I was listening to The Beat earlier and fell in love again with their version of Tears of a Clown. Made me think this is one of those songs that has a final burst of energy (when Ranking Roger joins in). Puts the cherry on the cake.
So tell me – what other songs have a crackin’ coda or a fab fade-out? The post-coital cigarette moment thot tells you that the previous three or so minutes were pretty fantastic? What other tunes hit their straps in the final furlong? What other platter puffs out its chest at the finishing line?
Do I make myself clear?
Hard to narrow it down… but I’ll go for every single Beatles’ 45 62-66… and by the second minute of about the fifth they’re conquering (properly, not pretend) America.
Quick question: do any Rock ‘n’ Roll records (proper ones, not pretend ones) ever go beyond about 2:30?
I got one of those 5cds-in-a-box jobs for next to nothing a few years ago… Gene Vincent (Golden Age, obvs… also-rans need not apply)… and I’m not sure anything clocked in over about 2:20.
Kubrick knew how to edit too – Paths of Glory = one of them boring wars in 86 minutes… job done Mr. K.! – we have a lot to thank Stanley for. A real hero.
Hope nobody says Hey Jude…..
The Beatles used to mess about after the three minute mark, expecting George Martin to edit out the nonsense in the fade. Especially so on Lennon songs. Sometimes, Martin, who had a Goon sense of humour, left it in, even developed them further.
My personal favourites are I Am The Walrus and Hey Bulldog.
Lots. For example, Chuck Berry’s Sweet Little Sixteen was 3:04 (No Particular Place To Go, You Never Can Tell and Johnny B. Goode are also over 2:30), The Contours’ Do You Love Me was 2:53, Dion’s The Wanderer was 2:47, Jerry Lee Lewis’ Breathless was 2:44, there’s a lot more than you’d think
I thought you were being a bit offhand/lazy there to begin with but I think you have a point. Generally a really strong ending in those singles apart from Love Me Do and I Feel Fine, which seems to just drift off. She Loves You’s last 30 seconds is incredible.
I suspect the definition of “proper Rock ‘n’ Roll” may be an issue. Unchained Melody (if that counts) seems to go on for a hell of a long time, but it probably just feels like it. They say that the length of a song was determined by the amount of song you could get on a 7” single – but my theory is that by the time we got to the late 50s, they bashed out two-minute songs because that was the minimum they could get away with. Time is money and all that.
This is why established big-selling artists favour longer songs mainly because they can now have as much time as they need without some bloke tapping on his watch at the Brill Building because they’ve only got a couple of hours of studio time.
New Order – The Perfect Kiss (the full-fat 12″ version).
‘Singer’ Bernard shuts up after about 4 minutes, and the final 2 and a half minutes build and build until a chorus of frogs and sheep take over. I’m not really selling this, am I?
Great example. Know the track very well. Shorter versions fade out at the frogs – which is missing out the best parts of the song.
Similar period New Order “Lonesome Tonight” just builds and builds after Bernard stops singing until it finishes with almost a deep sigh of exhaustion
At the risk of derision, is this not why Stairway, Freebird and Hotel Cali became so ubiquitous? Ok, so we pretend not now to like them, but they are the holy trinity of such records.
We’re allowed to like them aren’t we? I like two of them. Never liked Stairway to Heaven and yes I’ve heard all of it many, many times.
We talking Led Zep or Neil Sedaka?
I do quite like Neil Sadaka but no, I’m referring to Led Zep.
I like the coda on Derek and The Dominoes Layla
I Am The Resurrection, natch. And I like the way Suspicious Minds appears to fade out then comes back in again in a “ha, fooled ya” stylee.
See also White Punks on Dope by the Tubes.
Surely Mr Blue Sky, with its unexpected return of chugging guitars segueing into piano and strings arpeggiated flourishes and ending with an entreaty to turn over, must be a contender!! Disappointingly this is not included in the the otherwise excellent muppet version below.
Purple Rain
An absolutely amazing song that somehow finds an extra gear at the end; Prince’s majestic falsetto accompanying us all on a journey to and through the stratosphere. Let’s Go Crazy is also pretty great.
