# Best song outros? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 27, 2003, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290 "2003-12-27T19:23:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290/21 "2003-12-28T12:55:54Z")
oops–that’s **Cinnamon Girl** ---
**Author:** ![acrossthesea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@acrossthesea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/acrossthesea)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290/22 "2003-12-28T15:25:45Z")
The Perfect Drug, Nine Inch Nails is another one of those ends suddenly songs. MIA, Foo Fighters ends with a tiny little drum solo and not only cuts off suddenly, but since it’s the last song on the album, the second it ends the cd just stops. Jeremy, Pearl Jam. Great song, great ending. For that matter, almost any song by Pearl Jam in the Ten era. They had the long-solo-at-the-end style back then. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290/23 "2003-12-28T15:36:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by nameless \* > \*\*EEWWW that outro goes on for like a half hour with no discernable musical purpose. To summarize, BOOOOOOOOO. \*\* No, you’re thinking of “Freebird.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![todd33rpm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@todd33rpm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/todd33rpm)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290/24 "2003-12-28T15:40:44Z")
These aren’t especially forceful outros, but they really have stuck with me. I tend to like the slight rub of two instruments playing component notes of a chord sustaining at the end, or those weird little “missing” bits that don’t appear elsewhere in a song (_a la_ “Voices Carry”). Anyway: THE JUDYBATS “Being Simple” - That not-quite resolved chord at the end of the single mix makes me squirm in a good way. It’s a sustained chord held between acoustic guitar, bass and electric guitar, but with an almost country-style detuning, like pedal steel, in terms of atmosphere. AMERICAN MUSIC CLUB “Chanel #5” (from the _Rise_ EP) - Another great sustain, held this time between electric guitar and an actual pedal steel. Actually, the last minute and 25 seconds of the song sets up that ending perfectly (from about 2:55 to the completion of the song), from these lyrics… “You think maybe someday, if you’re good, they’ll let you disappear from the scene/ Oh, but nothing/ Nothing/ Nothing/ Can hide a beating” …through the band’s buildup and cymbal roll/acoustic guitar strum into the chorus… "She’s got a Walkman on/ She’s got Chanel #5/ Ah, look at her walk, she’s holding her head /Upright Wants to show she’s got some pride /To the headlights /To the headlights Oh, doesn’t she look good?" …and when you hear Mark Eitzel’s voice almost crack during the second “to the headlights,” it then becomes one of my favorite songs in terms of evoking a moment. The ending’s the icing. THE COURT AND SPARK “Fade Out To Little Arrow” (from _Bless You_) - For lack of better description, a country-rock reading of the ending to “Layla,” with a space-rock density in the mix reminiscent of Pink Floyd circa _Meddle_. There are a few changing elements in this ending…funeral-inspired horn ensemble, a female vocalist singing so intensely that she sounds like she’s about to cry before the end (and a barely-audible “Whew” at the end that sounds like she might be wiping her eyes), and gorgeous guitar interplay. This isn’t quite a loop ending the way “Layla” is, though it does repeat the exit riff a total of three times (it’s a _long_ riff) with those variations listed above on top of it. What’s amazing is that those variations are buried in the song; it takes a few repeat listens to catch them, and headphones help a lot. THE POLICE “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” - I love how the fade implies that the song could stretch out infinitely…granted, that’s the whole idea of a fade, but I don’t always get that sense with other songs. Here, I do, especially when Sting repeats the “it’s a big enough umbrella, but it’s always me that ends up getting wet” as the song vanishes. That’s top of my head…I’ll post again if I think of any more. ---
