Top 10 Songs Over 10 Minutes Long

Until Bob Dylan released “Like a Rolling Stone” in 1965, there’s was basically a hard and fast rule that pop songs had to be easily digestible nuggets that clocked in at only a few minutes long. The industry lived and died by singles that could get ample radio airplay. “Like a Rolling Stone” shattered this barrier and expanded the palette an artist could use to create music. This was, of course, a blessing and a curse, because not just any musician had the ability to create extended works that worked. The following is a list of my PERSONAL FAVORITE Top 10 Songs Over 10 Minutes Long. P.S. Just so you know, JAZZ & LIVE VERSIONS NOT INCLUDED (that wouldn’t really be fair).

#10 “Angola Anthem” by Dr. John (17:35)

A heady stew of bayou rhythms and voodoo chants, “Angola Anthem” is the quintessential headphones romp. You can practically feel the heat simmering from the swamp as Dr. John, in full Night Tripper mode, leads the charge for a spine-tingling workout over 17 minutes long.

#9 “Svefn-G-Englar” by Sigur Ros (10:04)

Greeted by pings of sonar, “Svefn-G-Englar” is what I imagine a humpback whale sounds like as it swims the dark waters of the North Atlantic. The Icelandic quartet makes music of another world. Put this on and float away.

#8 “Babe, I’m on Fire” by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds (14:45)

Possessed by the spirit of desire, and with all the passion and drama of a Pentecostal preacher, Nick Cave leads his Bad Seeds through over 14 minutes of organ squeals, guitar freakouts and a musical sermon that’ll leave you sweating, exhausted, and speaking in tongues.

#7 “Fun House [Take 3]” by The Stooges (11:29)

This is cheating just a bit, but I couldn’t stop myself from including an alternate take of “Fun House” from the Stooges classic 1970 album of the same name. Iggy is in top form here, grunting, screaming and strutting his way through over 11 minutes of raw power. Ron Asheton’s blistering guitar work and the brutal rhythm laid down by drummer Scott Asheton and bassist Dave Alexander makes this a high point in the Stooges short, but brilliant, career.

#6 “Maggot Brain” by Funkadelic (10:19)

Other than a righteous opening monologue, “Maggot Brain” is a tour-de-force showcase for guitarist Eddie Hazel, recorded in only one take. According to legend, George Clinton, under the influence of LSD, told Hazel to play the song like his mother had just died.

#5 “Mother Sky” by Can (14:29)

Taken from Soundtracks, a collection of film music released in 1970, “Mother Sky” features Can’s new vocalist, Damo Suzuki. Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit lay down a repetitive chugging rhythm with inspired jazz inflected drumming. Add to that Michael Karoli’s improvised guitar, Irmin Schmidt’s keyboard noodling, and Suzuki’s incomparable vocal twists and you have pure Krautrock bliss!

#4 “Marquee Moon” by Television (10:40)

Combining the instrumental prowess of 1960s jam bands with the attitude and snarl of punk, Television’s Marquee Moon is one of the best records of the 1970s. The epic title track is a sprawling guitar workout that features the twin attack of Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd. Simply sublime.

#3 “Echoes” by Pink Floyd (23:28)

Filled with extended instrumental passages and other worldly sound effects, “Echoes” is a side long 23 minute sonic exploration that stands one of the most diverse and ambitious compositions of the Floyd’s storied career. You can hear a similar underwater vibe that Sigur Ros admirably recreated on its 1999 album, Ágætis byrjun (see #9 above).

#2 “Voodoo Chile” by The Jimi Hendrix Experience (15:05)

An extended blues featuring a landmark Hendrix guitar solo and soulful Hammond B3 by guest, Steve Winwood. Joe Satriani puts it best, “It’s just the greatest piece of electric guitar work ever recorded. In fact, the whole song could be considered the holy grail of guitar expression and technique. It is a beacon of humanity.”

#1 “Desolation Row” by Bob Dylan (11:21)

Dylan practically invented the long form rock song and “Desolation Row,” from 1965’s Highway 61 Revisited, is perhaps his crowning achievement of this niche genre. Featuring sublime Spanish-style acoustic guitar (by Charlie McCoy) and surreal poetry influenced by Jack Kerouac, T.S. Eliot, and John Steinbeck, “Desolation Row,” finds Dylan using (as scholar David Tuffley notes) “a rich set of cultural and religious stereotypes as metaphors to describe the lunacy of mainstream 1960’s American society.”