You Suffer

"You Suffer" is a song by British grindcore band Napalm Death, from their debut album, Scum (1987). It is precisely 1.316 seconds long.[1][2] The song was written by Nicholas Bullen, Justin Broadrick, and Mick Harris during the March 1986 demo sessions for From Enslavement to Obliteration.

"You Suffer"
Single by Napalm Death
from the album Scum
A-side"You Suffer"
B-side"Mega-Armageddon Death Pt. 3" by Electro Hippies
Released1989
RecordedAugust 1986 at Rich Bitch Studio, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
Genre
Length0:01
LabelEarache
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Digby Pearson

Background and influence

The official four-word lyrics to the song are: "You suffer, but why?". Justin Broadrick said about the song:

"You Suffer" was largely a comedy thing, one-second song. Utterly retarded. It's ridiculous, but it was hilarious. We played that song in front of 30 local kids, like, every weekend. We played that song 30 times. It was a laugh.[3]

Nicholas Bullen, writer of the song's four-word lyrics, said that the brevity of "You Suffer" was inspired by Wehrmacht's 1985 song "E!".[4] The song has since been recognized by Guinness World Records as the shortest ever recorded.[5] "You Suffer" would become an influence on the "noisecore" micro-genre, inspiring many bands such as Sore Throat, 7 Minutes of Nausea, Deche-Charge, Anal Cunt, and others to release full-length recordings of exclusively "microsong" content.[6] Zak Smith quotes the lyrics to the song, which he describes as the "shortest punk song on the subject of suffering (or any subject)" at the conclusion of his memoir We Did Porn.[7] Swedish metal band Opeth has covered the song live.[8] In 2018, "You Suffer" was featured in the HBO television series Silicon Valley in the episode "Chief Operating Officer".[6] The character Gilfoyle uses the song as a notification for Bitcoin price fluctuations, when the price drops below a certain threshold.[9]

Release

In 1989, "You Suffer" appeared on one side of a 7" single given away free with copies of a compilation album entitled Grindcrusher. The song on the other side, "Mega-Armageddon Death Part 3" by the Electro Hippies, also lasts approximately one second, making the disc the shortest single ever released. Each side features one groove at the outer edge of the disc containing the music, with the rest of the surface containing etched writing and cartoons.[10]

To coincide with the release of the Scum DualDisc in March 2007, a music video produced by Earache Records was released for the song.[11] The video shows a girl jumping up and down with fake blood/gunshot effects overlayed on the footage.

References
  1. McPheeters, Sam (9 March 2006). "Extreme Extremeness". OCWeekly.
  2. Rosenberg, Axl. "What Happens When You Slow Down Napalm Death's 'You Suffer'?". MetalSucks. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  3. Kory Grow, "Slaves to the Grind," Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces, Albert Mudrian, ed., Da Capo Press, p. 61.
  4. Grow, p. 62.
  5. Kennelty, Greg. "Napalm Death's 'You Suffer' Slowed Down Is An Exercise In Noisey Futility". Metal Injection. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  6. Camp, Zoe. "See Hilarious 'Silicon Valley' Scene Featuring Napalm Death's 'You Suffer'". Revolver. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  7. Zak Smith, We Did Porn: Memoir and Drawings, Tin House Books, p. 475.
  8. Divita, Joe. "Watch Opeth Cover Napalm Death's 'You Suffer' Twice in Germany". Loudwire. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  9. "Gilfoyle's Horrifying Bitcoin Alert in 'Silicon Valley' Is Real Grindcore". Inverse. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
  10. Grindcrusher page on Discogs.com
  11. "New Napalm Death Videos of Classic Early Tracks Posted Online". Road Runner Records. 13 March 2007. Archived from the original on 16 March 2007.
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