Songs that end badly...

[bill5]

If there's one thing I never understood it's when musicians can't figure out how to end a song. For starters I never liked the fade out...but that's still better than some I've heard where it really sounds to me like they went "hey shouldn't the song end now? "Yeah but I don't know how, uhh, just keep playing." For example, Chicago - After all that we've been through. Also McCartney on LIsten what the man said - it's not even an ending so much as a segue into another song, forcing the radio edit into an awkward break point.

 

Others?

 

[Ivan May]

 

 

I have always liked the song Have You Seen Your Mother Baby, however, the song has a rather lazy ending to it what with the random guitar feedback at the end.

[jazzpiano88]

I've modeled endings off of "Think", the Blues Brothers version, that has the band play a rehearsed unison line, especially when you have horns.   Always well received as a sentence and punctuation mark.

 

It's not hard, just takes planning and communication.

 

[AnotherScott]

I love the ELP song "Trilogy," but the blues riff ending just seems so wrong to me...

[Tom Williams]

14 minutes ago, AnotherScott said:

I love the ELP song "Trilogy," but the blues riff ending just seems so wrong to me...

Amen to that! 

Bitch's Crystal is my 2nd place winner for a "Why'd you do that?" ending.

The ending line to "Officer and a Gentleman" gets honorable mention; even the meter is unnatural.

Also, Emerson was not very impressed by the Pirates ending "Gold drives a man ...  ...  to dream." 

[weegeebored]

The song that immediately came to mind was Wicked Game by Chris Isaak. One of the most sensual songs ever written has this odd, somewhat abrupt ending, with lyrics that seem to be written for a different song.

[Shamanzarek]

Robin Trower dropped the ball on a couple of songs that might still get airplay if he hadn't ended them the way he did.

 

"Day of the Eagle" is a great riff-rock song. The song rocks for about three minutes and then shifts to a slower tempo and jams on a fragment of the intro riff for a few minutes.

 

"Too Rolling Stoned" similarly starts out with a cool Hendrix-like intro. After less than three minutes of a good rockin' song it shifts gears to a slower shuffle and jams for about five minutes before fading out.

[o0Ampy0o]

ELP really blew it going into a different direction with that ending of Lucky Man…….. (said in total sarcasm).

 

Maybe the worst ending that comes to mind is Marvin Gaye’s Mercy Mercy Me (the Ecology). It isn’t a good way to end the song. Even worse it sounds unnatural like they were using samples on tape the way digital samples are used. 

 

Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb fades out too fast right after its peak when David Gilmour starts riffing similar to how he played on Have a Cigar. I have never heard Gilmour on numerous commercial and bootleg live recordings or anyone covering it continue with what was on the original studio recording. Same goes for countless note for note tutorials. Many/most songs need to grow on you over time with repeated listening. The beginning part was just OK when I heard it the first time but that second lead section was amazing from day one. They just cut it too short.
 

I always changed the station if they played the instrumental which ended Layla. To me it is boring and repetitive. 

 

To me Robin Trower’s Day of the Eagle ending showcases one of Trower’s strengths. He has taken flack for making a career exploiting one Hendrix-esque riff. On the other hand he has had a knack for beautifully melodic flourishes. You could say those were also inspired by Hendrix. Hendrix sort of originated that classical guitar inspired style in a big Rock context. I much prefer how Trower approached it overlaying beautiful melodies. He did that on many of his songs and they were my favorite parts. 
 

Now a great ending is pre-Perry Journey’s Of A Lifetime. The song has that melodic hook, teases, builds to a peak then perfectly lands the rocket with a swoosh, (not to be mistaken for the familiar Rock bang!). Neal Schon has been high on the list of musicians who play with heart and soul. He began with masterful control of his emotions. He has changed as evinced with the reported band conflicts and even in that Journey over time band. In the videos of their live performances he seemed distracted as though he was somewhere else phoning it in. He had to focus in order to play like he did in the pre-Perry Journey.

 

Also, CSN&Y on Deja Vu have a song Everybody I Love You. I only like the ending of that song. 
 

Another direction of this ending theme is making a whole song out of the ending of a different song in process which is where Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir came from. They had some song which ended with the Kashmir hook and someone in the band thought it was good for its own song. 

 

 

 

 

 

[time4jazz]

I would say Hey Jude is a top contender, though technically I’m not sure if I’ve ever made it to the end … or if it even has an end. 

[stoken6]

9 hours ago, bill5 said:

I never liked the fade out...

Sometimes there's no other option. How can you convincingly end "What a fool believes?" (We've had a thread about this in the past).

 

In the spirit of a recently finished season: how do you end "All I Want for Christmas" without a fade?

