The Three-Minute Song
The tradition of the three-minute song dates back to early recording formats like the 78-rpm phonograph records and their ability to only contain 3-5 minutes of music per side before the needle would reach the end of the groove. Flash forward to radio and their use of these formats to play songs which further engrained the three-minute song into our minds.
So, even though technology evolved—especially these days with everything being digital—that pop song sweet spot still sits in that three-minute range. But here we aren't talking about a range. We're looking at songs that run for exactly three minutes (we will allow for a second or two on either side due to fade outs and such).
Songs like...
"We Are The Champions" (Queen)
Queen's classic 1985 Live Aid version of the song is maybe more popular than the album single, but that one clocks in at over three minutes (thanks to the extended drum run at the end). The OG version however: three minutes on the nose.
Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody (Official Video Remastered), Queen Official
"Something" (The Beatles)
This George Harrison contribution to the Abbey Road album clocks in at a cool 180 seconds. It was the first Harrison composition to become a Beatles A-side.
"Stand By Me" (Ben E King)
If you had 89 minutes to spare, you could watch the classic 1986 film Stand by Me one time, or listen to the great Ben E King song Stand by Me 29.6 times.
And while we're talking songs/movies...
Kingmidas911, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
"Oh, Pretty Woman" (Roy Orbison)
The movie that made Julia Roberts a star is 119 minutes long—which is equal to 39.6 listens of the Roy Orbison song from which the film got its title.
Bruce Tuten, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
"The Tears Of A Clown" (Smokey Robinson & The Miracles)
In 1979, British ska/new wave band The Beat did a cover of the song that clocked in at 2 minutes and 39 seconds—however, the OG version by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, that one is a sweet three minutes.
Unknown authorUnknown author, Wikimedia Commons
"Midnight Rider" (Allman Brothers Band)
You might've assumed this song was longer than three minutes because pretty much every cover version of the song has landed in the four-minute range (even Gregg Allman's re-imagined version he put out on his first solo album).
However, the original version—the one released as the second single from the Allman Brothers Band's second studio album, Idlewild South—that one is a sweet three minutes.
ebay itemimage, Wikimedia Commons
"Penny Lane" (The Beatles)
Originally intended to be part of the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, The Beatles released "Penny Lane" as a stand-alone single when the record company demanded something new from them. It would eventually find its way onto the US release of the Magical Mystery Tour album.
The Beatles - Penny Lane, The Beatles
"I Kissed A Girl" (Katy Perry)
Talk about a life-changing three minutes: it's the song that sent Katy Perry on the path to one of the most successful female artists of all time. "I Kissed A Girl" spent seven weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and has been recognized as the 10th best-selling single in the 21st century.
Katy Perry - I Kissed A Girl (Official Music Video), Katy Perry
"You Should See Me In A Crown" (Billie Eilish)
"Bad Guy" might've been the worldwide hit that truly made Billie Eilish a music superstar, but her three-minute long debut single "You Should See Me in a Crown" let us all know that this teenager was a force to be reckoned with.
Billie Eilish - you should see me in a crown (Official Video By Takashi Murakami), Billie Eilish
"Pinball Wizard" (The Who)
The Who's rock opera double album Tommy is not your typical music LP—featuring 24 tracks, half of which are under two minutes or over five minutes long. But among all those songs taking us along the path of Tommy Walker becoming a messianic figure is the three-minute long, to quote Cash Box, "sensational" "Pinball Wizard".
Jim Summaria, Wikimedia Commons
"Basket Case" (Green Day)
Green Day's 1994 album Dookie was a mega hit and a decade-defining album. And we aren't saying that had anything to do with the length of the songs...but two of the singles they released—and two of their all-time most popular songs—just so happen to clock in at three minutes long.
Starting with the second single, "Basket Case"—which Rolling Stone magazine, in 2021, called the 150th greatest song of all time.
And followed by...
Green Day - Basket Case [Official Music Video] (4K Upgrade), Green Day
"When I Come Around" (Green Day)
The fourth, and final, single released off of Dookie was "When I Come Around"—which became the band's second best-selling single of the 1990s.
Green Day - When I Come Around [Official Music Video] (4K Upgrade), Green Day
"Honky Tonk Women" (The Rolling Stones)
Some of the Stones' best songs are quite long ("You Can't Always Get What You Want" (7:28), "Sympathy for the Devil" (6:18), "Angie" (4:33)), but that doesn't mean they didn't write a bunch of great tunes more radio-friendly in length—one of them being the chart-topping "Honky Tonk Women".
