The Diamond Sea, A Merman I Should Turn To Be

The magical long rock song is an elusive thing. A lot of times it’s just a short rock song built wrong, with a half idea stretched too thin. A Chet Holmgren of a rock song. When I’m talking “long” I’m talking over ten minutes. Something that is over ten minutes is kind of by definition epic, but I don’t want a song that is “Bohemian Rhapsody” with another four minutes of fanfare sewn on. I want something that is more patient and is not epic in a narrative way. I want something that is epic that way a mountain is, by dint of majesty. Now that we’ve established that, here are the three best long rock songs of all time.

Jimi Hendrix - 1983. . .A Merman I Should Turn To Be

It’s the drum fills, it’s the intimacy. How do you make a song about a cursed future without sounding kind of like a pompous science fiction vibe? Jimi did it on this song. In one of my proudest moments on the radio I played this late into the night on a Saturday on the Current and encouraged everyone to turn off the lights and crank up the speakers with me. I’ve spoken to a couple people who did it. . .we all had an amazing time.

Sonic Youth - The Diamond Sea

This song is so close to being bad. It is a dirge, it is repetitive, I feel like Thurston Moore’s lyrics are just on the edge of being overly precious. But the totality of the song, the impact of the noisy parts, it adds up to something.

Television - Marquee Moon

I can’t really say if this song plays by any of the rules I talked about above. What I do know is that this is one of the best ways to spend ten minutes. As you come around every corner there is a feeling of each part meaning more, earning more attention and study. The writing of this song and the revelation of this song. I can’t point to many songs that laid the groundwork for some shit like this. What is the song that isn’t Marquee Moon from before Marquee Moon that sounds remotely like Marquee Moon? I can’t point to one.