Musically Inclined

M and I have come to the belief that most artists today don't know a) how to finish their songs and b) when to finish them either.

I am a big fan of Prince. I've enjoyed his music from the early 80s on. However, the vast majority of his songs are between 1 and 2 minutes too long. He lingers. He gets lost in the guitar strokes and carries them well past when they are viable. And he's not alone.

I can't tell you how often I get the inkling to flip the station after about 3 minutes of a song. I'm not saying these are bad songs; quite the contrary, many of today's songs I find quite worthwhile and filled with meaning. But the artists drive that point home with one two many repeats of the refrain, one too many guitar, drum, or keyboard solos, or way too many nonsense lyrics, grunts, and moans.

I'm not a big fan of the Beatles, or Elvis. I respect them, of course, but just never found their music or their points to be relevant to me. However, especially their earlier stuff, was tight. It was succinct. It made its point and then they ended it. Same with the early Motown stuff.

Music in general had this opinion -- no song should be longer than 3 minutes, and 2 minutes is often better. There were many reasons for this, but it came down to playing as much different music on the radio as possible during the day. Shorter songs meant more songs could be played.

In the late 60s and into the 70s, this changed. You started having songs like Bohemian Rhapsody and artists like Pink Floyd, The Who, and Led Zepplin that crafted operatic albums with lengthy songs. Soon, artists of all genres were stretching what it meant to be "radio-friendly."

In the 70s and especially the 80s (and now), the new class of artists that were studio/album only performers started to become more popular to both the labels and to the audience. These artists didn't have to tour, so there was no real need to make songs that fit into a live performance venue.

Now, don't get me wrong, there are plenty of lengthy songs that I find perfectly enjoyable and like listening to the entire song no matter the length. November Rain is about 8 minutes long, and I enjoy it all. The aforementioned Bohemian Rhapsody is about 6 minutes long. Prince has a number of his (older) hits that are long and enjoyable (Purple Rain) or short and to the point (Baby I'm a Star). But these kernels are found amidst a plethora of chaff.

Ultimately, I'd like to hear more songs on the radio that, by minute 2 or 3, I'm not reaching for the tuner to see what else is on.