What would make your favourite song… even better?
Well, sure. There are exceptions… But how about:
Just when you think a tune has reached the end – it gives you a little bit more?
That’s the topic for today. Songs with false endings.
Some of which are more effective than others.
The delineating line can be determined by this question:
Lets get the obvious out the way. Of course The Beatles did it:
The Beatles: “Strawberry Fields Forever”
Faking us out, starting at about 3:30:
Fades out around the 3:30 mark.Then fades back in like a ringing alarm for a little bit more weirdness to enhance its psychedelic credentials. Not exactly essential, but there’s a playful feel that adds something different.
The Beatles Again: “Hello Goodbye”
Fooling us, starting at about 2:42:
At 2:42 it pauses for barely a beat. And comes back to life for a final joyful 30 second coda.
The Beatles Once More: “Helter Skelter”
Scaring us a bit, starting at about 3:40:
Ringo may have preferred it if they’d let it go after three minutes rather than having to continue pounding those drums. Poor guy’s got blisters on his fingers.
ELO: “Mr. Blue Sky”
Surprising us, starting at about 3:44:
If Jeff Lynne couldn’t actually be in The Beatles (not til “Free As A Bird,” anyway,) he could follow their lead. The first 3:44 is what everyone knows as “Mr Blue Sky.”
A track so upbeat that in 2020 Dutch cognitive neuroscientist Jacob Jolij apparently determined this to be the happiest song ever.
The full album track extends past 5 minutes with a slowed down orchestral coda.
In this case, the false ending is even more false, as the coda is essentially a different track, providing the final part of the “Concerto For A Rainy Day” which makes up Side 3 of the Out Of The Blue album.
When re-recording it for a 2012 best of, Jeff missed off the coda. If even the artist has decided it isn’t needed, that answers the question of how essential it is.
Guns N’ Roses: “November Rain”
Throwing us off, starting at about 7:04:
GNR decide that what their overblown epic needs as it comes to an end is another couple of minutes of squalling guitars and a vocal crescendo. When you’re this far over the top, you may as well turn it all the way up to 11.
Elvis Presley: “Suspicious Minds”
Flim-flamming us, starting at about 3:30:
He may be the King of Rock n’ Roll but this is entirely superfluous.
I’m not a big Elvis fan. But I will bow down to the greatness of “Suspicious Minds” (though I prefer the Fine Young Cannibals version. Sorry, not sorry). That greatness refers to the first 3:30 before the anti-climactic slow fade out to silence. Followed by a fade back up for an extra 40 seconds to no discernible effect.
It does provide an example of the false ending giving a convenient marker for the single edit.
Strokes: “Hard To Explain”
Tricking us, starting at about 3:30:
Then there are tracks where the stop start doesn’t just feel tacked on but is integral to the song.
“Hard To Explain” perfects this. Though… is it really a false ending? The suddenness with which the music comes to a complete stop pulls you out of the song with a jolt and on first hearing there’s a sense of ‘Is this it?’ It works so well that the pause doesn’t feel like an ending, it’s an attention grabbing punctuation point.
Queens Of The Stone Age – “Song For The Dead & You Think I Ain’t Worth A Dollar“
Joshing with us, starting at about 4:01:
Two further examples giving evidence to how the stop start technique lends itself so well to a hard rock rock sound. SFTD pulls it off twice whereas YTIAWAD opts for a one off extended stop.
Beastie Boys – “Sabotage”
Goofing on us, starting at about 1:47:
Then, there’s this exercise in delayed gratification. The pause comes pretty early, you’d be disappointed if it ended there. It proves effective, allows for a reset and the guitar to build back up funneling us into the thrilling release of that “Waaaaahhhhhhh!!!”
22-Pistepirkko: “Birdy“
Featherdusting us, starting at about 3:30:
You mean you haven’t heard of the 1982 Finnish Rock Champions? Yes, that is an actual thing.
