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.

 

This basically says what I mean (but far better than I’ve been able to articulate!)

 

Thank you!

The only entry I've ever actively skipped was that hour long Arca entry.

Tbf I'm not really calling for a change to the rules, it's just the way I'm framing this question as at the end of the day I'm going to allocate points to the songs I like. Maybe I should have made the poll "do you like long songs in BJSC" so I wasn't taken quite so literal :lol:

 

 

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.

It's also worth noting that my first entry was in BJSC 10 when I was a teen and now I'm fast approaching 30 :drama: so my taste in music has definitely broadened (rather than changed) over 10+ years, more alternative/electronic/dance and less pop/mainstream so with that sometimes comes a shift in song length as well. That being said I still love a solid, unique pop song. I don't think music should have boundaries and I'm open to more styles, lengths and genres than I used to be.

Adding on to the 'Autopsy' example which is a brilliant one, 'Vega' wouldn't work within 5 minutes because of the long buildup towards the end (other examples 'Harmkvæði', 'Ostinat', 'Doomscroller' (I wonder if this is one of Chez's potentials, if so please send :D :D ) they all justify their length with a good solid buildup). And then you have the vibey ones such as 'Untitled 1' which doesn't have a buildup per se but it justifies its length by being impressionistic and spontaneous, 'Upstairs Flat' also being quite impressionistic but does wow you with a change of theme. And then you have a bunch of classical music pieces to consider which are almost always longer than 5 minutes but they are a league of their own. In particular I love symphonies and they are often more than 30 minutes long.

Edited May 31, 20223 yr by uhsting

As you might expect, I voted 'no'. I would never listen to all the entries from my semi in one go. I usually divide it into three which means about 10 songs to listen to a day so I don't mind if some of them are longer. Most of the short songs are just verse, chorus, verse, chorus so after about one minute, I know how the rest of the song is going to sound. A longer song is going to be more unpredictable in how it develops. I agree some of the instrumentals go on maybe too long and none of my own long songs have been instrumentals. I don't mind if some people don't listen to every song all the way through. It's up to each person how they go about their voting.

 

 

100% no, some of my favourite discoveries from the contest are long songs. Quite a few of them build and grow and more than justify their length.

 

In terms of what I send, my previous two entries were 10 minutes and then 2 minutes long (my longest then shortest ever - not a conscious choice, just coincidence), my current entry is just over five, but it doesn’t really come into my decision.

Edited May 31, 20223 yr by gooddelta

I'd say no too - even though I've not entered anything that long myself, I feel most of the long songs justify their length by just being pretty interesting songs. I guess part of that comes from their length giving them more freedom in terms of structure, atmosphere and stuff like that. Obviously if it's like half an hour long then it's gonna get a bit boring at some point but it's not like that happens a lot.

I’m not a particular fan of long songs. I really struggle to listen to the songs as it is. The last thing I need is a 22 minute instrumental that is the same 30 seconds on loop. Sorry to the #longsongsbloc

Well, my only recent hit is the longest song I've ever entered to a main contest, 7 minutes in length, and my favourite discovery of last year was also 7 minutes and neither feel their length, I've played them loads of times despite the length - they're both excellent examples of songs that take you on a journey and build through their runtime.

 

I don't often enter long songs I must admit, mostly because the long songs I tend to enjoy come from bands where the long song on an album they do is essentially the ultimate payoff for listening through the rest of their discography. Hence I don't tend to choose them over a more wide-appealing 4-minute song that the band released with a music video. Because I want to introduce people to songs in genres they might not listen to often, I'd rather send the entry point song than put them off out of the gate with the deep cut.

 

And I've definitely shied away from entering truly long songs because I don't want to piss people off, I know we all have time we put aside for this and spending so much of that time is quite indulgent. I've long wanted to return my favourite band Nightwish to the contest and almost did for my 100th (not necessarily with the track I'm about to show). And one of the ones I did most want to enter was their 24-minute epic 'The Greatest Show On Earth'. I love it, it's hella overblown and following my above logic, I probably wouldn't ever enter it but my god is it a glorious encapsulation of... well, everything:

 

Some genres really shine with long songs, post-rock, breakcore, and those I'd be more likely to enter. Or a rock opera epic if it truly represented a good entry point for the band in question. But for the most part I love seeing them in BJSC, not because of their length or any sort of one-upping contest to enter longer and longer songs but because it represents freedom to do interesting things in music styles that absolutely wouldn't work in a Eurovision setting.

 

also if I'm really not vibing with a long song after a good portion of its length (normally ones that repeat a flat beat without indication of a build) I will check I'm not missing anything in the latter half and say that I'm not voting for that one.

I also answered no to this poll, and I’ve sent several entries longer than 5 minutes before, including one in 2022.

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

 

Okay but if we were to ban tracks over 5 minutes as the poll suggests then you wouldn't be giving them a chance even if you wanted to because they wouldn't be in the contest in the first place.

 

By all means don't give points to songs if you feel that their length brings them down, even if you like the song's concept, that's up to you. But absolutely against banning long songs for everybody.

 

 

Having said that, if I send this then please take this as a sign that I'm trolling. I do love it tho.

Tbf I'm not really calling for a change to the rules, it's just the way I'm framing this question as at the end of the day I'm going to allocate points to the songs I like. Maybe I should have made the poll "do you like long songs in BJSC" so I wasn't taken quite so literal :lol:

 

Of course I do sometimes experience moments where I think "this doesn't need to be that lengthy" when an entry is dragging - but simply seeing a longer song length would not put me off at all, my default reaction is intrigue and hoping that there will be an interesting build throughout. It's a great feeling when it does pay off really well!

 

Just had a scan of my entries playlist and I have sent exactly 20 5 minute+ entries so that's 27.78% of my main contest output to date.

Could we please have a Top 10 longest songs to have ever been sent to BJSC? :o

tbh if I see a long ass song I listen to the first bit, then skip through the song a few times to see if anything interesting happens. In my experience, they tend to drag on a lot and I;m not here for that

If a song can keep my attention despite a long length then it's a good one for me (see: that DJ Sabrina song from last year)

Some songs can do it well! Take Innerbloom :heart: But also there are plenty that do drag on a bit too much for me, especially in a long semi final or final. I do like Rolloland’s idea of splitting up the listening but I also like the social aspect of a listenthrough.

Long songs are definitely not my preference, but I do go out of my way to avoid any bias when I'm listening. Since I'm not actively looking at the playlist when I'm listening, when the next song starts I don't see what the length of it is. By the time I realize it's pretty long, I've already made up my mind whether I'm enjoying it or not. My current BJSC faves playlist on Spotify (351 songs) has only 28 over 5:00 and only 8 over 6:00.

 

Honestly what I can't stand are the songs that are like 4:57. Either be long or don't! [/sarcasm]

Honestly what I can't stand are the songs that are like 4:57

 

Good job no one sent any with that exact length this contest then :heehee: