ones on this topic, it isn't pointlessly optimistic or delusional towards it. It comes from someplace and someone that gets this worry. And honestly, it's way more comforting than anything else. Back to the whole length thing, the songs runtime is such an integral part as well. The aforementioned monotonous nature makes it feel less as a song, but more like a lamenting rant. I've think about that last verse in particular quite often, and the song articulates a lot of what I've been anxious about so well. I can say so much more about this song, but it really does mean a lot to me, and I'll leave it at that.
I think the eponymous song from the album the now now and never from artist what is your name? is a favourite example of mine that uses its length to make, for a lack of a better term, a soundscape. The entire album permeates a feeling of nostalgic youthfulness that I haven't seen replicated as well anywhere else. The title track in particular, I think, does it the best. The dreamy guitars is so damn good at painting only what I can describe as a summertime memory crystallized into music. Very, very amazing.
I've realized that this may not have been the best idea since I can't really describe why I like instrumental songs so much. Oh well.
Obviously I had to put Masayoshi Takanaka somewhere here. My favourite of his is probably the title track (again) for AN INSATIABLE HIGH. I can't really say more about Takanaka's than has been said before, but every single one of his albums is always fun. Really cool instrumentation for the entire duration. It's also cool that the song slows down towards the end, mimicking the end of a run; a cool connection to the album itself.
In almost stark contrast with mood, Kamasi Washington's album The Epic has multiple longer-length instrumental murals. Probably one of, if not my most favourite modern jazz album. There's probably an argument for almost any of the songs to belong on this list, but my mood today has chosen "Askim". This one is usually overshadowed by the previous track "Change of Guard", the opener to the entire album. I think the tight tension and buildup all the way to the end is some of the coolest experiences in musical listening ever. This song absolutely earns its runtime immediately and earns it again a thousand times by the end. I haven't been able to listen to the entire album in one go yet, but each song really is a spiritual experience on its own. Shoutout to "The Magnificent 7" as well.
Changing genres a bit, and it feels a bit cheating to put the Japanese band Fishman's LONG SEASON here. By technicality, it's the longest song in my collection (except for "MX" by Deftones, but that's another technicality on top one already). An entire album mixed into a single track, LONG SEASON essentially demands you listen to it all in one sitting. I don't have too much to say, but a list like this didn't feel complete without this one. Another song that's basically guaranteed on a list like this is Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird", of course. The mellow buildup to the five minute solo is amazingly swag. But you already knew that.
The band that I thought first when corroborating this list was, of course, Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Another case where any song can hold its own. Obviously I felt compelled to choose one from Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven, but I think I've read too many reviews that anything I say will be a banal regurgitation and won't be unique in the slightest. Oh well. Like many others, I think "Storm" is one of the most mind-blowing songs ever made. I actually cannot imagine a song that deserves to exist more than this one. Seek this one out, listen to it.
Another band that I hold dear to me is Black Country, New Road. Their record Ants From Up There is rightfully praised for its heartwrenching beauty. "Basketball Shoes" is the closer for the album, and the longest track by a slight margin. I've always loved the haunting instrumentation found through the entire album. The band does so well in masterfully weaving in each sound, and this track really does feel like the explosive culmination throughout the entire album. But we're here to talk about the song itself. The lyrical progression from the beginning having a sense of normalcy turning into the climatic finale of desperation and sadness.
"Oh, your generous loan to me, your crippling interest"
This, of course, could not have been half as gut wrenching without Isaac Wood's performance of a lifetime. Especially knowing the mental toll this album accrued makes the listen even more, say, tragic. I hope he's doing alright now. An honourable mention to "The Place Where He Inserted the Blade", of course.
My first listen to Car Seat Headrest's "Hey, Space Cadet (Beast Monster Thing in Space)" on their album How to Leave Town completely blew me away. Another album closer, and there's so much in this one. Lyrically, the song feels like a reconciliation of, as I see it, anxiety and self-love.
"You’re gonna need a lot of love But not the kind you’re thinking of And the times when I feel fine I’m just dancing in my mind"
This is what I think is the thesis, if you will, of the entire song. "Space cadet" refers to someone detached from reality, and at many points is there this idea of need of connection and love. The above line, I think, is the epiphany that perhaps what's needed is not the love and acceptance of others, but instead the state of being content with oneself. Maybe it is alright to live in your head and be happy with it. Now musically, I can do no less than be baffled by the production. As opposed to the previous song, the instrumentation present is the typical guitar-bass-drums with vocals. I don't know how they do it, but the music is inexplicably transcendental and majestic.
Parannoul's "Evoke Me" from the fairly recent Sky Hundred. Though I generally prefer his previous To See the Next Part of the Dream as a body of work overall, there wasn't any doubt when putting this one as my pick. No hyperbole can describe what this song sounds on a full listen. I mean, nearly halfway through the song reaches what I can only as the most cathartic climax of any song, maybe ever. The slow but deliberate layering element of every element in the song one at a time basically rewards you for listening to the song to that point, and you're not even at the halfway mark. Also the abrupt tempo revival with the drum sticks? Unbelievable. The entire song is literally a musical rollercoaster of energy. I can't overstate how deserved each second of this song is. On the Bandcamp release of the album, Parannoul writes:
"The more I hid the more I became exposed. I came out, but the pressure I made myself was abandoning me. I didn't want to see myself getting ugly in each memory, and I finally understood the real fear of nostalgia based on absence. "
This song feels like the breaking out of a shell, something capturing raw emotion in such a brash and confident way. I've sandwiched this list with my favourites on this list, but if you ever do decide to listen to a single one on this list, I hope that it will be this one.
I don't know how crude of a comparison this is, but I see these longer songs to albums as I do with a film to a show. A show, by virtue of its length, is able to tell much more intricate and beautiful ideas than a film can. But there's something so quaint and amazing for a film - or a single, long song - to be able to tell its own story, its own climax, and its own conclusion. I, for one, prefer and cherish films much more for this reason, and this may be why I'm drawn to these songs a lot more. Isn't there something so cool in listening to a song that isn't scared to do what it wants? Listen to longer songs, you won't regret it.