I could lie and say that I’ve always had an affinity for Finnish alternative rock, but this is a new one to me, too. Its questionable whether it’s a false ending, but they bring the music to a stop 2:00 in, replacing it with a 10 second bird song interlude before getting back to it.
On the basis of this though I’ll be digging into their 14 album back catalogue.
Television: “Marquee Moon“
Duping us, starting at about 9:20:
The 10:38 run time is all the more impressive for the fact that it continually feels like its on the verge of coming to a stop.
After an instrumental break that is longer than most songs there’s a long drag from 8 minutes in where we appear to be rising towards a climax before it calms and closes. Only to restart at 9:20 with another verse. It’s “Marquee Moon.” The longer the better, in my opinion.
The Stone Roses: “I Am The Resurrection”
Bamboozling us, starting at about 5:25:
Another false ending as convenient place for a single edit.
Around 3:45 the single version of one of their best loved songs comes to an abrupt end. At which point the album cut breaks out into an extended psych rock jam that itself comes to a stop at 5:25 and kicks back in for more of the same until it finally comes to rest past 8 minutes.
As a key track in setting their legacy, the full length album cut is the one to play.
Bryan Adams: “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You“
Kidding us, starting at about 4:04:
Four minutes in, Bryan emotes his way to a climax….there’s a pause….they think its all over…..
It was for the single edit but the versions available now if you search on streaming or YouTube bring up the 6:30 cinematic sweep of the full length cut.
The piano tinkles back into action, the guitars ramp up and Bryan’s random interjections strive for epic emotional resonance. For me, after it destroyed all comers in the summer of 1992, spending 16 weeks as UK number 1, the extra two minutes are just more torture.
Roxy Music: “In Every Dream Home A Heartache”
Confounding us, starting at about 4:20:
Not just a false ending, we get a mid-song change of pace that takes off into another dimension.
This live version doesn’t include the false ending – but it’s so worth sharing. In their early art/glam rock phase, they look like they’re from a different planet with Bryan Ferry’s thousand yard stare perfectly matching the other worldly quality.
Then there’s the lyrics which begin as paean to aspirational living before the realisation there’s something far more creepy going on. The synchronicity between the line that brings the first section to a close and the band exploding into life is perfection.
The recorded version fades out from the second half wig out to be brought back to life with added whooshing noises that give the impression of a plane taking off over the top of it.
Billy Swan: “I Can Help“
Annoying us, starting at about 2:40:
Speaking of creepy.
I’d always thought of this as a friendly pick you up: Billy’s there if you need him. Until listening again before writing and this line popped into focus; ‘If your child needs a daddy, I can help’. Now I can’t help thinking that Billy’s motives aren’t wholly altruistic as he attempts to pick up single mothers.
This one comes with not one, but two false endings. Billy is so pleased with it that they tack on prolonged applause and someone shouting for more. So off we go for another flourish, there’s another burst of applause and round we go again. It could have gone on forever but after the second pick up the ‘audience’ decides they’ve had enough and stop asking for more.
Carpenters – “(They Long To Be) Close To You”
Delighting us, starting at about 3:29:
A whole lot more wholesome. At 3 minutes it seems we’re reaching the end only for the vocal harmonies to swoop in on a gossamer wave. A trick it repeats after a much longer pause another 45 seconds later. Which is where the single version ends whereas the album track goes to 4:33.
Wild Beasts: “End Come Too Soon”
Confusing us, starting at about 3:45:
Then there’s the ones with a knowing wink. The song almost fades out at just under 4 minutes but deciding that the end does indeed come too soon, they extend the lush, delicate atmospherics out past 7 minutes.
Car Seat Headrest: “The Ballad Of The Costa Concordia“
Messing with us, starting at about 10:30:
Running aground of a cruise ship as metaphor for the singer’s life. Over 11:30 it goes through several movements, taking pauses only to switch things up, building a head of steam and piling angst upon agony. At 10:30 he finally and repeatedly gives up only for a brief coda out of step with the rest of the song that looks to offer a little hope.
