"'''Fast as a Shark'''" is a song and single by [[Germany|German]] [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] band [[Accept (band)|Accept]] from their 1982 album ''[[Restless and Wild]]''.
Its blazingly fast double bass drumming is recognized today as reaching a new level in the development of the subgenre of [[speed metal|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 [[in-joke|inside joke]]. The band soon found themselves in an unintended controversy, however: even though the song dated from 1830, it was a popular [[march (music)|marching song]] during the [[Nazi Germany|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]]''.
