# Popular Songs that Don't End on the Root **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 7, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-dont-end-on-the-root/660391 "2013-06-07T16:17:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-dont-end-on-the-root/660391/1 "2013-06-07T16:17:24Z")
What are some well-known pop songs since the birth of rock and roll that don’t end on the “DO” of the scale - that just leave you hanging? I’m not including songs that fade out into nothingness - I’m talking about songs that have an actual ending. I’ve been trying since last night, and the only one I’ve come up with so far is Paul McCartney and Wings’ _ **Silly Love Songs** _, which ends with “and What’s Wrong with That?..” There must be a bunch more, right? ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-dont-end-on-the-root/660391/2 "2013-06-07T16:21:40Z")
Les Paul & Mary Ford’s [Magic Melody](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxqh8JK9FyY). ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-dont-end-on-the-root/660391/3 "2013-06-07T16:27:40Z")
Nitpick: [Tonic](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonic_%28music%29), not root. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-dont-end-on-the-root/660391/4 "2013-06-07T16:27:40Z")
It seems what you’re really asking is \*not _about songs whose melody ends on a note other than the root note of the scale of the key the song is in (this is quite common), but rather about songs which end on a chord that is not the tonic chord of the song’s key – this is quite unusual, as per the example you gave. Especially notable is when the other chord chosen to end the song is one which leaves the listener expecting a harmonic resolution which never arrives._ The example you gave is a good one. Another might be Steve Miller’s _The Joker_, which, like the example you gave, ends in the middle of a verse. (\*Because there are lots of songs which, for example, change key for the last, repeated refrains – typically, they go up a tone or half-tone – e.g., Led Zeppelin’s _All My Love_ – but this isn’t what you’re asking about.) ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-dont-end-on-the-root/660391/5 "2013-06-07T16:30:32Z")
“Take it Easy” by the Eagles perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-dont-end-on-the-root/660391/6 "2013-06-07T16:41:04Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Another might be Steve Miller’s _The Joker_, which, like the example you gave, ends in the middle of a verse. Doesn’t The Joker fade out? And **Labdad** , good call. Take It Easy ends on the relative minor, Em in the key of G. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-dont-end-on-the-root/660391/7 "2013-06-07T17:13:57Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > Take It Easy ends on the relative minor, Em in the key of G. As does the Beatles’ “Cry Baby Cry.” ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-dont-end-on-the-root/660391/8 "2013-06-07T17:22:21Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > As does the Beatles’ “Cry Baby Cry.” Oh, and _ **Her Majesty** _. The [del]root[/del] _tonic_, excuse me, is over at the beginning of _ **Polythene Pam** _. And I guess\*\*\* I Want You (She’s So Heavy) \*\*\*counts as released, too, but isn’t an example of unusual composition - just literal mid-note cut-the-tape. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-dont-end-on-the-root/660391/9 "2013-06-07T17:40:55Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > As does the Beatles’ “Cry Baby Cry.” At the end of side 2 of Abbey Road, Her Majesty ends on the 5. Sounds like it was supposed to be a quick 5-1 but the 1 got lost. In fact that’s probably exactly what happened. At the end of side 1, I Want You (She’s So Heavy) ends on 6 but that’s just a random point where they shut off the tape which is probably cheating. Hellbound Train by Savoy Brown does the same thing. ETA: So I youtubed 2 Savoy Brown songs before posting and … Darn you Bup! Darn you all to heck! ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-dont-end-on-the-root/660391/10 "2013-06-07T17:48:48Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > Darn you Bup! Darn you all to heck! It seems to be a rule in Cafe Society that you get all the Beatles’ examples that fit a particular thread in early. I’m not one to eschew convention. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-dont-end-on-the-root/660391/11 "2013-06-07T17:59:55Z")
Jethro Tull’s “Wind-Up” ends on the dominant (A in the key of D). ---
**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-dont-end-on-the-root/660391/12 "2013-06-07T18:26:29Z")
IIRC, Phil Collins’s “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)” ends somewhere weird – I’ve forgotten too much music theory to remember exactly where. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-dont-end-on-the-root/660391/13 "2013-06-07T18:35:40Z")
Janis Joplin’s Piece of My Heart ends on the 2 chord, F#m in the key of E. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-dont-end-on-the-root/660391/14 "2013-06-07T21:12:38Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > As does the Beatles’ “Cry Baby Cry.” I’m going to nitpick that one. The song is definitely in e minor, but starts with the chorus and a G major chord. Anyway, on “Revolver” there are two successive tracks: “For No One” which ends on the V chord, and “And Your Bird Can Sing” which ends on the IV chord. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-dont-end-on-the-root/660391/15 "2013-06-07T21:59:06Z")
Another from the Beatles: “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away”, which ends on a 5th. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-dont-end-on-the-root/660391/16 "2013-06-07T22:04:04Z")
> [@K364](#): > > I’m going to nitpick that one. The song is definitely in e minor, but starts with the chorus and a G major chord. Nothing definite about it. The chorus, which both begins and ends the song, is firmly in G, which is what makes that final E minor chord sound weird. True, the verse melody switches to E minor, but even that resolves to a G chord after each line. ---
**Author:** ![dataguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eada6e/32.png) [@dataguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dataguy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-dont-end-on-the-root/660391/17 "2013-06-07T22:09:04Z")
Traffic “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys” I’ve wondered for ages what the hell is that last chord? Whatever it is, I defy you to hear it in your head before it is played. If someone can tell me what it is functionally, I’d appreciate it. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-dont-end-on-the-root/660391/18 "2013-06-07T22:29:22Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > At the end of side 2 of Abbey Road, Her Majesty ends on the 5. Sounds like it was supposed to be a quick 5-1 but the 1 got lost. In fact that’s probably exactly what happened. > > At the end of side 1, I Want You (She’s So Heavy) ends on 6 but that’s just a random point where they shut off the tape which is probably cheating. Hellbound Train by Savoy Brown does the same thing. > > ETA: So I youtubed 2 Savoy Brown songs before posting and … Darn you Bup! Darn you all to heck! I don’t know. Ending on the dominant is not that uncommon. I noticed a trend in doing it with worship music a few years back. Unfortunately, none of those songs will fit the thread. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-dont-end-on-the-root/660391/19 "2013-06-07T22:39:31Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Nothing definite about it. The chorus, which both begins and ends the song, is firmly in G, which is what makes that final E minor chord sound weird. True, the verse melody switches to E minor, but even that resolves to a G chord after each line. I’m not even sure I’d count the verses as being in E minor. There’s an E minor chord throughout, but it always resolves in G major with a plagal cadence. Plus the version I just listened to resolves on Fm, not Em. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-dont-end-on-the-root/660391/20 "2013-06-07T22:43:42Z")
Would Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4” qualify? It ends on a weird chord. Edit: Same for Cream’s “Badge.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-dont-end-on-the-root/660391.md?page=2)