After writing about the shortest songs of The Beatles, we now come to take a look at their longest songs. Considered here are those that go for no less than six minutes. Easily, this makes “Carnival of Light,” which goes for approximately thirteen minutes and forty-eight seconds (13:48), the longest among all of The Beatles’ songs. However, this song is an unreleased experimental piece (instrumental).
Another song, “Christmas Time (Is Here Again),” was six minutes and seventeen seconds (6:17) long when The Beatles originally recorded it in 1967. The released version (as B-side of the “Free as a Bird” single) of this song, however, was shortened to three minutes and three seconds (3:03).
Let’s now proceed to what really are the shortest songs of The Beatles, and here are the top 5:
Fifth Longest: “What’s the New Mary Jane” – It is said that, in some respects, this song is similar to the longest song of The Beatles. It was originally recorded on August 14, 1968 and was intended for inclusion in the album The Beatles (also known as The White Album); that did not happen though. Overdubs for the song were later recorded (by John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono) on November 26, 1969. The song was finally released as part of the Anthology 3 album on October 28, 1996. It goes for six minutes and twelve seconds (6:12).
Fourth Longest: “It’s All Too Much” – This is one of the songs of The Beatles written and sung by George Harrison. It was recorded in 1967 and is included in both the albums Yellow Submarine (released in 1968) and Yellow Submarine Songtrack (released in 1999). Although the length of the complete version of this song is eight minutes and ten seconds (8:10), the released version runs for only six minutes and twenty-eight seconds (6:28).
Third Longest: “Hey Jude” – This song, written by Paul McCartney, was recorded by The Beatles on July 31, 1968. It was first released as a single (with “Revolution” on the B-side) on August 26, 1968. The song was later included in three different compilation albums: Hey Jude (released on February 26, 1970), Past Masters Volume 2 (released on March 7, 1988), and The Beatles 1 (released on November 13, 2000). At the time of its release, the song was considered the longest single ever to top the British charts. The album version runs for seven minutes and five seconds (7:05), while the single version is six seconds longer, at seven minutes and eleven seconds (7:11).
Second Longest: “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” – Yoko Ono was said to have made some creative contributions to the composition of this song, which was written by John Lennon. The Beatles recorded it in 1969 and was released on September 26 that same year as part of the album Abbey Road. The song is considered an unusual Beatles composition for a number of reasons, but mainly due to this one: Only 14 different words were sung in a song that goes for a whopping seven minutes and forty-seven seconds (7:47).
The Longest: “Revolution 9” – This song was primarily written by John Lennon, with some input from George Harrison and Ringo Starr. It was recorded by The Beatles between May and June of 1968 and was released on November 22, 1968 as part of the album The Beatles. With a length of eight minutes and twenty-two seconds (8:22), this song is the longest Beatles track ever officially released.
The John Lennon-composition “All You Need is Love” was first performed by The Beatles on Our World (the first live, international, satellite television production broadcast on June 25, 1967). That live version of the song went for six minutes and fifty-four seconds (6:54). However, the single version, which was released on July 7, 1967, goes for only three minutes and fifty-seven seconds (3:57), while the album version (on Side 2 of the Magical Mystery Tour album) is even shorter at three minutes and forty-eight seconds (3:48).
Sources: Wikipedia, “List of The Beatles songs” (and all pertinent links) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Beatles_songs
