I recently came across a thread on a popular website in which thousands of people debated a simple question: what are the best 5 seconds in all of recorded music,
From that debate emerged ten fairly clear winners. All of them make sense to me. All of them are in genres very well known to and by the Afterword Massive. None of them are particularly obscure. None of them were recorded later than the early 90s.
So, with all of that in mind, I ask you, the Afterword; what are the best 5 seconds in all of recorded music?
A point to anyone who can name one of the ten winning entries. Go!
That’s a tough question. Off the top of my head…
Intro’s – This Charming Man takes some beating for the sheer joyousness of the guitar. Caberet Voltaire’s Yashar (John Robie 7 minute mix) is my favourite sample – “There’s 70 million people in there. Where arethey hiding?”.
Bits in the middle – Jeff Buckley’s Grace has a bit just after the stringy bit (I think after the second verse) where he sings an ooohhh but it may be a mottled scream just is perfect Jeff Buckley (which is perfect music). There is also a bit in Propellerheads version of OHMSS, again, after the mellow stringy bit where there is just a monstrous bass line that kicks in before being joined by drums that I love.
If I had to pick one, its the bit of Se Lest by Sigur Ros where it turns a bit oompah band/possibly polka. It’s beautiful and its funny. My favourite type of beautiful.
And a guess at the winning entries (because none of those I have added above are likely) should include the bit of BoHoRap that Wayne and pals loved and the “whhooooaaaa” after the riff in Sabotage by the Beastie Boys.
I could hear the Jeff Buckley bit in my head just from reading the above. It’s wonderful.
I can confirm that Bo Rap is not on the list. No Queen at all, in fact.
It’s a better list than I was expecting then.
Minus one point to you for this unwarranted Queen slander!
I can live with that. Although Don’t Stop Me Now as an absolute banger I must admit.
I should have added above, my personal choice for Jeff Buckley would have been the 5 seconds at 4’30 of Lover You Should’ve Come Over when he sings “all my blood for the sweetness of her laughter” and the backing vocals pitch unexpectedly upwards. Magical.
That whole Propellerheads album is fantastic – an amazing sounding thing all round
No idea, but I’d happily go with this as the peak of the wah-wahing lead guitar solo from Peter Tosh on Stir It Up
or this as the crest of JIm Hunt’s sax solo on I’m Comin’ Down by Primal Scream
It’s probaly BoRap or something like that. Plus something from Led Zep – probalbly Whole Lotta Love.
I love both of these. No Zep either.
All of recorded music? Then possibly something by Chuck Berry or Jerry Lee Lewis – classic rock’n’roll (As I’m in an Andrew Hickey kind of mood).
The Rolling Stones were great at this…
The organ break at the end of Jumpin’ Jack Flash.
The klaxon at the end of Street Fighting Man.
The sax break before the final chorus of Honky Tonk Women.
There’s yer 15 seconds right there!
This is the closest so far.
Merry Clayton’s voice crack in Gimme Shelter and Jagger’s ‘Yeah’?
Ding ding ding!
This was in 9th place on the list. I’m going to quote the actual submission because it’s pretty good stuff:
“The bit in Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones when the session vocalist absolutely obliterates the “rape, murder” line, her voice cracks and you can hear Jagger going “Woo!” in the background”.
You found that one quick. Nine more to go….
Keith Moon’s thunderous drums followed by Roger Dalrey’s defiant scream in WGFA
This is a great one, but it’s not on there.
“TEENAGE BREAKDOWN” from Daltrey according to the Hep.
Two intros:
Drum crack and guitar at start of Teenage Kicks
Duff/on purpose guitar note on White Man In Hammersmith Palais
For me it’s the bit in the live version of Crosseyed and Painless on the vinyl release of The Name of This Band is… (crminally edited from the CD release) where the slow groove of the intro transforms into the massive all-in riff of the original recording with two clicks of the sticks. I still find it exhilarating every time.
It won’t be on the list.
out of context it doesn’t work as a five second thing but (and i’ve said it before) around *here* https://youtu.be/dVNdTXEJv1A?t=190 there’s the build up that’s been there the last 20 seconds or so and William Orbit does his magic thing and there’s that sound in the background that could be anything, just a single note ringing in the background. Why it’s magical.
