The Longest Song You Ever Heard

Moonchild from Crimson's debut. It just seems to go on for ever. Then I learned how to edit songs that I was burning to another CD. The album improved fivefold. 

darqdean wrote: Alvin Lucier's Long Thin Wire (1977) - one performance from a shopping centre in Albuquerque was broadcast continuously and uninterrupted live on FM radio. It lasted 5 days (before the inhabitants of Alburquerque finaly cracked and told them where the secret plans were kept ). I've never heard that, but I have rigged up a replica of the long thin wire in my garden on several occasions - the longest single 'performance' I've recorded lasted 60 minutes.   I was going to say Whale Song, but apparently that is a half-hour phrase that repeats continuously and can last for several days. The only version I've heard was on one of those nu-age relaxation CDs - I think I lasted about 5 minutes before I punched the eject button.   My inital (prog) response was going to be Green Carnation, but reading the posts about Oldfield's Incantations got me reaching for the CD - my copy has 4 seperate tracks.

Incantations is only split into separate tracks the way Thick as a Brick or Remember the Future is--A single track had to be split into sections of about 20 minutes in order to accommodate vinyl records.

For me the longest ive heard is A Pleasant Shade Of Grey by Fates Warning (about 53 minutes)

Although, I have heard of a song that is 7 hours long.  I'll try and find out what that song is

could the wat of the worlds be considered 1 song? if so, I'd go for that. ....              unless Der Ring Des Nibelungen (14hrs opera by Richard Wagner) would count. I have tried sitting through the whole thing in one blast on two occasions,  I made it to 12hrs both times

Jethro Tull..thick as  brick

if it is one song, thats my longest as well.

Technically, Tales From Topographic Oceans is all one song in four movements.  About 82 minutes there.  Don't think I've heard a longer song.

I've got a song that is 8 hours long.  It's basically a bunch of feedback recorded onto hard drive.

Edited by Flip_Stone - March 06 2007 at 13:02

Well well well, this is a fascinating read, love the comment about Nitsch and the slaughtering of live animals on stage....... probably not really my cup of tea either, but maybe only an animal being slaughtered could produce the exact sound that the composer was after? Anyway, not that being long is anything to praise a piece of music for, size isn't important, it's quality that counts. Even so, I feel compelled to list the longest tracks that are definitely progressive rock which reside in my collection.........

"Like The Surgeon" from Delirium Cordia by Fantomas.......................... 74-19
"The Girl Who Was Death" from album of same name by Devildoll...... 66-08
"Sacriligium" from album of same name by Devilldoll............................. 58-56
"De Mortuis Nil Nist Bomim" from Heretik Volume III by Nathan Mahl....54-00
"Mei" from Mei by Echolyn................................................................................49-33
"Hostonaten" form Hostonaten by Finisterre Project.................................41-21

The first three on this list contain long moments of silence/near silence, so not sure they can really count. I don't own "The Sacrilege Of Fatal Arms", the reworking of Sacriligium, but evindently from posts further up this thread, it is far longer than the original work.
The Nathan Mahl track really is all one continuous piece so for my money that is the true winner from my collection.

After these come quite a lot of tracks that are 30-40 minutes long including the following.................

Chemo by Garden Wall                                        34-05
Sweey Hope Suite by Salem Hill                        33-53
The Truth Will Set You Free by Flower Kings   31-01
All Of The Above by Transatlantic                       30.59
The Ikon by Todd Rundgren                                30-24

There is also the quite dreadful live version of Nantucket Sleighride by Mountain clocking in at  31mins 50 secs containing one of the very worst guitar solos I've ever heard in my life (Leslie West has to be one of the most over-rated guitarists ever to have lived)
After that, anything under 30 mins is positvely short!

For my money, Garden of Dreams doesn't really count as it is split up into 20 odd sections, but it is three seconds short of an hour (allowing for/including  the short gaps between tracks).

I seem to recall there was an experimental piece by Brian Eno using loop tapes which were all of slightly different lengths and the piece would be complete once they all reached their starting points simultaneously (i.e the first point of absolute repeat when the opening few seconds are an absolute repeat of the beginning.
As I recall this was supposed to take an inordinate amount of time, hundreds of years as I recall, but I cannot be absolutely sure of this.




Edited by baldy flapstick - March 03 2007 at 17:49

live version of Dazed and Confused