# Songs not "ending" but rather fade away. An 80's thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [April 14, 2022, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-not-ending-but-rather-fade-away-an-80s-thing/962830 "2022-04-14T17:14:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-not-ending-but-rather-fade-away-an-80s-thing/962830/41 "2022-04-16T02:05:14Z")
The last 40 seconds of the Association’s 1967 #1 hit _Windy_ is a continuing repetition of the hook. Not only did they keep playing the same thing, but if you listen carefully you can hear that damn recorder crank up again, then the tambourine comes in before the producer decided to turn everything down. Since the entire song is under three minutes, that means nearly 25% of it is the ending. The Who did it on a lot of their works, especially pre-1970. Just off the top of my head I can think of _I Can See for Miles, Magic Bus, Pinball Wizard,_ and _See Me Feel Me/Listening to You._ Strange for a band that earned its reputation playing live, rather than for its studio work. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-not-ending-but-rather-fade-away-an-80s-thing/962830/42 "2022-04-16T17:25:47Z")
I think though that the process of making records is not comparable to performing before a crowd. Fades are a studio creation, and have been part of the bag of studio tricks since at least the early fifties. Deciding to use one is more a matter of “let’s try this” where it might suit the song, leaving the listener wanting more. And if done at the right point, it can work well as a part of the whole, a choice and not a cop-out as some suggest. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-not-ending-but-rather-fade-away-an-80s-thing/962830/43 "2022-04-16T17:59:58Z")
Remember commercial jingles doing that? Glad that stopped. (“Have it YOUR way, have it your way…”) > [@Loach](#): > > I once did a thread about the best fade-out guitar solos. Steely Dan did it often and the best. I really want to hear what was happening after the fade out. The two that come to mind are Skunk Baxter playing on “My Old School” and Steve Carlton on “Kid Charlemagne.” In particular if you crank up the volume you can hear the most interesting part of Carlton’s solo right before the music disappears. Steve Howe’s best, definitely most emotive solo fades out Yes’s “Wurm”. Hendrix’s “Ezy Ryder” has an interesting fade-out. Indeed, fade-_ins_ can be wonderful: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/La0RIrgBApI/hqdefault.jpg "Hate Eternal - I, Monarch") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La0RIrgBApI) ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-not-ending-but-rather-fade-away-an-80s-thing/962830/44 "2022-04-16T18:11:35Z")
Though Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield undoubtedly had to sing “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” and “Soul and Inspiration” to definite conclusions in live performances, I can’t imagine the singles being as effective as they were without the gradual fadeouts Phil Spector gave them. On the other hand, he gave them a wonderfully dramatic cold ending on “Ebb Tide.” ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2022, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-not-ending-but-rather-fade-away-an-80s-thing/962830/45 "2022-04-17T00:22:35Z")
Me too. I was working in retail when that song was on the repeated playlists that shops paid for, and it made me want to smash things. I’m not even going to click on the link because it would probably make me feel the same way. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2022, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-not-ending-but-rather-fade-away-an-80s-thing/962830/46 "2022-04-23T04:15:57Z")
_The Planets_ ends in one of the earliest fade-outs. I assume that’s not one of the endings he used. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2022, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-not-ending-but-rather-fade-away-an-80s-thing/962830/47 "2022-04-23T04:24:50Z")
There is a classic rock and roll song where it at the end plays mono then kinda fades out, I remember the lyrics “you’re gonna go far” about a dude getting into rock & roll. Found it: Pink Floyd Have a cigar: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/tbdpv7G_PPg/maxresdefault.jpg "Have A Cigar") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbdpv7G_PPg) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2022, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-not-ending-but-rather-fade-away-an-80s-thing/962830/48 "2022-04-23T14:01:53Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > _The Planets_ ends in one of the earliest fade-outs. I assume that’s not one of the endings he used. [This](https://youtu.be/cXOanvv4plU?t=385) is a fadeout?? Or [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz0b4STz1lo&t=442s)? [Neptune](https://youtu.be/oFMXNUHuWug?t=536) I’ll give you. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2022, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-not-ending-but-rather-fade-away-an-80s-thing/962830/49 "2022-04-23T21:43:24Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > I’m pretty sure that fade outs were the norm from the 1950s until the 1980s. For example, _Music, Music, Music_ from 1950 by Teresa Brewer: We had this 45 when I was a little kid! But our favorite was the B side – _Too Young to Tango._ We _loved_ that song. ---