(link isn’t giving a preview – it’s from Pure Shores by All Saints)
It’s not on there, but this is a great answer. One of those moments where a big of magic dust is sprinkled to elevate a song from pretty good to great.
Pure Shores is one of those tracks that, when it comes on the radio – or more likely when I’m playing one of my holiday/car/party CD compos – I HAVE TO turn up to 11. It’s pure pop joy.
Dylan’s “How does it feel”?
“Play fucking loud”, surely?
No Dylan on the list. Democracy fails us, yet again.
“Help, I need somebody”?
Are you quoting a lyric or is this an actual cry for aid? Cough twice if there are people there with you and you feel threatened.
Must be some Fab Four in there?
Gratifyingly Beatles-free.
wow, I’ve been going through thinking surely that initial drum hit from Like A Rolling Stone is on there
5 seconds maximum – ok I’ll have a punt:
Hard Day’s Night intro chord
“Dee-Duh” from Are ‘Friends’ Electric?
Wibbly noise + Hey! Hey! Hey! – Firestarter
Tainted Love brace of keyboard stabs
“You came like a comet….” The Whole of the Moon
The Firestarter one is a great shout. Breeders and Art of Noise slung together into something far greater than the sum of its parts.
Regrettably, none of these are on the list, although I suspect the Waterboys one would do well in an Afterword-only vote.
I thought the Hard Day’s Night one was a dead cert… oh well.
The ‘wibble’ on Cars by Numan is a perfect first 5 secs before the synth riff kicks in.
Yes, the brief wibble and the three rapid drum strokes – a perfect 5 seconds of tension.
I was about to say AHDN opening chord. Will go with the first few seconds of Anarchy in the UK
Isaac Hayes doing whatever he does with his keyboard at 15:27 on his monumental version of “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” off ‘”Hot Buttered Soul” – runs to just about 5 seconds too.
The feedback intro to I Feel Fine
The end chord of A Day In The Life
The 1-2-3-4 lead in to the “The highway…” in Born To Run
The “when you’re gone…” key change in the chorus of SOS
I don’t personally understand how the 1-2-3-4 from BTR isn’t on this list, but lamentably it isn’t. Nor are any of the others.
I would also add the “Hey-ey Bay-bey” into the closing sax solo on Dancing In The Dark. What a sensational outro.
The first guitar line after 20s of amp warm-up on Another Girl, Another Feedback.
Winner winner chicken dinner
(shirley)
Start Me Up – opening few seconds
Three Little Birds – keyboard riff
“I don’t think so!” – Gonna Make You a Star
Every 1’s a Winner – main riff
The second half of the Heart of Glass intro – about 8s of disco drum machine, then 5s of the band, then Debbie Harry.
The guitar in the fade of Blondie’s Rapture.
Gilmour’s guitar figure announces itself in Shine On You Crazy Diamond
The drum fill in In The Air Tonight
Double ding ding ding!
In at number 6…
“Shine On You Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd when the four iconic notes are being played for the first time”.
In at number 10…
“The right answer is the drum fill in “In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins.
Well played, sir.
Some others from me that aren’t on the list, but should be….
2’53 on New Slaves by Kanye West – three minutes of tedious ranting falls away, there’s a drumroll and a sample of Gyöngyhajú Lány by Omega takes us quite unexpectedly to the promised land.
5’17 on Purple Rain by Prince – he drops the falsetto on what is already the most imperious-sounding Pop song ever recorded. A track you thought was already in its highest possible gear finds another gear still.
1’53 on Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinead O’Connor – “tell me baby – where did I go wro-oh-oh-ong”. Chills, ever time.
0’40 on Baby I Need Your Loving by The Four Tops – the first time they hit those vocal harmonies.
0’15 on Break On Through by The Doors – Shock and awe as they drop the chorus 15 seconds (15 seconds!) in, and what a chorus.
The first 5 seconds of Welcome To The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance.
Sorry but the AfterWord Committee (average age 68) has slapped a Cease & Desist order on this so-called thread – no Beatles, No Dylan: the very idea. You should be ashamed !
