Longest Day, Long Weekend, Long Songs

July 2, 2017 — Every year I look forward to the Summer Solstice, this year on June 21st, the longest day of the year. Why? Because I don’t sleep very well when the sun comes up at 5:30 a.m., and I look forward, at least until it becomes awful on the other extreme, to the days getting a bit shorter. Before you scream at me wanting the daylight after work, consider that I naturally wake up before the sun comes up, so it makes sleeping past 4:00 a.m. very difficult because there is light peeking through that early. Sure, I could get black out shades like a normal person, but then I’d have trouble waking up at all. I noticed the date, June 21, and ever since that day have tried to see I can tell if the days are getting shorter, but I’m still not feeling any difference in the length of the days. So since it is all still the same, at least in my head, I thought we’d celebrate the “Longest Day” with …

long songs.

Long songs are an atypical subject for me because I generally don’t like a song that goes on too long, but the topic made me laugh, and it’s actually not mine. On the longest day, I heard a feature on the classic rock station, one where they were taking requests for long songs. I had so much going on that day that I didn’t actually hear any of them to know their suggestions or the audience’s requests, but the thought of them seemed fun. Is it too late for long songs because I passed the longest day? Could be, but I don’t think so because we have a long weekend, speaking for you folks who have July 3rd off along with July 4th. That’s not me, incidentally. Oh and it was Canada’s 150th anniversary – a milestone and a long time — on July 1st. So I think that’s enough for me to go with this theme —

long songs.

The Internet being what it is, I actually found several lists of the top long songs, rock and otherwise. I’m listing 19 of them from the rock list, mostly because I couldn’t seem to get to the 20th, plus 10 through 19 are heavy on Led Zeppelin, and I’ll take any excuse to play some Zeppelin. Of course, my personal favorite is number 11. So here goes:

19:  In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida – Iron Butterfly

18:  Layla – Derek & he Dominos

17:  Estranged – Guns N’ Roses

16:  Paradise City – Guns N’ Roses

15:  Hotel California – The Eagles

14:  No Quarter – Led Zeppelin

13:  Achilles Last Stand – Led Zeppelin

12:  Master of Puppets – Metallica

11:  Kashmir – Led Zeppelin

10:  Shine on You Crazy Diamond – Pink Floyd

9:  Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen

8:  Jesus of Suburbia – Green Day

7:  2112 – Rush

6:  Won’t Get Fooled Again – The Who

5:  Free Bird – Lynyrd Skynyrd

4:  November Rain – Guns ‘N Roses

3:  Echoes – Pink Floyd

2:  One – Metallica

1:  Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin

Agree? Disagree? Perhaps a playlist? And with that, Happy Fourth of July, Happy Canada Day, and to all for whom those days don’t apply, happy belated Summer Solstice, the Longest Day.

 

Song list: https://www.thetoptens.com/best-ling-rock-songs/