Gene Krupa: “In The Mood“
Rounding things off, a bit of class and a step back in time as Gene shows how to do it. Half the recording is spent threatening to end.
Rather than a pause and a restart this one never quite reaches the end. From around 2:45 in we get continuous rising crescendos and what appear to be final flourishes only for the band to keep bringing it back. Even as the announcer comes in to close the show Gene and the boys are still noodling away in the background.
All of these and a few more are on the playlist.
Anyone have any other favourites… or any that don’t work?
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Well, there’s Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?” for starters … and Fastball’s “The Way,” and the Raspberries’ “Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)” …
The Raspberries I’d only ever heard of through mentions here but Overnight Sensation is a great tune.
Saw the name Fastball which meant nothing until I played it. Gave me a jolt of excitement to get to the chorus and realise that I recognised The Way. 99.9% certain I haven’t heard that since 1998. Got a nice Elvis Costello feel to it. Reached #21 here, their only chart entry. One of those bands that made for a brief but pleasant interlude and disappeared from memory.
Alice in Chains’s “Rain When I Die” has my absolute favorite false ending. In the final 20 seconds it fades out, then comes back in and keeps getting louder and louder before coming to a screeching halt. Executed so perfectly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPTHlmhtg8s
I was never an Alice In Chains fan so don’t know the song but that is an effective short sharp shock of a closing.
Totally devouring this topic, JJ. Awesome idea.
I love the description of the vocals at the end of Close to You as a gossamer wave. So vivid and so true!
I woke up in the middle of the night. I skimmed over the article, planning to read it more thoroughly in the morning. There was a Beatles song false ending running in my head as I tried to fall back asleep, but in my haze, I couldn’t remember which one it belonged to. I figured out which one it was only to realize that Hello Goodbye was already on your list.
Here are some others I came up with in the wee hours. These always happen to be all songs I dearly love.
Driven to Tears- Police- There is that pause after the final chorus where it seems like it’s over and then the driving instrumental happens, which I find totally essential to the song.
What Is And What Should Never Be- Led Zeppelin- It’s not a long pause at all, but it always feels like the song is over and that that guitar cranks up and the gong happens. Should have known. Always wait for the gong. The song is glorious without the end, but the end takes it from a 9 to a 10, so I’d say essential.
Funk 49- I think it’s only on the album version, but after the song fades out, it fades back in again with just a percussion break, different than the one heard earlier. Totally not essential and kind of an annoyance to what was already a complete and perfect song.
Nights in White Satin- The band brings the song to a close, and then the orchestra takes over. To me, it’s a definite false ending, but one caused by the fact that the band and orchestra are taking turns on Days Of Future Passed. It’s not the only time it happens on that album. The song is great with and without the orchestra ending. Can’t decide if it’s essential.
Thanks rb!
Agree with you on Led Zeppelin, that one adds something extra. Whereas Funk49 is a new track to me but I can’t say I felt the fade back in brought anything new.
Nights In White Satin I’ve only ever known as the single edit. This is the first time I’ve heard it continue into the orchestral outro so for me it’s not essential but I can see that if it’s the version you’re used to hearing that it gives something extra. It’s got similarities with ELO and Mr Blue Sky with its orchestral coda that I’d imagine the vast majority aren’t thinking of when they consider the song.
What I like about the “November Rain” outro is it’s a repeating pattern of five measures, not the usual four. It’s just enough to make the whole thing more interesting.
“Songs For The Deaf” is a great album from start to finish and a big part of that is Dave Grohl, especially on “You Think I Ain’t Worth A Dollar.” After that false ending, the rest of the band plays a two note riff. Any changes in tone or color comes from the drums. It’s astounding.
I wonder if Gene Krupa extended the song because the radio show needed music all the way to the station identification at the top of the hour.
Nice job, JJ, and lest you think this topic is finished, it’s only a false ending. I’ve got a similar one coming soon….
