3 Short Classic Rock Songs You Wish Were Longer

Short classic rock songs are not rare. And though many artists began challenging the limits of radio-oriented song lengths in the 1960s, the new experiments by Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and others didn’t entirely relegate short tunes to history. Moreover, some songs are so short that you wish they were longer. And in the mixtape era, one might be forced to record a track multiple times on a cassette to avoid the madness of rewinding the tape. So let’s look at three brief ones that could have kept going.

“Polythene Pam” by The Beatles

John Lennon’s punk banger appears on Abbey Road. It quickly disappears in a brisk one minute and 13 seconds before merging into Paul McCartney’s “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window”, with Lennon’s distorted chords echoing Pete Townshend’s early mod riffs. “Get a dose of her in jackboots and kilt / She’s killer diller when she’s dressed to the hilt,” Lennon sings between George Harrison’s punctuating guitar licks that soon give way to Macca’s tale.

“You Really Got Me” by The Kinks

Speaking of bangers, The Kinks’ garage rock staple helped lead the British Invasion while also foreshadowing heavy metal and punk. A blistering riff propels Ray Davies’ yearning tune, which was originally meant to have a relaxed jazz groove. However, his brother, Dave, heard it another way. “You Really Got Me” became a blueprint for fuzzy guitar riffs, and the fleeting arrangement dares you not to put the track on endless repeat.

Girl, you really got me going,
You got me, so I don’t know what I’m doing now.
Yeah, you really got me now,
You got me, so I can’t sleep at night.

“Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin

After Jimmy Page had opened Led Zeppelin’s second album with the world’s greatest guitar riff, “Whole Lotta Love”, he attempted to match it on the band’s follow-up. “Immigrant Song” opens Led Zeppelin III with a galloping riff that offered a map for future legends like Soundgarden and Rage Against The Machine. Robert Plant howls a Viking war metaphor to describe his band’s own world domination. But before you know it, John Bonham’s drum cymbals fade out, and the track is over. Hammer of the gods.

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