New Slaves
Three minutes of merely pretty good beats and mediocre rhymes from Kanye, followed by a sudden drumroll and a minute or so that is quite simply the best thing he, or virtually anyone else, has ever done: Kanye and Frank Ocean duetting over a sample of Gyöngyhajú lány by Hungarian folk band Omega.
How the hell this came together in his head, we may never know. Why he decided to Chuck it away on an outro, we may never know. But no other song I can think of goes from 0-60 on the outro like that, and no other outro contains a major artist’s actual best work.
Here’s Lou Reed (of all people) on New Slaves:
“But musically, he nails it beyond belief on”New Slaves.” It’s mainly just voice and one or two synths, very sparse, and then it suddenly breaks out into this incredible melodic… God knows what. Frank Ocean sings this soaring part, then it segues into a moody sample of some Hungarian rock band from the ’70s. It literally gives me goosebumps. It’s like the visuals at the end of the new Superman movie — just overwhelmingly incredible. I played it over and over.”
That, Sir, is a superb choice and I am gonna play Yeezus in its entirety later..
🙌🙌🙌
Having used a swirling, murky, rockified version of a traditional Irish tune throughout the song, after the final chorus of Dearg Doom, Horslips suddenly fire up the traditional pipes, whistles and bodhran, and raise the volume for a folkified coda of the selfsame tune. Brilliant and bracing.
A trick Oysterband have used many a time to add flourish to the end of many their songs.
Paul McCartney “Take it away”. After the last line “Faded flowers, wait in the jar. Till the evening is complete” the song really takes off – sustained “ah” from Macca, Linda & Eric Stewart and the horns kicking in to the fade.
Presumably George Martin, as the producer, was also responsible for the arrangement.
(Danny Baker, when he reviewed the single for NME wished it could be longer)
Bit like Carpenters’ “Goodbye To Love” – scads of harmonies and freakout electric guitar as it fades.
Shame on you BC 🙂 for not mentioning Depeche Mode’s New Life… with the verses & choruses out of the way, each Mode joins in one at a time into 4-part harmony, before exploding into a “whoah!” and a whole new synth lead and descending bassline going into the fade… sophisticated stuff for synth-pop in 1981!
Very Twist and Shout isn’t it?
Also – Personal Jesus “proper” stops at about 3.20 but on Violator you get a lovely extra 90 seconds or so.
https://youtu.be/uSiSVlgAwMI
I’m not sure if My Girl by The Temptations qualifies exactly, but the return of the vocals after the middle eight, that is just heavenly I think. The middle eight is a really clever key change, and returning in a higher key pushes the vocals into the stratosphere. I’m biased, as this is one of my favourite records ever.
It’s one of the greatest records ever made. An unbeatable middle eight and the lyric “I got so much honey the bees envy me”. Pure fire.
I don’t think there’s a middle eight per se, but I agree that the key change brings the whole thing up nicely at the end, as they are indeed designed to do.
I always reference Funeral Pyre as a great song ending. Buckler and Foxton just tearing it up. Basically reminding Weller that it’s not all about him…
Hence the shared credit (and Rick’s only songwriting income)
My Jam choice, more predictably is Down In The Tube Station, where we get the end of the song, then the tube train leaving sound effect, then the very brief but very sweet return of the instrumental coda.
Wilco’s She’s a Jar. Last line is like a lyrical bomb going off and completely changes the meaning of the previous 3 minutes
Honeycomb by Deafheaven. The opening section is all vicious black metal riffing and indecipherable screamed vocals of the kind the AW loves so much, then at about three or four minutes some lovely classic rock guitar runs come in, and after another few minutes the whole thing shifts down into a glorious extended woozy shoegazy coda that is exactly the sound of summer evenings fading into purple twilight and the scent of honeysuckle on the warm breeze
Not quite the same, as it hints of the promise in the extended version, which, IMHO, then slightly disappoints, but the fade of Blondie’s Rapture, that barely a bar of incandescent guitar, that’s good.
Power pop at its finest, but then around the 2:10 mark, just when you think you know where it’s going to go, it takes you somewhere else completely, before building to a crescendo. A great song to hear live.
