2:42
Scalzi's back (feel free sing that to the tune of that Eminem song) with a suggestion for the ultimate pop-song length: 2:42. The justification is that the song "There She Goes" is exactly 2:42, and about as perfect a pop song as you can get.
He may be on to something. If nothing else, it's a reasonably good length for soul and Motown songs. Out of the 33 songs that clock in at 2:42, there's:
- Come See About Me, the Supremes
- That's What My Heart Needs, Otis Redding
- Mr. Pitiful, Otis Redding
- I Second That Emotion, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
- Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song) Otis Redding
along with songs like "Baby Please Don't Go" by Van Morrison and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen.
There are also more artists with multiple songs here than at the other lengths I've looked at, including:
- Lovely Rita, the Beatles
- Birthday, the Beatles
- Don't Do Me Like That, Tom Petty
- Breakdown, Tom Petty
- This One's For Me, Tom Petty
- Secrets of the Sea, Billy Bragg and Wilco
- Christ for President, Billy Bragg and Wilco
I'm not actually sure what that means, but it's sort of interesting.
2:42 isn't without its non-pop clunkers, of course:
- Yesterday is Here [Live], Tom Waits
- I'm in the Mood, John Lee Hooker
- Jesus Was Way Cool, King Missile
- Hard Time Killing Floor Blues, Chris Thomas King
- Go Mental, the Ramones
Along with som "Who dat?" material:
- Man in Uniform, Pete Yorn
- Are You True, the New Amsterdams
- Pressure Drop, Izzy Stradlin and the JuJu Hounds
(Yes, that's a cover of the Specials. I had to check, though.)
There are also some great slightly bent pop songs:
- Leave the Biker, Fountains of Wayne
- The Book of Love, Magnetic Fields
- Excitable Boy, Warren Zevon
Along with the frat-boy classic "Why Don't We Get Drunk" by Jimmy Buffett. And, of course, there's old school material like "Pictures of Lily" by the Who, and "Up Around the Bend" by Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Even the louder songs have a certain pop sensibility:
- American Gigolo, Weezer
- Echos Myron, Guided by Voices
- Uncorrected Proofs, the Weakerthans
- Tangerine, Buffalo Tom
- Celebrity Skin, Hole
(Please note that I'm not equating Buffalo Tom and Hole in general-- it's one of Buffalo Tom's more up-tempo songs, though, so it more or less fits with the rest.)
The conclusion, here? I'd definitely say that the 2:42 set of songs is more "pop" than either of the other two I've looked at. Also, I'm a huge dork for going through all this, but you knew that already.
(Next up, I export the track data from iTunes into Excel, and calculate the distribution of song lengths...)
Posted at 8:00 AM | link | follow-ups |