I never really appreciated QOTSA til recently but they’re growing on me. The more I hear the more i realise I’ve been missing out.
Look forward to the reprise when it comes around….
Keep this Friday on your mind…
Honestly, the “November Rain” outro is what makes the song worth a damn for me. (Kind of like an inverse of how some of the philistines — PHILISTINES! — in the home base feel about “Hey Jude.”) Without that outro, it’s a drippy noodle of a maximalist Elton John homage. But then comes the darkness, retroactively casting a shadow on what’s come before. The five-measure cycle is one thing, but it’s what they’re cycling that threw me against the wall the first time I heard it. That chord progression took me to places I absolutely wasn’t expecting, and as I look at and play it right now, I realize that it’s all because of a single chord, the E♭ right in the middle. It fits perfectly well with that Cm that we start with in theory, but the rest of the chords around it are a misdirect, so it seems like someone’s set off an alarm the second we hear it. Plus, Slash’s solo is dancing around it beautifully, highlighting notes that aren’t the obvious ones to hit for the chords in question. A masterful way to use a false ending to recontextualize the entire song.
Upvoted for the passionate but methodical explanation of why this one is definitely an essential addition to the song.
I got caught on this one before. When you’re DJ’ing on the radio, you need to be aware of warm or cold intros and outros and false stops. If you’re spinning a track on a CD, you can set the monitor to give you a track length countdown, so you have a visual reference for how long until the end of the song. But when you’re spinning vinyl, unless you’re looking VERY closely at the grooves, it’s easy to get caught offguard.
I often played Heavenly when I was a college DJ, but they still got me once. The song P.U.N.K. Girl has two false stops. The first one happens so early, you know it’s not the real one. But the second one got me once on a live show, and I was stumbling for a few seconds trying to quickly fade-in for a new track.
https://youtu.be/FIyEwA7G8qY?si=MXE2Q4GyCanxBqYz
I hadn’t considered the impact on unsuspecting DJs in this. I’m sure there have been plenty of instances of being caught out thinking a track had ended. I can imagine the panic as your mind wanders safe in the knowledge there’s another minute to go, only to be brought back into sharp focus by a sudden temporary silence.
Missed one! Throw it on the gotcha! pile.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRsoWlYMO-4&pp=ygUbdGhlIGNvbnRvdXJzIGRvIHlvdSBsb3ZlIG1l
Good one!
Whoa! How did I ever forget that one. Well done, @spacecitymarc !
Axis: Bold As Love is my favorite Jimi Hendrix album and “Bold As Love” may well be my bar-none favorite Jimi Hendrix song. The lyrics are unabashedly hippie-dippie but so earnestly, and so openheartedly, that he turns it into a strength, rather than a liability. The Experience is very nearly at its most dynamic, shifting from a simmer to a rev to a technicolor sunburst. And Hendrix’s guitar playing is otherworldly, flabbergastingly lyrical and muscular all at once.
And to the topic in question, the false ending is like a magic trick wrapped in a wink. The whole band has just done everything they can to signal the end of the song: the slowdown, Mitch Mitchell’s fills, Hendrix doing a couple of dramatic up-and-down string slides to punctuate it. And then Mitchell comes in again with a fill that starts tentative and then gains steam while swirling around the stereo pan, and then! AND THEN! Harpsichords! Noel Redding’s bass in double-time overdrive! A key change! A newly reenergized Hendrix just blasting and searing until he fades into the distance but does not stop; somewhere, he’s still playing. Absolute joy and perfection. 10s for days.
Phasers on drums!
They forgot nothing!
I had Bold As Love on the longlist for inclusion but had to stop somewhere. Turns out I didn’t need to as you did a perfect job on it.
Okay, so don’t let anyone tell you that TNOCS synchronicity isn’t a thing. This morning, after not thinking of it for years, that Billy Swan atrocity was in my brain on repeat. That was before reading this column. Hopefully, it is now cleansed from my mind, and I won’t think of it for another 20 or so years.