Don’t blame me, blame the exquisite good taste/deplorable ignorance of the voting public, as applicable.
The committee IS blaming you! Nobody on here looks at whatever social media Tik-X-Insta you found this pubescent poll on. Cease, desist!
Minus 1 point to Lodestone for suggesting I would go anywhere near Tik Tok, X or Instagram. Blecch.
When the drums come in at the start of Smells Like Teen Spirit?
I mean, it should really be number one, but it’s not there at all.
My eldest progeny is currently learning to play this track on the drums. I am delighted, my neighbours less so.
No, it’s when Bonzo’s drums kick in on Stairway to Heaven.
When The Levee Breaks, for me.
How about the 5 seconds of drum machine on the start of Blue Monday?
The ‘yesss’ after the prolonged guitar note on Taboo, Santana III.
The first dip into the baroque of Ray Manzarek’s organ on Light My Fire.
Creep when Johnny does his thing.
Surprisingly, not on the list.
The synth kicking in at the climax of Virginia Plain.
“IT’S CHRIIIISTMAAAAASSS!”
I love this post because it’s making me imagine the synth kicking in on Virginia Plain and then Bryan Ferry unaccountably bellowing “IT’S CHRISTMASSSS” 😂
I’m led to understand that it’s his festive party piece round at Ferry Towers.
Skip ahead to 4.35. Like with my Pure Shores thing above, it’s tiny. It’s just a ‘woo’. There’s 8 ‘You know what Some Might Say’s and then the ‘Woo’, and it’s just great. Tony McCarroll is still the drummer, they’ve had one big album and the previous singles have done alright, but the parent album for this song is a few months away yet, except clearly they have high hopes.
This is them kicking down the doors to the big time.
‘Woo’ indeed.
Blimey, I’ve never actually noticed that before.
i don’t know much about dance music but it’s not unlike that thing where there’s a build and a drop.
There’s 8 things repeated and the ‘woo’ and then, like coming back up off a bungee cord, we’re snapped into a guitar solo outro. It just ‘works’. I think that might be part of its charm.
If we’re talking great “Woo’s” in music, this is the best I’ve ever heard – at 1:44, but needs to be heard in the context of the whole track:
2.09
Ahh that is indeed a great ‘woo’
The stuttery drum pattern and guitar riff at the heart of Promised You a Miracle (just checked and they start with it) – always the second time when the drums come in.
dodododo dooo do
3 seconds of silence (maybe 2.5 Spotify doesn’t do less than a second) and ‘There Ain’t No more’ 2 mins 20 into Come Up and See Me.
Best silence.
Also another great moment in Born To Run of course.
Beat me to that, @moseleymoles. Superb!!!
The silence in Come Up And See Me is a huge shout. Not on the list.
Some other favourite silences (also not on the list):
The false start in Waiting Room by Fugazi
Hard to Explain by The Strokes, builds to a crescendo then stops on a dime
March of the Pigs by NIN
Chop Suey by System of a Down
Sad But True by Metallica
Never Tear Us Apart by INXS
Monkey Wrench by Foo Fighters
Sabotage by the Beastie Boys. Also Intergalactic.
The false end on Marquee Moon
Another fave – the three or four second silent pause after the amplifier hum and sound of a VCS3 waking up that precedes the opening chords to 21st Century Schizoid Man. Just enough time to crank the amp up to neighbour-frightening levels.
Good one on Cockney Rebel. I love the bit at the end of the first verse of Mr. Soft where he goes “ooh la (drum tap) CHA”. Theatrical bloke Steve Harley.
The talking Guitar bit in Jimi Hendrix’s “Rainy Day Dream Away”
I’ve been obsessed with this one for most of my adult life. It’s just pure joy, and the album has already achieved escape velocity by that point. It’s off into space!
I love Hendrix so much.
We’ve not really gone into drops, demographic on here and all that.
The monster keyboard riff that happens 2 mins 20 into Insomnia by Faithless after all that tense rapping and screwed-down beats. Just a moment of complete release.
I can confirm that there’s no EDM and no Hip Hop on the list.
