Posted May 31, 20223 yr Running on from the discussion going on in the semis thread just now, which side are you on?! Are you a fan of a long song? Are you put off the track before you even listen to it because of the run time? Do you just skip part of it or do you make sure you take the time to listen to it from start to finish? I personally don't have the attention span to listen to multiple long songs in one sitting and in most cases I find those extra 6 minutes don't actually add anything to the song. It's not even like it's one song in a contest, there's usually a bunch of them :lol: It's too much imo when you're listening to 30/40 other songs as well but maybe I'm in the minority with my opinion! I guess there's a reason why there isn't a rule on song length (yet) :kink:
May 31, 20223 yr No especially the experimental and instrumental ones they will sometimes require more than 5 minutes to bring out the theme or at least create an epic soundscape.
May 31, 20223 yr Quite simply put, yes. If it can’t get its point/message etc across to the listener within 5 minutes, it says everything you need to know about the song… Edited May 31, 20223 yr by Yobnedor
May 31, 20223 yr Not for me. Most of my fave discoveries from this contest over the years have been longer than 5 mins.
May 31, 20223 yr No especially the experimental and instrumental ones they will sometimes require more than 5 minutes to bring out the theme or at least create an epic soundscape. :clap: :clap: Many of the longer entries justify their length through the quality of the song or through a building progression. If that's not to your taste then that's a shame but choosing to ignore a song solely because of its length is quite narrow minded. I can understand 9 or more minutes, but 5-7 min is hardly much longer than standard song length.
May 31, 20223 yr I mean I've sent two songs that are eight minutes plus this year - Autopsy and One Million Voices - and I can definitely say they wouldn't work at all as shorter songs. Autopsy turns into almost a completely different song in its second half and turns from a forlorn cry for help to an entrancing instrumental, and One Million Voices allows for the gradual emerging of many different musical styles and build into the euphoria of the final chorus. I also have two other ten minute songs that I'm similarly into that I'm considering sending here, I'll make sure to send them when Lindsey next enters :kink: For real though, the longer the song, the more it allows it to progress and build an effective atmosphere, a well-done build-up can really give you that properly immersive musical experience, the best ones are almost like telling a story in which you can feel the range of emotions, instruments, sounds and feel the natural change as it goes along. I accept not everyone looks for that in a song but it's what stands out most for me. Between 2 and 3 minutes is alright for an in-your-face or fast-paced track, but I'm unlikely to remember most examples without multiple listens just because there isn't time to make an impression. Having said that, I do think songs should justify their length, if there's no progression in sound or if it reaches its peak less than halfway through, it probably doesn't need to be that long. To use a common example against long songs here, Mutter, as much as I enjoy it and how much it annoyed people at the time, does not need to be that long. It peaks within the first half and doesn't progress to anything after that. It would've been just as effective if it was half the length. (Obviously No to the poll, but it's not like this is gonna happen, that would essentially be dictating taste which doesn't work when music is subjective)
May 31, 20223 yr Author Absolutely not. I hope you're having a laugh and not being serious :lol: I mean I am being serious, as I say this is my opinion and I'm happy to be alone in it, I'm just curious to see other people's thoughts on it 🤷🏼♀️ I can appreciate a long song, I completely understand the appeal and agree that sometimes you do need the time to allow it to build etc but I'd rather listen to something like that outwith the context of a song contest where you have so many other songs to get through ... don't think that's such a bizarre opinion to have :unsure:
May 31, 20223 yr I like a shorter song, but then there are some killer long songs out there (It's All Coming Back To Me Now, I'd Do Anything, Bohemian Rhapsody)
May 31, 20223 yr as two of my winning songs were well over five minutes I’m naturally inclined to say No here. I do find that some lengthy songs that get sent here don’t justify being so long but many of them are great and I wouldn’t wish to see such songs be ruled out of competing.
May 31, 20223 yr Author I just wanna clarify that I'm not anti-long song by any means! I do give all songs that are sent a chance regardless of their length but very seldom do I find myself being glad I listened to the whole thing, I find a lot of them samey and like they could have been condensed (not always but often). There are plenty of songs I like that are over 5 mins, 7 mins is fine, it is the 9+ ones I'm talking about really. For me, the sign of a long song being done well is that you can listen to it all in its entirety and not realise how long it's been on for or at the very least you're not bored of it and would happily listen to it again. It is subject to taste though, even instrumental songs in general aren't my thing generally which is probably why I'm not a massive fan of long songs bc they tend to be of that genre I just think bjsc isn't always the place to show off these kinds of songs I suppose :lol: Edited May 31, 20223 yr by Linds.