"Crazy" (Gnarls Barkley)
There was no escaping this three-minute long song in 2006 (not that you would've wanted to, though). This uber-catchy Gnarls Barkley track was a hit in the United States and across the pond as well. In 2009, Rolling Stone ranked "Crazy" as the best song of the decade.
Chris Hakkens, Wikimedia Commons
"I'm Only Sleeping" (The Beatles)
Time Out London named "I'm Only Sleeping" the 12th best Beatles song of all time.
The Beatles - I'm Only Sleeping, The Beatles
"If You Want Me To Stay" (Sly And The Family Stone)
Sly Stone was famous for holding onto masters and constantly remixing and re-recording songs right up to the last moments—and so there is at least one alternate take version of "If You Want Me to Stay" that clocks in at 2 minutes and 40 seconds. However, the version that made it onto the album—the version we all listen to most—that one is a cool three minutes.
"Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" (Jim Croce)
The last single released while he was still alive, Bad, Bad Leroy Brown was also Jim Croce's only number one hit. The song earned Croce Pop Male Vocalist and Record of the Year Grammy nominations as well.
ABC Television, Wikimedia Commons
"Earth Angel" (The Penguins)
Yes, the song the band (with Marty) are playing when his parents finally kiss for the first time on the dance floor in Back to the Future. The original version by the doo-wop group the Penguins (not Marvin Berry & the Starlighters ft Marty McFly) is exactly three minutes long.
Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images
"Beautiful Things" (Benson Boone)
Benson Boone's beautiful three minutes topped the charts in 19 different countries and hit number two in the United States.
Benson Boone - Beautiful Things (Official Music Video), Benson Boone
"I Won't Back Down" (Tom Petty)
Tom Petty's great 1989 album, Full Moon Fever, had lots of great songs on it. But only a few came in right around that three-minute mark—"I Won't Back Down" (the first single released off of the album) being one of them.
"Our House" (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)
In 1969, Graham Nash was living with Joni Mitchel. After eating breakfast at a deli one morning, Mitchel bought a vase from an antique store. When they got home, Nash told Mitchel, "I'll light a fire. Why don't you put some flowers in that vase that you just bought?" An hour later, "Our House" was born.
Tony Morelli, Wikimedia Commons
"That's Life" (Frank Sinatra)
Although recorded by everyone from Aretha Franklin to Lady Gaga—it's Frank Sinatra's 1966 version of "That's Life" that is the most iconic. And it fades out just a few seconds after that three-minute mark.
William P. Gottlieb, Wikimedia Commons
"Build Me Up Buttercup" (The Foundations)
We assume there is a group of folks like us who can't hear this song without thinking of the movie There's Something About Mary. Are we right?
Billboard Magazine, Wikimedia Commons
"I'm Still Standing" (Elton John)
Both Elton John's original album version—and Taron Egerton's take in the animated musical Sing (as the voice of teenage gorilla Johnny)—come in right at three minutes long.
Elton John - I'm Still Standing, Elton John
"Humble" (Kendrick Lamar)
Before he was destroying Drake in his raps, he was winning Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, and Best Music Video for his three-minute long "Humble", off his fourth studio album back in 2017.
Kendrick Lamar - HUMBLE., Kendrick Lamar
"Dancing In The Moonlight" (King Harvest)
We specifically put the King Harvest version here because that's the one that hits the three-minute mark. The original version by Boffalongo comes in at 3 minutes and 10 seconds, while Toploader's version tops out at 3 minutes and 52 seconds.
Dancin' in the Moonlight - King Harvest | The Midnight Special, The Midnight Special
"Treasure" (Bruno Mars)
Every song on Bruno Mars' second studio album, Unorthodox Jukebox, clocks in between two and four minutes long (perfect jukebox lengths, by the way)—but only one sits at that three minutes on the nose that we're looking for: the album's third single, "Treasure".
Brothers Le, Wikimedia Commons
"(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher" (Jackie Wilson)
Have three minutes and need a little pick me up? You can't do much better than Jackie Wilson's "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher".
"Cruel Summer" (Taylor Swift)
It would've been quite surprising had the biggest pop star of the decade not had a great three-minute long track on this list. Well, everything is right in the world again, because Ms Swift's song "Cruel Summer" runs for three minutes.
Taylor Swift - Cruel Summer (Music Video), Pop World
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