The seven Beatles songs clocking in under 90 seconds
To the delight of punk music hearts everywhere, the Beatles actually recorded quite a few two-minute songs.
‘And Your Bird Can Sing’ is best known for its stingingly intricate electric guitar phrasing as a classic Revolver track. It packs all that punch into two minutes and one second. ‘Baby’s In Black’ is so easy to sing along with that you forget it’s all over in two minutes, two seconds. ‘Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)’ showcased immense growth from the Beatles in just three years, but its 2:05 length ran shorter than their debut ‘Love Me Do’ and its 2:22 of pop majesty.
The Beatles had no trouble compacting melodies and messages into two-minute packages. Some of their songs even went under two minutes, and that includes the connected Side 2 fragments of Abbey Road.
Trying to do the most with the less in their vast catalogue, here are the seven times the Beatles recorded songs that would travel less than 90 seconds.
Seven Beatles songs clocking under 90 seconds:
‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)’ – 1:18
The last song started from scratch during the Sgt. Pepper sessions. It was recorded during the previous session that Paul would be available for the album before its UK release a few weeks later. And in the explorative six months that they took recording the album, this song paradoxically was started and finished in one day.
‘Polythene Pam’ – 1:12
One of three from the Abbey Road Side 2 medley on this list. The lyrics contain only 79 words, but there is a “Yeah Yeah Yeah” not heard since ‘She Loves You’, and also one of George’s favourite Lennon passages: “She’s the kind of a girl that makes the ‘News of the World’ / Yes, you could say she was attractively built.”
‘Mean Mr. Mustard’ – 1:06
Usually, it was Paul McCartney creating fictional song characters, for example, his work on ‘Eleanor Rigby’, ‘Lovely Rita’, Vera, Chuck and Dave’ – but this time, John Lennon tells a short story about an old man who sleeps in a hole in the road. It wasn’t a long song, yet as creatively driven as the Beatles could be, the track took parts of three days in the studio to complete.
‘Wild Honey Pie’ – 0:52
Paul McCartney recorded two solo White Album songs in one day in August 1968: ‘Mother Nature’s Son’ and ‘Wild Honey Pie’. He overdubbed numerous guitars, numerous singing voices and a thumped bass drum onto this spontaneous song captured in one take.
‘Dig It’ – 0:51
A rare songwriting credit to all four Beatles, the impromptu jam was largely paced by John. Recorded in their new studio in the basement of the Apple headquarters near Piccadilly Circus, different versions committed to tape would reach as long as 15-plus minutes. It officially appeared, however, 16 months after its recording as a small snippet.
‘Maggie Mae’ – 0:40
An old folk song in the public domain was captured on tape as the lads were hastily jamming. Think of it this way – it’s the same length as the 40-some-second triumphant final piano chord to close the Sgt Pepper album. Also notable for being the Beatles’ first released cover song since ‘Act Naturally’.
‘Her Majesty’ – 0:23
Famous as the final track on the Beatles’ final recorded album, but actually, maybe not that famous at all. Of all their original albums and tracks (minus speciality repackages), this is the Beatles song with the fewest plays on Spotify, by far, at the time of this writing.
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