That was composed by Jim Gordon, a matricidal schizophrenic.
Queen - “We Will Rock You”
Otis Redding - “Try A Little Tenderness”
America - “Sister Golden Hair”
The outro to “Faded” by the Afghan Whigs fits the bill well. Total build and release. “Marquee Moon” by Television is another great example.
For a different type of outro, I really like when a whole new musical component is thrown into the mix at the end, such as the plaintive horns at the end of Tom Waits’ “Earth Died Screaming”. Another example would be the urgent keyboard refrain that comes in at the end of “O Superman” by Laurie Anderson.
U2 - With or Without You
What, no mention yet of Bolero by Maurice Ravel?
Eagles’ Take it to the Limit: Randy Meissner’s high and then higher pitch screams are what I wait for every time I hear this. I HATE when the radio cuts it off.
Layla (mentioned above)–just such a beautiful melody after a good rock song.
Eagles again - dueling guitars at the end of Hotel California (studio version and live)
Pink Floyd - Guitar at the end of Comfortably Numb puts me in a comfortably numb trance
From Eagles to Randy Meisner’s other band, Poco.
What Do People Know?
Great energy, but pretty standard Poco until the end. Whoa, some tasty guitar work. Why did they leave that til the song’s fading out?
Assume it’s Jimmy Messina and Rusty Young playing off each other. I can’t keep from turning it up and up as it fades out…
Flaming Telepaths by Blue Oyster Cult (Secret Treaties album)
Black Blade by Blue Oyster Cult (Cultosaurus Erectus album)
To name a couple, they have lots of songs with killer outros as well as killer songs.
“Wheels of Confusion” by Black Sabbath (Vol 4) has an awesome outro, with its own name “The Straightener”. Also by Sabbath, “A National Acrobat” (Sabbath Bloody Sabbath) has a great outro. Both of them have Tony Iommi soaring on the guitar.
Does “Love Lies Bleeding” count for as outro to “Funeral for a Friend?” If so, then it wins.
Another Floyd ending that is beautifully judged (and criminally under-appreciated for my money…pun intended) is “Stay”, 30 seconds that rounds off the song in exactly way that you want.
When the Tigers Broke Free?
Specifically: “…from me.”
“Throw Down The Sword” by Wishbone Ash has a killer dual guitar solo for an outro. A fantastic close-out to an amazing album.
Babe Ruth “Livin A Lie”.
Bernie Marsden on guitar
Can’t think of the song - maybe a Paul Simon tune? - but the outro is a lone alto sax hitting some serious licks, and then tapering to a few single/double notes. Help?
Its been 12 years, but I’m still right. (see page one) Desire Lines from Deerhunter has a cool outro and deserves a mention.
Got it! Have a Good Time, Paul Simon
Meat Loaf’s Paradise By The Dash Board Light
Two of my favorites are “Sugar Magnolia” by the Grateful Dead, and “Movin’ Out” by Billy Joel. Both songs introduce new material for the outro, but closely related to the rest of the song – a sort of musical summing-up.
Also, Boston’s Hitch a Ride.
They stop singing at about 2:30 and then give you close to 2:00 more as an example of why their first album remains one of the best 40 years later. I dunno about “breathless” at the end (like Foreplay can do), but it is a deeply satisfying ensemble.