I’ve been thinking about why this is. Most Hip Hop tracks don’t really build to peaks – the closest they tend to come is the first beat drop, but then you get the beat for most of the track so it’s a little less of a “moment”. You reach the top of the hill, but you don’t come back down.
Take, for example, Biggie’s Juicy – you get the spoken word intro, that wonderful “It’s all good ba-by ba-by” and then one of Hip Hop’s greatest beats, nicked from Juicy Fruit by Mtume. But it’s not really a “moment”, it’s just the track starting.
Likewise, EDM is full of absolutely monster drops, but they’re sort of priced in. You know they’re coming, they don’t often just fall out of the clear blue sky – if you understand the lexicon of the genre you can more or less predict when they’re about to happen. Whereas something like Merry Clayton on Gimme Shelter just completely knocks you on your ass the first time you hear it. It doesn’t have to be there, it just suddenly and unexpectedly is.
There are obviously exceptions to the rule, but that’s how I’m interpreting that lack of music picks from those genres.
Also: Insomnia is a great choice. Not just the first time the synth line drops, but when the hyper-adrenalised drums then kick back in with it.
If you’ve not come across The Field and his trickery then can I suggest this for knocking you on your ass. You absolutely have to listen to the end and it’s all about the last 5 (maybe 8 seconds) when all is revealed.
Yep that’s a banger. I love The Field.
My favourite drop is in Ian Dury & The Blockheads What A Waste when the music falls into an abyss.
The intro to Tutti Frutti
The intro to Be My Baby
“I’m HERE to REMIND YOU”
The Be My Baby intro would make my list, but it doesn’t make the internet’s.
How about the “ewww” in Easy? Although it’s only about one second.
I don’t wanna lose your love (HORNS!)
I don’t wanna lose your love (HORNS!)
The guitar line entry on Pull Up To The Bumper
Sly and Robbie establish the groove for 2 repeats then
Car horn
Wooh
Mu-huh
Synth stab
Guitar line (wikipedia won’t confirm who’s playing, as two guitarists are credited)
80s production perfection
“diddle-iddle-liddle-liddle” is, I think, the guitar line of which you speak.
When Elvis starts the ‘uh dontcha know’ s in Suspicious Minds.
When Marc Bolan starts the ‘yeah yeah yeahs’ towards the end of Metal Guru
Jeff Beck’s “train whistle” guitar at the start of Yardbird’s Train Kept a’ Rollin’…
Smoke on the Water? Not the actual riff but there’s a bit of guitar (I really can’t explain it) a bit like a solo before the riff comes back in, about half way through. Not listened to it in about 40 years, mind…
might be a wee bit longer than five seconds but the drum into and opening chords of Yes by McAlmont and Butler
From about 10 seconds in on Voodoo Child
It’s a shade over 5 seconds, but the lead in to the first chorus, where McAlmont absolutely wellies “have you forgot/whatever it was that you couldn’t stand/about me/about me/about me/baby”, while all the strings and guitar have a glorious little party behind him is about as thrilling as music gets.
If it has to be five seconds, maybe just boil it down to the wondrous phrasing of “What-ev-er it WAS that you COULDn’t stand” and a couple of “about me”s.
What a track.
WHAT – is – THIS, that stands before me?
I am as god made me, sir.
Also: great shout.
But also: not on the list.
The opening riffs of Layla and Superstition?
Both classics, but both riffs, rather than 5 second peaks.
It won’t be on the list but that opening ‘WEE-EE-EE-EE-EE-LLLLL…..’ on Lulu’s Shout does it for me every time. Clocks in at exactly 5 seconds too.
I’ve got a feeling that if you did a UK-only version, this might be up there.
I should hope so!
Both sides of the split single featuring Napalm Death doing You Suffer on one side, and The Electro Hippies doing Mega Armageddon Death Pt. 3 on the other?
https://www.discogs.com/release/17983360-Napalm-Death-Electro-Hippies-001-Etched-7
Bowies ‘one damned song makes me break down and cry’ in Young Americans? Voodoo Chile c32 secs in when Jimis guitar erupts?