The last part of Steely Dan’s gorgeous ‘Blues Beach’ hits a blissful groove with backing harmonies and irresistible tune driven by whip crack band all the way to the fade.
They have form for this. Same sort of thing across the last two minutes of ‘What A Shame About Me’. Muted horn stabs across a stone groove, man.
For me, the fade out of Brooklyn Owes The Charmer always gets me wishing it would just go on and on
Kennedy by The Wedding Present has the most glorious last 2 or 3 minutes or so.
Sir sir sir, the correct answer is Overnight Sensation by The Raspberries. At least three really good bits at three apparent endings, from 2-59 onwards (the point at which a radio friendly single was supposed to end). There’s even a hidden extra really good bit at around 5-27, when we hear a bit of the band’s actual hit, Go All The Way.
Also from 1974, and also with a false ending at 3 minutes and a bunch of really good bits, is Beach Baby Beach by First Class. You get the fade for radio, the Pachelbel canon ending, the big riff return, and then, finally, the melodic nod to Let’s Go To San Francisco by The Flowerpot Men, aka John Carter also aka First Class.
The coda on ‘Lions’ by Dire Straits. Funky and eerie blues licks to fade. Cool as absolute fuck.
The last choruses of Beyoncé’s “Love on Top” are impressive, as it modulates up a semitone with each repeat.
The obvious (can’t believe it hasn’t been mentioned yet) is I am the Resurrection by the Stone Roses.
The less obvious but favourite of mine is Jigsaw Falling Into Place by Radiohead. It just lifts to new heights in the last stretch. Gets me every time.
Your incredulousness, unbeknowst to you on any conscious level, was in fact warranted.
The Tubes – White Punks On Dope throws in a full choir behind the chorus, after the solo section, then fades out, before pausing momentarily and fading right back up again.
Retropath2 and I already discussed this at some length, above.
In Every Dream Home A Heartache. Bryan Ferry merely sets the scene for the wondrous Phil Manzanera solo, heavily treated by Eno and pushed to extreme by Paul Thompson’s drums, as if screaming under a railway bridge as the train thunders by.
“Freak like Me” by the Sugababes when it does the mash-up of “Are Friends Electric?” over the slow fade out. Pop was great around the early 2000s.
The Rolling Stones’ Can’t You hear Me Knocking is a classic game of two halves. Three minutes of pretty straightforward Stones riff-based song and then a complete gear change as they blast off into a glorious final four minutes of funky freakout.
See also 100 Years Ago, although that one starts as a Stones ballad.
Keith at the start – then Mick Taylor at the end.
Love this one live.
Ooh, and the last minute of Sweet Thing – Reprise when the tinkly piano and the mellotron start fading and that filthy swooshy feedbacky guitar bit comes in and it speeds up and goes a bit Sister Ray!
Prince has form with this kinda thing. Aside from PR, there are ace guitar-fuelled wig-outs on Gold, The Holy River, Let’s Go Crazy…
Starless by King Crimson is a long, long build towards one of the mightiest crescendos in music; mellotron, bass and guitar all turned up to 11!
– Consolation Prize by Orange Juice
Not a musical shift as such, but the lyrical shift from third to first person in the coda of Galahad by Josh Ritter always knocks me for 6 (fab animation in this video too):
I love the piano ending on this “full version” of Level 42 “Leaving me Now” Video starts “at the end” as it where;
World Machine – bloody love that album.
You know what Moose I think you’ve just chosen tomorrow’s work journey listening. Haven’t listened to Level 42 for ages 👍
People talk about Mark King and his triffic bass playing but another aspect to Level 42’s sound is how Mike Lindup’s falsetto works into the songs. It’s very distinctive.
Good cop/bad cop. A bit like Chris and Glenn.
Surprised no one has mentioned Layla yet
Also off same album Bell bottom blues, better song IMO
Beatles I want too (She’s so heavy) is cracking at the end too. Was Clapton also on that one?
I did up there, but go nitto responses so assumed it was a duff suggestion.
