The Shortest Song Ever Recorded Is 1.316 Seconds Long

In the aggressive world of extreme metal, a song's impact isn't always measured in minutes. The British band Napalm Death proved this in 1987 with their track "You Suffer." Far from being a mere gimmick, the song is a perfect distillation of grindcore, a genre the band helped pioneer. Grindcore pushes musical boundaries with blistering tempos, guttural vocals, and intensely short song structures, often used to deliver sharp bursts of socio-political commentary. At just 1.316 seconds, "You Suffer" is the ultimate expression of this philosophy, a sonic shockwave that makes its point and vanishes almost instantly.

Recorded for their debut album *Scum*, the song’s entire lyrical content consists of just four words: "You suffer... but why?" This brief, almost philosophical question hangs in the air long after the chaotic noise has subsided, adding a layer of bleak irony to the experience. The track’s microscopic runtime ultimately earned it a Guinness World Record, cementing its place in music history. Despite its brevity, or perhaps because of it, the song has achieved legendary status among fans, has been the subject of its own music video, and remains a testament to the idea that sometimes the most powerful statements are also the most concise.