**Author:** ![riserius1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@riserius1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/riserius1)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290/25 "2003-12-28T21:19:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by todd33rpm \* > \*\*THE POLICE “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” - I love how the fade implies that the song could stretch out infinitely \*\* Another great example of this is “Life During Wartime” by Talking Heads. New verses are sung even as the song fades out. David Byrne has said in interviews that he did this deliberately, to give the impression/illusion that “the song just keeps going”. Chris W ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290/26 "2003-12-28T21:55:40Z")
**Garbage** - You look so fine. The live version, I feel, has a better outro. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290/27 "2003-12-28T21:56:48Z")
_Come On_, The Verve _I Am The Resurrection_, The Stone Roses _Take Me!_, The Wedding Present ---
**Author:** ![A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/46a35a/32.png) [@A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_wizard_song_for_thee)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290/28 "2003-12-28T22:22:11Z")
Lou Reed’s guitar playing on **The Velvet Underground** ’s “I Heard Her Call My Name” from _White Light / White Heat_ always makes me want to faint. ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290/29 "2003-12-29T06:27:19Z")
“Midnight Radio” from _Hedwig and the Angry Inch_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290/30 "2003-12-29T13:15:42Z")
I always thought the guitar solo that ends “november rain” by Guns N’ Roses was a very cool outro to a great song ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290/31 "2003-12-29T14:19:50Z")
Two that always give me shivers, from Pink Floyd: **Eclipse** **Dogs** Not terribly original, I know. I’ll also second **I Want You** and add **Dancing with the Moonlit Knight** by Genesis. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290/32 "2003-12-29T14:45:28Z")
Yeah, fFrom a old song, and probably not what the OP had in mind, but I’ve always liked Jimi’s “I’ve gotta go now” “Goodbye Everybody”, with the “Where you gonna go?” refrain from the other singer, at the end of Jimi Hendrix’s “Hey Joe” ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290/33 "2003-12-29T14:48:59Z")
The outro(s) to Ana Ng by TMBG. Very fun to hear inexperienced DJs play it on the radio (and have the station promo play over it!!!) ---
**Author:** ![HeatMiser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecd19e/32.png) [@HeatMiser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeatMiser)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290/34 "2003-12-29T15:37:05Z")
First one that comes to mind is **Alice In Chains** ’ _Would?_ - kind of a neat song construction IMHO, the penultimate 4 lines sound like a mid-song bridge is happening and then instead they just wallop you over the head with that final question and stop. Shivers. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290/35 "2003-12-29T16:54:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crusoe \* > \*\*_Come On_, The Verve > _I Am The Resurrection_, The Stone Roses > _Take Me!_, The Wedding Present \*\* There’s also “Lucky Man” by The Verve, which ends in a swell of strings. Ben Folds Five “Regrets” has an amusing over-the-top outro: choral voices and an orchestra. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290/36 "2003-12-29T18:13:49Z")
The outro to “One Headlight” by the Wallflowers. Some stations always cut it off, though. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290/37 "2003-12-29T18:23:43Z")
**jovan** the end of Dogs is pretty cool, I can hear that last bit of feedback right now - but I vote for the rock-out ending of _Sheep_ That’s Pink Floyd for the younger guys out there. And the ending of Aja I like too, but it’s already had a vote. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290/38 "2003-12-29T19:01:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jervoise \* > \*\*There’s also “Lucky Man” by The Verve, which ends in a swell of strings. > > Ben Folds Five “Regrets” has an amusing over-the-top outro: choral voices and an orchestra. \*\* There’s also Star Sail by Verve. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290/39 "2003-12-29T19:09:31Z")
Traffic - Low Spark of High Heeled Boys Joplin - Bobby McGee Beatles - Hey Jude Pink Floyd - (Insert your favorite) ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290/40 "2003-12-29T21:48:53Z")
I’ll add some obscure ones: - Manowar “Blood of the Kings” (purely ostentatious!) - Dream Theater “Only a Matter of Time” - Jethro Tull “Baker St. Muse” – this one’s more funny than grand. At the end of the song, Ian Anderson puts down his guitar and walks away, still humming the song…then you hear him rattle the studio door and shout, _“I can’t get out!”_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-outros/221290.md?page=3)