The ten best songs under one minute long

Life is busy these days, so when you manage to get some well-earned free time, it’s important to use it wisely. You could, for example, invest a spare ten minutes listening to King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s song Crumbling Castle (2017) or Taylor Swift’s All Too Well (Taylor’s Version) (2021).

Alternatively, you could listen to these ten songs, each less than a minute long, and each a masterpiece in brevity.

1. Meant for You by the Beach Boys (1968)

Brian Wilson may have taken more of a back seat on Beach Boys albums following the abandonment of his magnum opus Smile, but he was still capable of coming up with extraordinarily beautiful music.

At just 39 seconds, Meant for You is over in a flash, but it’s a flash of Wilson’s genius.

2. Black Nails by Tierra Whack (2018)

Seemingly in defiance of its running time, Tierra Whack takes her time on Black Nails with the slow, relaxed keyboard solo taking up almost a third of the song before the vocals come in.

I could have chosen any of the tracks from Whack’s 2018 album Whack Life, but this is perhaps the one where she makes the best use of the super-short format.

3. My Mummy’s Dead by John Lennon (1970)

John Lennon fans in 1970 were a confused bunch. The year began with their idol still a Beatle (he had, in fact, quit in September 1969, but it was kept quiet), and still sporting the long hair and beard from the Abbey Road album cover.

By its end, The Beatles were officially no more, Lennon had shaved his head, and had released the soul-baring album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band complete with f-bombs (Working Class Hero), denouncement of his former band (God) and literal screams of anguish at his childhood trauma (Mother).

The final body-blow comes via final track My Mummy’s Dead, which, through its 51 seconds of simplistic, stripped-back, devastating music, signalled that Beatlemania was officially over.

4. Song of The Century by Green Day (2009)

The opening track of Green Day’s epic album 21st Century Breakdown, Song of the Century’s primary function is to set the scene (and tone) for what’s to come.

But it’s a fine song in its own right, with the lo-fi production making Billie-Joe sound like he is singing to us through a transistor radio we’re desperately trying to keep tuned in.

5. Boa Constrictor by The Magnetic Fields (1999)

Just before the start of the century that so troubled Green Day, American indie band The Magnetic Fields released the spectacularly ambitious album 69 Love Songs which contained, yes, you’ve guessed it, a whopping 69 tracks spread over a near three-hour running time.

Among the many tracks are a few delightfully understated vignettes, including this one, with Shirley Simms taking lead vocals.

6. Abide With Me by the Thelonius Monk Septet (1957)

I almost excluded this track – the first on 1957 album Monk’s Music – for it being an instrumental, but in the end decided it was simply too good to leave out.

With only the horn section of the septet playing, Thelonius Monk himself doesn’t appear, but John Coltrane does, which means at least one jazz legend is present and accounted for. Now forever associated with the FA Cup final (having been played before every one since 1927), this version knocks spots off any other I’ve heard and is a fittingly brilliant interpretation of one of music’s truly beautiful melodies.

7. Trouble by Eminem (2024)

You could be forgiven for thinking Trouble was just another of Eminem’s skits. But it’s actually a bonafide song, and one which tackles the dynamic between Eminem and his alteregos Marshall Mathers and Slim Shady head-on.

Although the track does begin with the spoken-word set-up so familiar from his skits, it soon moves into rap. The Slim Shady alter ego launches one of his most offensive tirades yet to deliberately get himself, Marshall and Eminem “cancelled”. This one’s not for the faint of heart.

8. The News (A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Microsoft) by Deltron 3030 (2000)

At the dawn of the new millennium, while other hip-hop artists rapped about money, women, and violence, Deltron 3030 (comprised of Del the Funky Homosapien, Dan the Automator, and Kid Koala A) had their eyes on something altogether different: a dystopian hip-hop space opera set over a thousand years in the future.

This vignette comes midway through the narrative and sees Icelandic singer Hafdís Huld delivering a spoken word piece in her native tongue over a drum and harp backing track. It’s as spectacular as it sounds.

9. Night Scented Stock by Kate Bush (1980)

Appearing toward the end of third studio album Never for Ever, Night Scented Stock is Kate Bush at her ethereal best.

With her wordless layered vocals seeming to joust with one another as they soar and fall, this is the perfect palate cleanser before the final two tracks.

10. 50% by Grandaddy (2006)

Almost the polar opposite of Night Scented Stock, 50% is a distorted, in-your-face, assault on the senses, where singer-songwriter Jason Lytle challenges himself to write a song with “Fifty per cent less words”.

Less than what, exactly, remains unclear as the song comes to an abrupt end, but it scarcely matters. And yes – the song’s running time is technically 1m 02s, but who’s really counting?

Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.

Glenn Fosbraey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.