Behind the Songs

One of my all-time favorite songs is Bohemian Rhapsody, by Queen. This song just has a lot of power behind it. I remember one time many years ago when I worked as an auditor for a hotel chain, I was late getting to work. When I walked in the door, I apologized to Chris, the guy on the desk shift, and told him the reason I was late was because Bohemian Rhapsody was on the radio and I wanted to hear the end of it. He laughed and said that was the best reason he’d ever heard for being late for work. He understood and agreed; being late was worth it to hear the entire song.

The entire song is, after all, six minutes long.

It’s worth it, though.

Still, it’s not the longest song every recorded. I like Meatloaf’s Paradise by the Dashboard Light (I like a lot of Meat’s songs, and how powerfully he sings them. Mostly, though, I like Jim Steinman’s music and lyrics more… no matter who is performing his songs, and most of his songs are rather long.)

Even Steinman’s music doesn’t make it to the longest song ever though.

I was trying to determine which was the longest song ever recorded and couldn’t figure out which one for sure holds the title, but here’s a few I did discover that are quite lengthy:

Supper’s Ready, Genesis - 22:55

Tubular Bells, part one, Mike Oldfield  25:36.
Tubular Bells, part two, Mike Oldfield 23:20.
(these are absolutely gorgeous songs)

Echoes, Pink Floyd - 23:28
Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Pink Floyd - 26:01

These are just a few of the longest popular songs or rock songs out there… can you think of other really long ones?

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