The Hendrix would make my personal list, but people are vulgarians so no dice.
Opening riff of 21st Century Schizoid Man…? Or Smoke on the Water? Or Whole Lotta Love?
Nope, nope and nope. All good suggestions though.
OK – a few clues to help out with the remaining 7 entries:
Two of the remaining songs are tracks with iconic riffs.
Two of the remaining songs are pre-1950
One is a superb opening
One is the arguably most broadly recognisable snippet of music of all time
One is a case of mistaken identity
Satisfaction?
Imagine?
That one by The Kinks? You know it. Or that other one by them.
Nelson Riddle’s swell in I’ve Got You Under My Skin?
Johnny Be Good intro by Chuck Berry?
In the mood by Glenn Miller?
Take 5 by Dave Brubeck?
G’n’R?
Nope. I feel like there’s a moment in Paradise City that qualifies though.
Glen Buxton’s riff on Schools Out..
Sadly not.
“And Then He Kissed me”, the intro?
Also part of God Only Knows, probably the “ah, ahhh, ah” break
A lot of these have had me scratching my head as to how they didn’t end up on the list, but no – neither of those.
LL Cool J – Mama Said Knock You Out
Specifically when the opening Sly sample stops, there is a brief pause before LL shouts ‘Don’t call it a comeback’ and the Funky Drummer beat drops.
Very exciting.
Back on answers that could make the list:
Stop! In the name of love.
Start with the chorus.
‘superb opening’
And my guess for a pre-1950 song
The intro to In The Mood (Glenn Miller).
Do the first chords of beethoven fifth count as a song – certainly in with a shout (western audiences) as the most recognisable music of all time.
Recently at a concert for undeer-11’s (work) and this was used for demonstrating musical theory.
And I love the theory that Beethoven needed three notes for this, John Williams only two for the Jaws theme (also not a song but a shout for a great 5s).
Strikes me that would certainly be in with a shout for being ‘arguably most broadly recognisable snippet of music of all time’. The motif is four occurrences of two notes, one of which is repeated three times.
Ding ding ding! We have a fourth winner.
“The opening of Beethoven’s Fifth.“
Hard to argue with, when you think about it. There is one other classical music piece on the list, but the music itself arguably isn’t as famous as the unconventional instrument being played along with it.
‘Unconventional instrument’? Well that rules out my first three thoughts which were:
The opening clarinet notes in Rhapsody in Blue
The ‘dum dum dum dum’ rhythmic break in Rite of Spring after all that shapeless tentative noodling in the opening minutes
The thump of the tympani in THAT opening of Also Sprach Zarathustra as heard in 2001 A Space Odyssey..
Oh and then there’s Bernard Herrman’s music for the Psycho shower scene, but that’s all on very conventional strings. Nope; I’m stumped.
Probably not on the list but the bass break in the middle of “You Can Call Me Al”. (Actually a bass break and then the same break run backwards, I discovered a while ago!)
This was high on the list, but not in the top 10. A great musical moment.
The Daltrey scream on won’t get fooled. again.
The opening keyboard motif on Simon and Garfunkel’s America
Opening acoustics guitar on Leonard Cohens Suzanne.
Probably not there, but …
Clive Burr’s drum roll on Run To The Hills
Topper Headon’s drum rolls on Safe European Home
The breakdown and drum return on Brimful of Asha
John Lydon’s raspberry at the end of EMI
The guitar intro and breaks on the live version of The Kinks – I’m Not Like Everybody Else
The dog’s barks on Dylan’s Every Grain of Sand
‘You know I’m born to lose
And gamblings for fools
But that’s the way I like it baby, I don’t want to live forever
And don’t forget the joker!’
Yes!
The bass and drums kicking in on either ‘Caroline’ or ‘Down Down”
Yes yes!! I’d go for ‘Down Down’, I think.
The second and final guitar break at the end of Time is Tight by Booker T. & The MGs.
I know! It’s 3:32 – 3:37 in Nowhere’s Nigh by Parts And Labor where the key changes and the fizzing keyboards come in, isn’t it?
Certainly one of the most thrilling five seconds in music I know
but play fair, you have to watch the whole thing to get the effect