Anyone Else Dislike Most Long Songs?

sopsych · 09-02-2012, 02:30 PM

He did? I can't find my post, and "Bob" isn't anyone's username. Anyway, I didn't say only substance-using people like long songs. I really do think there's a correlation for certain genres (maybe even mild wine intoxication for classical).

VEGANGELICA · 09-02-2012, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ribbons

Just my two cents here. In answer to your question, Erica, whether a song is long or short, melody is key for me. Admittedly, this is the reason why I tend to like short-to-medium songs: usually melody is better "contained" in songs of that length and there are fewer interludial passages breaking up the melody. Even if I'm listening to longer jazz tracks, for instance, melody has got to be there and returned to before too long, or else I lose focus. Maybe I just have a short attention span!

I doubt you have a short attention span! Maybe you just have to be listening to something you like in order to want to listen a long time. I like melody, too. I like a song to nestle me back up in its arms and not let me drift too far from its main themes. Thank you for your input, Liz.

* * *

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rjinnx

Like giving songs a chance by stopping half way?

Oh, I rarely get to the half-point of long songs if I'm listening to them solely for my own enjoyment (rather than to review them, which provides a different sort of pleasure). I usually stop much earlier than half way through.

For example, Anteater posted two longs songs earlier in the thread, "Milliontown" (26 min) and "Gates of Delirium" (20 min). I only listened to 2 minutes of "Milliontown" before I felt like stopping. And I stopped listening to "Gates of Delirium" after only 20 seconds because I disliked the sound of that song so much!

Earlier in the thread, Burning Down posted the classical "Boléro" (22 min version) and "Totentanz" (15 min). I had heard shortened versions of both before and was surprised (and dismayed) that the full versions are so long. However, I was also curious if the longer versions dffered much from the shorter ones I'd heard. So I did something that I occasionally do with songs when I want to learn about them but not spend much time doing so: I listened to the songs simultaneously!

Listening to two songs at once can work if the two songs are equally loud, but this turned out not to be the case for those two videos...so I aborted my effort at dual listening and just stopped listening entirely.

I *do* like the meditative "Boléro"...but I didn't want to listen to 22 minutes or even 11 minutes of it. I prefer this short 4:30 version to which Torvill & Dean performed in the 1984 Olympics:

Ravel - "Boléro" (Short 4:30 Version).
Ahh.

Perfect length. And the ice skating choreography brings the song even more to life for me, especially near the tumultuous, climactic end:

Torvill & Dean Bolero - YouTube

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Quote:

Originally Posted by wisdom

Another long song that benefits from editing: "Shout," by Tears for Fears.

Re the band's "whopping 24 times" repeating the line "Sowing the Seeds of Love," it raises the point that the simpler a refrain is, the most irritating it is likely to be as the minutes of the song go by.

Agreed and agreed. I've noticed, though, that with children the simpler refrains don't seem to irritate them. At least with the elementary kids I've observed, they latch onto the repetition in simple pop songs and enjoy hearing the same simple phrase over and over (and over and over) again. Here's one such song my child currently likes:

Shake it Up - "Made in Japan"
Popular with elementary school kids. The chorus "made in Japan" is repeated...twenty times. :/ Thankfully, the song only lasts 3 minutes.

Shake It Up "made in japan" (full song) + Lyrics - YouTube

**Janszoon** · 09-02-2012, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wisdom

He did? I can't find my post, and "Bob" isn't anyone's username.

Um... yes it is.

Unknown Soldier · 09-02-2012, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wisdom

He did? I can't find my post, and "Bob" isn't anyone's username.

Bob is Mr.Devo man.

Key · 09-02-2012, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wisdom

He did? I can't find my post, and "Bob" isn't anyone's username. Anyway, I didn't say only substance-using people like long songs. I really do think there's a correlation for certain genres (maybe even mild wine intoxication for classical).

Or perhaps it's as simple as people just liking the genre.

sopsych · 09-02-2012, 04:27 PM

I see search is case-sensitive. There is a "bob," but not in this thread.

Anyway, c'mon, there was a thread about listening while high. A few people here should be brave and admit they enjoy long songs more when under the influence. I almost guarantee that extended music listening (total time, not song time) is associated with more substance use than is occasional listening.

Key · 09-02-2012, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wisdom

I see search is case-sensitive. There is a "bob," but not in this thread.

Um...

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob.

i feel that is a rather rude assertion....i love long songs and i love lyrical content and i do not use drugs at all....

Unknown Soldier · 09-02-2012, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wisdom

I see search is case-sensitive. There is a "bob," but not in this thread.
.

Yes there is, if there wasn't why would I mention you not replying to his post

rostasi · 09-02-2012, 06:10 PM

It's "bob." with a period - like "fun."

VEGANGELICA · 09-02-2012, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wisdom

Anyway, c'mon, there was a thread about listening while high. A few people here should be brave and admit they enjoy long songs more when under the influence. I almost guarantee that extended music listening (total time, not song time) is associated with more substance use than is occasional listening.

I'm not sure about a relationship between total music listening time and drug use (except it sounds as if LSD increases people's patience for listening to music), but it does appear that listening to long songs was historically associated with drug use at least within the psychedelic rock genre.

According to an article about The Grateful Dead:

Quote:

From: How Psychedelic Drugs Shaped the Music of the '60s - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com

They [The Grateful Dead] set out to recreate the aspects of their live performance in their albums, and became widely known for music that was notoriously drawn out and clearly influenced by acid use. One example, "Dark Star," is a twenty-four minute acid-rock masterpiece, which is a far step away from the standardized three to five minute song format utilized by most musicians. Since the Grateful Dead was surrounded almost entirely by people using psychedelic drugs while touring, this is reflected in the music that they created; therefore, some of their material from the sixties is rather difficult to listen to when not under the influence (Brown)." Reference: Brown, G. "Turned-on, tuned-in and dropped-out sounds." The Denver Post 6 Apr. 2003: F-06)

Another source says, "Most psychedelic music shares similar musical characteristics: long songs, electric guitar freakouts, hallucinatory lyrics, and terrible cover art."

Narcotica: Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To « The Bygone Bureau

So this suggests that people who aren't using psychedelic drugs may be less likely than drug-users to enjoy long psychedelic rock songs. Now I know why I don't like "electric guitar freakouts," most hallucinatory lyrics, and all music I've heard by The Grateful Dead!

09-02-2012, 02:30 PM	#301 (permalink)
sopsych Music Addict Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: indoors Posts: 722	He did? I can't find my post, and "Bob" isn't anyone's username. Anyway, I didn't say only substance-using people like long songs. I really do think there's a correlation for certain genres (maybe even mild wine intoxication for classical).

09-02-2012, 04:27 PM	#306 (permalink)
sopsych Music Addict Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: indoors Posts: 722	I see search is case-sensitive. There is a "bob," but not in this thread. Anyway, c'mon, there was a thread about listening while high. A few people here should be brave and admit they enjoy long songs more when under the influence. I almost guarantee that extended music listening (total time, not song time) is associated with more substance use than is occasional listening.

09-02-2012, 06:10 PM	#309 (permalink)
rostasi . Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 4,007	It's "bob." with a period - like "fun."