While some friends have made fun of me in the past for my preference for short songs — I’ve always thought “If you can’t sing it in 3 minutes, don’t bother” — somebody apparently agrees with me. Joshua Allen did a little “research” to determine that 2 minutes and 42 seconds is the ideal song length.
I know it’s not a serious piece, but he does bring up one of the best pop songs ever written, one that I continue to enjoy and marvel at the more I hear it: “There She Goes” by The La’s:
The song is “There She Goes,” and is so flawless that it instantly made everything else the band did pointless. This ditty is two minutes and 42 seconds, and is all about songwriting economy…
The main riff acts as the intro. The verses are the chorus. The solo is 100 percent fat-free and leads right into a tidy bridge. And then we’re back where we started. It’s like some ingenious IKEA futon or Japanese love hotel where every component is doing double-duty. When “There She Goes” is over, I guarantee absolutely no one in the room goes: “Jesus, finally.”
(via kottke)
