When it comes to songs, sometimes shorter is better. Songs can vary widely in length, from brief ditties of just a few seconds to epics over an hour long. But for singers looking for a quick and easy song to perform, it is worth considering what the shortest song options are.
What is Considered a “Song”?
To determine the shortest possible song, it is first necessary to define what constitutes a “song.” At a minimum, most people would agree that a song must have lyrics and some sort of melody. It also should stand alone as a complete musical work, rather than just being a short excerpt or fragment from a longer piece.
Beyond those basic criteria, opinions differ on how long a song needs to be to truly count as a song. Music publishers and record companies often use minimum duration thresholds to distinguish what they consider a song versus just an interlude or short track. But in loose common usage, even compositions under 30 seconds might still qualify as songs.
Potential Shortest Published Songs
Based on reviews of officially released singles and albums, as well as research into music publisher requirements, here are some of the shortest song tracks that likely qualify as the shortest songs ever published:
| Song Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|
| “You Suffer” | Napalm Death | 1.316 seconds |
| “Attachment” | Dot Wiggin Band | 1.42 seconds |
| “Be” | Pain | 2 seconds |
| “Flexing” | SKUSTA CLEE | 2.41 seconds |
| “Cycling” | Homework | 3.14 seconds |
“You Suffer” by Napalm Death, from their 1987 album Scum, is probably the leading contender for shortest song ever published. With a duration of just over one second, it packs in a brief blast of speed/thrash metal mayhem. It proved influential and was listed in the Guinness Book of Records for a time as the shortest song ever.
Other near-seconds-long tracks like “Attachment” by Dot Wiggin Band and “Be” by Pain also make plausible cases for being among the absolute shortest songs released. Anything less than 2 seconds pushes the limits of what can even be considered musical.
Shortest Pop Song – “Stay”
In the popular music world, the shortest tracks typically run at least 10 seconds or longer. Among Billboard Hot 100 hits, Soulja Boy’s “Yahhh!” and the Beatles’ “Her Majesty” are often cited as the shortest at around 30 seconds long.
The shortest known top 40 pop hit is likely “Stay” by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, released in 1960. The main section of the song runs 1 minute and 38 seconds, definitely brief for a radio single. The song’s succinct expression of pleading with a lover proved hugely popular, becoming a number 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Shortest Officially Released Song – “Lullaby”
Looking beyond only commercially successful songs, the absolute shortest known musical track to be officially published and sold is “Lullaby” by Mike Batt.
Released in 1976 in the UK as a B-side split single, “Lullaby” runs just 1.56 seconds in duration. It consists of Mike Batt instructing listeners to “sleep” over a minimal piano line.
Despite its extremely short length, it was still officially published as a commercial single. The publisher required a minimum duration of 2 minutes for tracks, so the single was padded out on the B-side with repeated bird sound effects.
World’s Shortest Performable Song
Many consider John Cage’s avant-garde composition 4′33′′ to be the shortest possible performable “song.” First composed in 1952, it consists of 4 minutes and 33 seconds of purposely not playing one’s instrument. The ambient sounds heard during the period of silence comprise the nature of the work.
As a conceptual piece, 4′33′′ has no official prescribed duration. Performers can choose to take any length of time for the period of silence. In its shortest iteration, 4′33′′ could thus be considered a work with no length at all.
Viral Short Song Hits
With the internet’s ability to spread music virally, various exceptionally short songs have emerged online and gained attention as possible contenders for shortest song:
- “The World’s Shortest Song” – Clocking in at 0.6 seconds, this simple chord hit in G major went viral on YouTube as the “world’s shortest song.”
- “D”> – At 0.44 seconds, this track by the band Varien consists of a single note punctuated by a drum hit.
- “Untitled” – Heard in 0.34 seconds, this brief strummed chord on ukulele was posted online as the “shortest song ever.”
These and other similar viral snippets can make plausible cases musically. But unlike officially published singles, their status as true “songs” remains open to debate.
Short Songs on Streaming
With streaming services like Spotify now a dominant platform for music distribution, songs under 10 seconds long have become more common. Brief tracks allow artists to inflate their apparent catalog size and boost streaming numbers.
Examples of some super short streaming tracks include:
- “One Dance” – Drake’s 2016 hit single features a 0.9 sec prelude track.
- “Keychain” – Viral hip hop artist Lil Barnacle has a 2 sec track of computer bleeps.
- “The Atom Seed” – Electronic artist Secede’s 7 sec opening track to the album Tryshasla.
These short streaming songs help pad play counts. But time will tell if any can match the popularity of brief radio hits like “Stay” despite their fleeting length.
Shortest Songs on Albums
Albums feature extremely short tracks more often than single releases. Some examples of diminutive album song lengths include:
| Song Title | Artist | Album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Plus 3 Seconds” | Delia Derbyshire | Electrosonic | 3.44 sec |
| “The Room Tape” | Boards of Canada | Trans Canada Highway | 4 sec |
| “Verspers” | John Oswald | Plexure | 4 sec |
| “Popcorn” | Faith No More | Angel Dust | 4 sec |
These barely-there album inclusions often serve as brief interludes, segues between longer tracks, or incomplete fragments and experiments rather than full songs.
Shortest Possible Song
Given all the above, what then is the absolute shortest possible song by a reasonable musical definition?
Many experts argue a single note is the shortest possible meaningful musical “idea.” Complex tone quality, pitch, and volume can create interest and nuance even in a single note.
Therefore, a hypothetical single-note song as short as one hundredth of a second could be deemed the shortest conceivable performed musical composition.
Conclusion
When it comes to officially released songs, Napalm Death’s “You Suffer” likely takes the crown as shortest at just over one second. Conceptual works like John Cage’s 4’33” and viral online snippets have made cases for even shorter lengths. But by standard definitions, a single note less than a second long seems the shortest musically meaningful song possible.
While a few brief hits have made the charts, very short songs tend to work better as novelties and interludes rather than fully developed compositions. Songwriters and performers are still best served sticking to more substantial song lengths if they want to maximize narrative, emotional impact, and listener engagement through the power of music.