Fast as a Shark

{{one source|date=October 2018}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Fast as a Shark

| cover = Fast as a Shark.jpg

| alt =

| border = yes

| type = single

| artist = Accept

| album = Restless and Wild

| B-side = Get Ready

| released = {{Start date|1982|11}}

| format =

| recorded = 1982

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Speed metal{{cite web|url=https://loudwire.com/10-speed-metal-songs-released-before-thrash/|title=10 Pioneering Speed Metal Songs Released Before Thrash's Birth|last=Rivadavia|first=Eduardo|date=25 April 2018|website=Loudwire|access-date=7 July 2019|archive-date=9 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220609065054/https://loudwire.com/10-speed-metal-songs-released-before-thrash/|url-status=live}}

| length = {{Duration|m=3|s=49}}

| label = Metronome Music

| writer = Peter Baltes, Udo Dirkschneider, Wolf Hoffmann, Stefan Kaufmann

| producer =

| prev_title = Starlight

| prev_year = 1981

| next_title = Restless and Wild

| next_year = 1982

}}

"Fast as a Shark" is a song by German heavy metal band Accept and a single from their 1982 album Restless and Wild.

Its fast double bass drumming is recognized today as reaching a new level in the development of the subgenre of speed and power metal. The intro to the track is a snippet from a crackly old children's recording of a traditional German tune titled "Ein Heller und ein Batzen" ("A Farthing and a Penny"). The band thought it would make a humorous contrast with their heavy metal sound, and the fact that a young Dieter Dierks (in whose studio the album was recorded) was singing on the recording made it even more of an inside joke. The band soon found themselves in an unintended controversy, however: even though the song dated from 1830, it was a popular marching song during the Nazi era and still held that connotation for many listeners, a fact the band was unaware of at the time. "So out of a funny little idea we created somewhat of a monster", Wolf Hoffmann recalls.

"Fast as a Shark" was ranked number 33 in Martin Popoff's book The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs of All Time.

The song has been covered by Witchery, Helloween, Holy Grail, Rage, Altar, and Destruction.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}