My Favorite Short Songs

Ah. Brevity. There's nothing like being able to say what you want to say and do what you want to do in a very short period of time. Efficient, succinct, purposeful. That's what these songs are. Each tune clocks in at under two minutes, yet packs more good ideas in that short time than most songs twice or thrice its length. (I tried to be brief as well in my explanation, but I tend to have some trouble with that. Nevertheless, here are my 90 favorite songs under two minutes long (with their lengths (according to my iTunes library) in parentheses).) Oh, and that picture is of Wire: the masters--along with The Minutemen and GBV--of the short song.

90. John Zorn--You Will Be Shot (1:32)

89. Randy Newman--Dayton, Ohio - 1903 (1:53)

88. The Monkees--Rui Chiu (1:32)

87. Arthur Russell--The Deer In The Forest, Pt. 1 (1:35)

86. Tim Buckley--Moulin Rouge (1:59)

85. Boards Of Canada--Wildlife Analysis (1:16)

84. The Music Machine--Talk Talk (1:58)

83. The Castaways--Liar, Liar (1:54)

82. The Plugz--Hombre Secreto (1:49)

81. The Human League--Get Carter (1:02)

80. Guided By Voices--Hot Freaks (1:43)

79. Burl Ives--Fooba Wooba John (1:07)

78. Pixies--"You Fuckin' Die...!" (0:45)

77. Negative Approach--Nothing (1:51)

76. The White Stripes--You're Pretty Good Looking (For A Girl ) (1:49)

75. The Germs--Richie Dagger's Crime (1:57)

74. John Fahey--Brenda's Blues (1:47)

73. The Beach Boys--Ol' Man River (1:18)

72. Serge Gainsbourg--Valse De Melody (1:32)

71. Nick Drake--Harvest Breed (1:38)

70. This Heat--Shrink Wrap (1:41)

69. Big Black--L Dopa (1:41)

68. The Ramones--Cretin Hop (1:56)

67. Husker Du--Never Talking To You Again (1:41)

66. Portishead--Deep Water (1:33)

65. Kraftwerk--Endless Endless (0:56)

64. Guided By Voices--A Salty Salute (1:29)

63. Circle Jerks--Group Sex (1:06)

62. Guided By Voices--Kicker Of Elves (1:04)

61. Bibio--All The Flowers (1:05)

60. Devendra Banhart--The Red Lagoon (1:17)

59. Giorgio Moroder--Faster Than The Speed Of Love (1:58)

58. Mission Of Burma--This Is Not A Photograph (1:57)

57. Buddy Holly--Ready Teddy (1:35)

56. Minutemen--Please Don't Be Gentle With Me (0:48)

55. Brian Eno--Another Green World (1:37)

54. The Streets--Sharp Darts (1:33)

53. Wire--Surgeon's Girl (1:18)

52. Jay Reatard--Fading All Away (1:28)

51. Tom Waits--Cemetery Polka (1:47)

50. Beat Happening--Jamboree (1:03)

49. The Misfits--Halloween (1:52)

48. The Ramones--Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue (1:36)

47. Minutemen--The Roars Of The Masses Could Be Farts (1:21)

46. Devendra Banhart--Tit Smoking In The Temple Of Artesian Mimicry (1:25)

45. Descendents--Weinerschnitzel (0:13)

44. Odetta--God's Gonna Cut You Down (1:51)

43. Tom Waits--Frank's Wild Years (1:54)

42. Boredoms--Noise Ramones (0:31)

41. John Zorn--Igneous Ejaculation (0:24)

40. Pixies--Tame (1:58)

39. The Beatles--I'm Happy Just To Dance With You (1:59)

38. Devo--Too Much Paranoias (1:58)

37. John Fahey--Beautiful Linda Getchell (1:54)

36. Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band--The Dust Blows Forward 'N The Dust Blows Back (1:53)

35. My Bloody Valentine--Touched (0:57)

34. Guided By Voices--A Good Flying Bird (1:08)

33. Agent Orange--Bloodstains (1:54)

32. Buddy Holly--Rave On! (1:52)

31. The Misfits--We Are 138 (1:41)

30. The Mothers Of Invention--What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body? (1:03)

29. Wire--Field Day For The Sundays (0:28)

28. Vashti Bunyan--Diamond Day (1:47)

27. Minor Threat--Minor Threat (1:28)

26. The Ramones--Judy Is A Punk (1:33)

25. DJ Shadow--Organ Donor (1:57)

24. Elvis Presley--All Shook Up (1:58)

23. The Misfits--Night Of The Living Dead (1:58)

22. Big Black--The Power Of Independent Trucking (1:27)

21. Pixies--There Goes My Gun (1:52)

20. Wire--Fragile (1:18)

19. The Beatles--Golden Slumbers (1:32)

18. Neutral Milk Hotel--Communist Daughter (1:57)

17. Gold Panda--Quitters Raga (1:57)

16. Guided By Voices--As We Go Up, We Go Down (1:37)

15. Meat Puppets--Lake Of Fire (1:57)

14. Prince--Sister (1:32)

13. Young Marble Giants--Final Day (1:44)

12. Minutemen--Viet Nam (1:30)

11. Pavement--Zurich Is Stained (1:41)

10. The Beatles--Carry That Weight (1:37)

9. Wire--Three Girl Rhumba (1:24)

8. The Beatles--I Will (1:47)

7. Bad Brains--Pay To Cum (1:32)

6. Minor Threat--Straight Edge (0:45)

5. Scott Walker--30 Century Man (1:29)

4. The White Stripes--Fell In Love With A Girl (1:50)

3. Guided By Voices--Game Of Pricks (1:33)

2. Wire--Outdoor Miner (1:45)

1. Sly & The Family Stone--There's A Riot Goin' On (0:00)

That's what I think. I may draw more inspiration from "Outdoor Miner" or "Game Of Pricks", but no song on this list is as beautifully succinct as "There's A Riot Goin' On," which lasts zero seconds.