Weird vibes notwithstanding, this was a fun column, and yet another reminder that the Beatles did so many things first and brilliantly.
At least I’m not to blame for putting I Can Help in your head. Unless you can read my thoughts and knew it was coming. I wouldn’t go as far as atrocity but it definitely went down in my estimation when I realised he’s on the lookout for single mothers. I seem to remember it’s been used a number of times in adverts, the I Can Help message seems to work as an obvious enticement from undiscerning businesses.
Joseph Haydn did a false ending in his symphony #90
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbvqO6e-XIY
Definitely the earliest entry so far. There’s always someone else that got there first.
I think I heard a deejay one time mistakenly believe that Bernadette by the Four Tops had ended and started talking over it before realizing there was more to it.
Another false fadeout favorite is Andy Gibbs’ US Number One (Love Is) Thicker Than Water. Actually, I think the song would be much stronger without Andy murmuring “Li-dee-di, dee-di, dee-di” or whatever it is he does after a beat or two of silence. Great column as always, JJ!
Edging out “I Just Want To Be Your Everything” by just a skootch, I think “(Love Is) Thicker Than Water” is my favorite Andy Gibb record.
Oh yeah, that pause gives Bernadette big pop!!!
Thanks Ozmoe. Listened to Andy Gibbs now as I’m not too familiar with it. Totally agree that it could have done with some judicious editing. The last minute or so doesn’t add anything for me.
Great topic, but I can’t think of all that many beyond some of the songs you named.
Does the “Wam Bam Thank You Ma’am!” part of “Suffragette City” count as a false ending?
There’s also the fake fadeout in “That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore” by the Smiths. And a very brief return to some reversed drums in “Isolation” by Joy Division.
And then there’s the almost-silent filler in a few tracks. “Enjoy the Silence” is a well known example of this. “Svefn-G-Englar” is also padded with some hearbeat-like drums. As an avid creator of mixtapes and playlists, these type of flourishes tend to annoy me, though the more conventional surprise ending is a delight.
That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore is a good one. Doesn’t go for the obvious of coming to a complete stop but the fade out gives the impression it’s on its way out only to keep going.
I listened to Suffragette City several times when I was making my shortlist. There is a definite brief pause around the Wam Bam but it doesn’t feel like a fake ending to me. Maybe it’s familiarity with it that I know what to expect but it feels like a continuation of the song to me.
I think “Suffragette City” falls in the same category as “Black Metallic” – the song *could* end, but you know deep down there’s more to come.
Great topic! The premier example of this for me is Elvis’ “Suspicious Minds”, but you had that covered.
The only other one that came to mind that wasn’t mentioned was Nick Gilder’s #1 song “Hot Child in the City” It’s not exactly a false ending unless you’re used to the single version, which ends at an a capella singing of the title. The album version however continues with Nick yelling “OOOOOH!” and the song continues with a little coda. It threw me off as a kid when I first heard the extended album version. Not sure if that counts…it’s not as good as an example as some of the ones here, but I always remember that one.
The reverse is true for “Get Back.” As someone who mainlined Let It Be, it’s always weird to hear Paul do his little “OOOOOOH” after the third chorus and not go straight to applause and John thanking everyone on behalf of the group. The vamp coda of the single version fakes me out every time.
Had to search out the album version of Hot Child In The City. Found it on YouTube with one of the comments saying the ending was their favourite part (insert own joke here) and why couldn’t they have left it on the single version. Guess it comes down to what your familiar with, I’ve had the same experience of being so used to a single edit that hearing a longer album cut just feels wrong. Or as spacecitymarc has pointed out, after hearing Get Back in its released form for 40+ years, having it structured differently in the Peter Jackson documentary feels like something has gone wrong.
First thing I thought of was https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK6j78mHpRc , the live version of Jonathan Richman’s Ice Cream Man.
This bad boy (at around the 5:50 mark):
https://youtu.be/s9Sgvf_vlDc