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Stokely]

Heh, for some reason I remember riding in the car with my dad when Michael Jackson's "Wanna be starting somethin" came on...and that ending with the "mama say" line, I think I counted 26 times.  Didn't bother me any but it did him, he was into 50s rock and folk    Same for the ending of Message in a Bottle.
 

I thought this thread was going to be about live covers and what happens when you don't know how to end them...when we used to play "Give Me Back my Bullets" with our old drummer, we'd be going on the riff but for whatever reason he could not bring us into an ending smoothly and sometimes we'd just....continue...with him back there with a helpless expression on his face  

For some reason the first ending that popped into my head is the sax solo at the end of Soundgarden's Room a Thousand Years Wide.  Love the heavy riffs in the whole tune and this jarring (IMO) poppy sax solo just flies in at the end...

 

 

 

 

 

[bill5]

8 hours ago, o0Ampy0o said:

ELP really blew it going into a different direction with that ending of Lucky Man…….. (said in total sarcasm).

 

Interesting, what you say with sarcasm I say with conviction.   Diff strokes!

 

Quote

Maybe the worst ending that comes to mind is Marvin Gaye’s Mercy Mercy Me (the Ecology). It isn’t a good way to end the song. Even worse it sounds unnatural like they were using samples on tape the way digital samples are used. 

Agree on that one. Yeah that voicing at the very end kinda creeps me out. A simple fade out earlier would have even been better.

[bill5]

7 hours ago, stoken6 said:

Sometimes there's no other option. How can you convincingly end "What a fool believes?" (We've had a thread about this in the past).

I suspect if you hear them do it live you'd have your answer   And that's what gets me. If they could come up with a way to do it in concert, why not on the album?

 

The Beatles were great about this. Most of their songs they knew how to end. I recall few if any fade outs. When did all this fade out bit begin anyway? Was that a 70s thing?

 

Re the song at hand, I can think of several ways...

 

[bill5]

I thought of another one, though a tamer example, in Donald Fagen's "Snowbound." what's up with the cymbal clash at the end? It's like the drummer was goofing around but they forgot to cut it off.  

[Chris Link]

It's not so much poorly thought out as poorly executed, but I always cringe hearing the out-of-tune harmony on the last note ("you") of "Paradise By the Dashboard Light".

[marino]

9 hours ago, o0Ampy0o said:

ELP really blew it going into a different direction with that ending of Lucky Man…….. (said in total sarcasm).

 

No sarcasm, for me Lucky Man is the worst ending ever.

I get the intention of doing something 'different' and bizarre... but to end your debut album that way, especially when you have big ambitions, wasn't the best move. Of course, the song should have been faded out.

[o0Ampy0o]

Lucky Man, Emerson went dancing off into another direction eventually. The start of that synth ending riffs off the chorus. The reason I said "in total sarcasm" is because the synth ending is what made it the hit. The Lucky Man portion was a good catchy tune but the ending added even more people. Many like me and my friends and others I heard comment at school were waiting for that part. I remember a DJ saying people complained if they cut into the song and didn't let it play at least some of that synth. There have been Lucky Man patches in a lot of synths with unison and patch capability, right? It would have taken longer for ELP to see a hit if they hadn't made a strong impression with LM. In this case the ending helped. It was risky for sure but it came in after the first part was long enough for the AM format. And, the synth sounded good on AM through crappy transistor radios, as did the chorus mix.

[Bill H.]

For something more recent, I'd offer up "Bad Habit". For those who don't follow this stuff, it's the first song in history to hit #1 in Billboard's Hot 100, R&B, Hip-Hop, and Rock charts.... all of them. When I play this as a DJ to young adults they all mouth the words by heart until the song completely changes gears, then they lose interest. So i mix out at that point - usually by looping "I wish I knew". 

 

The song sounds suspiciously like it was written by committee - possibly by combining two separate songs. 

[stillearning]

8 hours ago, time4jazz said:

I would say Hey Jude is a top contender, though technically I’m not sure if I’ve ever made it to the end … or if it even has an end. 

Gotta disagree here. Paul’s voice makes the ending work for me.

[Jwave]

The 60s-psychedelic-pop covers band I was in performed the Beatles “Glass Onion” a few times but the ending was a disaster. Maybe my fault as keyboard player covering strings, but it’s hard to sell that abrupt anti-climactic ending in a live setting!

[o0Ampy0o]

1 hour ago, bill5 said:

When did all this fade out bit begin anyway? Was that a 70s thing?

 

 

Fade out endings were around in the 60's and 50's.  I think it began as a way to keep the song playing in your mind in a haunting good way. Later it was just chosen off an imaginary menu of optional ways to approach endings.