I’ll take the piano and slide guitar coda over the main body of the song
Ah sorry missed it. I agree with you it’s the best bit. Wasn’t Eric’s either, was Jim Gordon
Or Rita Coolidge.
https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7318951/rita-coolidge-layla-memoir-delta-lady-eric-clapton-derek-dominos/
Hi folks, thought I’d chip in with a perennial favourite coda from Scritti Politti – never knowingly undersold by me – Brushed With Oil, Dusted With Powder.
…and breathe
I love that song.
I seem to post Easy by the Commodores rather a lot for one reason or another…but the last-minute key change just before it fades out is a brilliant way of bringing you back from wherever you’ve gone.
Yes.
Strawberry fields forever?
Somebody posted the Candy Flip version of that on Facebook the other day and was genuinely taken aback at the (entirely justified) pasting it got, including my own “At the time I genuinely preferred Jive Bunny”
Magical Mystery Tour. I think it’s the blue album version where the trippy piano outro is a bit longer. That is a great thing. Also Lovely Rita, the improvised vocalising over the psychedelic groove and the perfect ending.
One trick I’ve always liked, is where various elements of the song mesh together in the fade:
Candlewick Green. Who do you think you are (verse & chorus)
Fortunes. Storm in a teacup (“pitter patter” & verse)
Baddiel & Skinner. 3 Lions (“it’s coming home” & chorus) – which always reminded me of Sparks Reinforcements
I came back to this thread to double-check no-one had mentioned this track, and I can’t believe it didn’t instantly come to mind for me… one of those outros that actually takes up half the track, it’s the album version of The The’s “Uncertain Smile”, with Jools Holland’s jaw-dropping piano solo starting at 3’25” – Jools says it’s still the single performance he’s most asked about…
Could easily have Giant from the same album as well. This is a good shout.
You are correct of course @metal_mickey This is fantastic and I never get tired of listening to it. I recently realised that the producer of the Soul Mining album Paul Hardiman was also the producer of Rattlesnakes. How did he follow up this great CV as a producer – by producing a string of Chris de Burgh albums including the horrific Lady in Red. A serious fall from grace.
I had a very well-used copy of Low growing up, and there’s a very, very quiet voice at the very end of Subterraneans. It seems to say “Dance” – but I don’t always hear it.
Is it a g-g-ghost?
A test of your esoteric record knowledge, pop-pickers:
“Could I do one more, immediately?” is faintly heard at the end of which final album track by whom?
No idea. Stab in the dark – Peter Gabriel?
Pachyderm Chat by Queen Scarlet?
Moz says something like that at the end of I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish.
It’s Robert Fripp, right at the end of “Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part Two”.
He asks? I would have thought, “We’re doing one more, immediately” was more Fripp’s style.
Pixies – Number 13 Baby is very good – wanders off into an extended coda which goes completely against their usual slow-fast-slow-fast shouty shouty stop style (this is not a criticism).
Also – and it may be a chestnut, but who cares – Ian Bairnson’s wonderful guitar solo on Wuthering Heights. It’s a great record anyway, but that just nails it. Similarly, No Regrets by the Walker Brothers and Goodbye to Love by the Carpenters (hello Tony Peluso).
This?
OK, it won’t appeal to all, Simple Minds do Shakey, but I quite like it. But Charlie Burchill delivers a late winner in extra time.
I really like that. I lost interest in ver Simps but this cover versions LP might be worth a crack.
Incidentally, there is only one Shaky / Shakey as far as I’m concerned and he’s dressed in denim from head to toe.
It’s very clear.
The Canadian one – Shakey
The Welsh one – Shaky
If you struggle to remember, imagine the “eeee” as part of Neil’s whiny vocals.
Sorry, whiney.
Shaky and Shakey – “Live at the Green Cellar Door”
…..and Merry Christmas Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere.
In Stevie Wonder’s “Love’s in Need of Love Today”, the main body of the song sort of comes to an end at about 5:36. But does Stevie finish there? He does not. He carries on improvising, with little noises and subtle vocalisations, for the remaining one-and-a-half minutes of the song. It’s great!
ACR’s traditional end-of-set banger. After a couple of minutes it turns into a percussion workout.
My second favourite ACR album….