May 31, 20223 yr Definitely no for me! My favourite song entered this year is 10 minutes long. We'd miss out on a whole plethora of songs if we restricted it like this - long songs are an art form in their own. If it can’t get its point/message etc across to the listener within 5 minutes, it says everything you need to know about the song… I could not disagree with this sentiment more some songs are journeys, that take different paths and shift snd change. Not everything follows a verse, chorus, verse, chorus for 3 minute structure. Just listen to 'Autopsy' as Chez mentioned!! Are you saying 'Like A Prayer' and 'Purple Rain' and 'Stairway to Heaven' "can't get their message across" effectively because they are over 5 mins??
May 31, 20223 yr I mean I am being serious, as I say this is my opinion and I'm happy to be alone in it, I'm just curious to see other people's thoughts on it 🤷🏼♀️ I can appreciate a long song, I completely understand the appeal and agree that sometimes you do need the time to allow it to build etc but I'd rather listen to something like that outwith the context of a song contest where you have so many other songs to get through ... don't think that's such a bizarre opinion to have :unsure: I see what you mean. But there are hardly that many long songs in a single contest for this to be really an issue. Most songs are around 3-4min anyway (standard for pop music). Alternative and electronic music often tend to be the longer songs and do have their niche of fans in BJSC who shouldn't be given a handicap for their taste in music.
May 31, 20223 yr I mean, it's very rare I care for a song that's too long because that's just the way my attention span works, and I find songs that are too long end up tending to sound like 2/3 different songs, rather than one cohesive song. However, I'd never say 'no' to people not being able to enter them, BJSC is about the freedom of people sending what they love and if that's what they love, then go for it. It's up to other people if they want to vote for it and if they enjoy it.
May 31, 20223 yr Definitely no for me! My favourite song entered this year is 10 minutes long. We'd miss out on a whole plethora of songs if we restricted it like this - long songs are an art form in their own. I could not disagree with this sentiment more some songs are journeys, that take different paths and shift snd change. Not everything follows a verse, chorus, verse, chorus for 3 minute structure. Just listen to 'Autopsy' as Chez mentioned!! Are you saying 'Like A Prayer' and 'Purple Rain' and 'Stairway to Heaven' "can't get their message across" effectively because they are over 5 mins?? It doesn’t take any of those songs over five mins to get their point across. They are epic way before they hit the five min mark. Edited May 31, 20223 yr by Yobnedor
May 31, 20223 yr i’d actually be really interested to see how many people listen to up-to-10 minute songs regularly or if they’re just sending them to appeal to a certain type of audience in the contest. it might just be me but i don’t have the attention span for them. i could do without the super long ones tbh. i guess it’s why eurovision do it too - the time it takes to get through them can be frustrating.
May 31, 20223 yr i’d actually be really interested to see how many people listen to up-to-10 minute songs regularly or if they’re just sending them to appeal to a certain type of audience in the contest. it might just be me but i don’t have the attention span for them. i could do without the super long ones tbh. i guess it’s why eurovision do it too - the time it takes to get through them can be frustrating. I currently have 19 songs in my personal chart that are longer than 5 minutes so I guess you could say I have the attention span for it.
May 31, 20223 yr I don’t see any reason why the rule needs to be changed, but if the song isn’t a good song within the first five mins, I won’t be listening to the latter 5 mins to see if anything changes. If the song is good enough within the first five mins, I’ll listen to the rest and add it accordingly to my votes. No issue really. Edited May 31, 20223 yr by Yobnedor
May 31, 20223 yr Depends on the song. Some are journeys, as someone points out, and I would argue Tubular Bells is one entire track and works fine (or at least side 1 does). Longer doesnt necessarily mean better though. Extended remixes often add nothing to the shorter version's perfection. The single edit of Baker Street is perfection, the Gerry Rafferty album version is not an improvement - it's great, but it's not perfect. The single edit of Blondie's Atomic is perfect and the album version farty meanderings are a step down. Stairway To Heaven OTOH couldnt be edited down without ruining it. What I really can't stand is being 5 minutes into a "song" and it just being the same basic riff and same simple melody repeated over and over endlessly. That's just lazy, unless there's something lyrically changing, or melodically changing. Bascially. I'm against someone saying ooh that 15 seconds is quite good, I'll just repeat it for 8 minutes and that'll do the dance floor everyone will be off their head anyway. So if at the half-way point nothing interesting has happened since the first 15 seconds then I'm inclined to be of the view that if they can't be bothered to do something different then I can't be bothered to waste 8 minutes of my life waiting for something to happen.
May 31, 20223 yr I currently have 19 songs in my personal chart that are longer than 5 minutes so I guess you could say I have the attention span for it. i just checked out the spotify playlist of all your entries + for a vast amount of time, the length of your entries was 03:XX - what prompted you to opt for longer songs now? was it just a switch in taste? are they more popular now? sorry for all the q’s, i’ve just never really paid that much attention to it + i’m curious.
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