[stoken6]

2 hours ago, bill5 said:

I suspect if you hear them do it live you'd have your answer   And that's what gets me. If they could come up with a way to do it in concert, why not on the album?

I have, and I have!

 

I suspect that a fade was simply the default of the time. When it comes to doing it live, they add a little guitar solo over a sus chord to set up a perfect cadence - something which doesn't occur anywhere else in the song. It's not particularly great, memorable or in keeping - it's simply adequate at providing a way of ending the song.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Bill H.]

1 hour ago, o0Ampy0o said:

Lucky Man, Emerson went dancing off into another direction eventually. The start of that synth ending riffs off the chorus. The reason I said "in total sarcasm" is because the synth ending is what made it the hit.

Yeah exactly. Few top 40 radio programmers would have played just the ballad much - which in all honesty is quite forgettable. But 1970 was a time when stations were still looking for gimmicky sounds, and that soaring Moog solo was something completely new at that time.

 

And now it's timeless. 

[Stokely]

I remember an interview with Dennis Deyoung where he described first hearing Lucky Man.  "What the HELL was that?" was what he said iirc, and after that he got pretty interested in synth sounds

Our band does an occasional "fade out" live by gradually playing softer and softer.  I know we do it on Use Me (which we don't often play) and maybe one other one.   
We answer any calls for "encore" while also answering "Freebird" by playing (not that well) the very over-the-top ending of that song for a minute or so.  Gets cheers and a laugh.

I used to dislike the live ending of Cheap Trick's Surrender but its really epic to play as a band so I've changed my mind  

I'll probably get roasted but I never liked the ending of Ladies Night...odd chords that don't go with the rest of the song and barely go with each other IMO...made the song harder to learn for a band so that might be one reason I don't like it!

[o0Ampy0o]

Even one of the greatest songwriters can mishandle the ending of one of their greatest songs. I have seen Paul McCartney live a few times and he extends Fool On The Hill divorced of the vibe. 
 

When The Eagles perform I Can’t Tell You Why Timothy B Schmit sometimes briefly hints at some vocal improvisation at the end. He resurrects the original vibe. I wish he would do more of that. It adds to the sorrow in the lyrics and enhances the song. They are notorious for precision. It is refreshing to hear because most of their songs are done the same way time after time after time. With Hotel California, Henley has gotten very creative doing variations of it over the years performing it in his solo act. I prefer the way The Eagles have done it but I appreciate his experimentation, none of which have been flops.

[bill5]

2 hours ago, Bill H. said:

Yeah exactly. Few top 40 radio programmers would have played just the ballad much - which in all honesty is quite forgettable. But 1970 was a time when stations were still looking for gimmicky sounds, and that soaring Moog solo was something completely new at that time.

 

And now it's timeless. 

I think we may be talking about two different things. When I say I think the ending sucked, I don't mean the entire solo. I mean the very tip end of it, when he IMO it sounded like it went on too long and he was running out of ideas of what to play and it starts to sound rather random. 

[o0Ampy0o]

2 minutes ago, bill5 said:

I think we may be talking about two different things. When I say I think the ending sucked, I don't mean the entire solo. I mean the very tip end of it, when he IMO it sounded like it went on too long and he was running out of ideas of what to play and it starts to sound rather random. 

We may disagree there. The very tip end of it with the sustained note and drum beat brought it back from his straying off the vibe. 

[CowboyNQ]

10 hours ago, Chris Link said:

It's not so much poorly thought out as poorly executed, but I always cringe hearing the out-of-tune harmony on the last note ("you") of "Paradise By the Dashboard Light".

 

If you'd been as lucky(?) as I was to witness Meatloaf perform live in Australia in 2011, you would have borne witness to an out-of-tune masterclass.  Suffice to say the endings were no worse than the beginnings or the middles when it came to pitch issues.  On this occasion however, 'twasn't the harmonies.

[SamuelBLupowitz]

On 1/21/2023 at 10:33 PM, AnotherScott said:

I love the ELP song "Trilogy," but the blues riff ending just seems so wrong to me...

Makes me think of the time I saw Leon Russell in 2012 or 2013 or thereabouts. He ended almost every single song with the slowed down "blues cliche" ending -- regardless of the initial tempo or style. Felt like the band was having a laugh at our expense. I loved it.

[bill5]

That reminded me of one; when Joe Walsh performs live (I saw him btw, great set, he's still got it, or did when I saw him at least) and does "In the City," he insists on that Beatles "Day Tripper" riff at the end. I smiled at when I first heard it, but it should have IMO gone away a long time ago.......it's like telling the same joke overandoverandover, it gets less funny every time...