**Author:** ![alfonzos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@alfonzos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alfonzos)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-not-ending-but-rather-fade-away-an-80s-thing/962830/50 "2022-04-25T20:55:51Z")
It was the rare 45 that did not with a fade out. I grew up in the sixties and wondered why most recorded songs don’t end but instead fade out. I learned why a few years ago. It’s because of juke boxes. Juke box manufacturers figured the public would keep pumping coins into the machine if the music faded out. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-not-ending-but-rather-fade-away-an-80s-thing/962830/51 "2022-04-28T03:02:13Z")
It goes back at least to 40s radio—even with live performances of semiclassical music. And not just in America—you can find it in transcriptions from Europe, too. By the 50s, musicians were doing their own fade-outs, so that they could hope to have some control. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-not-ending-but-rather-fade-away-an-80s-thing/962830/52 "2022-04-28T04:46:28Z")
To the first 2, of course not. They don’t end the suite. Neptune does, and that’s what I was referring to. > …the orchestra is joined by an offstage female chorus singing a soft wordless line … The orchestra falls silent and the unaccompanied voices bring the work to a pianissimo conclusion in an uncertain tonality, as a door between the singers and the auditorium is gradually closed. > **[The Planets | 7. Neptune, the Mystic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Planets#7._Neptune,_the_Mystic)** > > The music of the last movement is quiet throughout, in a swaying, irregular metre, opening with flutes joined by piccolo and oboes, with harps and celesta prominent later. Holst makes much use of dissonance in this movement. Before the premiere his colleague Geoffrey Toye said that a bar where the brass play chords of E minor and G♯ minor together was "going to sound frightful". Holst agreed, and said it had made him shudder when he wrote it down but, "What are you to do when they come like that?... ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-not-ending-but-rather-fade-away-an-80s-thing/962830/53 "2022-04-28T05:48:10Z")
Which is why I gave it to you, complete with link. I was at a live performance and “Neptune” naturally was last. The audience was t sure when to start clapping. Like the link it was remarkably like Cage’s 4’ 52" ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-not-ending-but-rather-fade-away-an-80s-thing/962830/54 "2022-04-28T05:48:53Z")
If we’re going to compile a list of songs with fade-out endings, it’s going to be a long list. It was very common, and rather tiresome. My contribution to the list: Zager and Evans, _In The Year 2525_. ---
**Author:** ![cieskokid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cieskokid/32/5374_2.png) [@cieskokid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cieskokid)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-not-ending-but-rather-fade-away-an-80s-thing/962830/55 "2022-04-29T07:49:30Z")
“The Rover” by LedZeppelin Jimmy Page’s phaser like guitar solo as the fadeout\* from this killer song from 1975’s “Physical Graffiti” ; it’s called classic rock for a reason, kids! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/teO03JUx-xI/maxresdefault.jpg "The Rover (Remaster)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teO03JUx-xI) ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-not-ending-but-rather-fade-away-an-80s-thing/962830/56 "2022-05-05T22:36:24Z")
I just happened to notice the other day that the Eagles’ _Hotel California_ fades out. ---
**Author:** ![Made\_in\_Macau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@Made\_in\_Macau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Made_in_Macau)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-not-ending-but-rather-fade-away-an-80s-thing/962830/57 "2022-05-05T23:20:48Z")
Rock Aria ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-not-ending-but-rather-fade-away-an-80s-thing/962830/58 "2022-05-06T02:45:09Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Steve Howe’s best, definitely most emotive solo fades out Yes’s “Wurm”. Best part of my favorite song. I’ve burned out a few amps with this. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-not-ending-but-rather-fade-away-an-80s-thing/962830/59 "2022-05-06T03:11:06Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Fade-out immediately makes me think of ELO. Did they have any songs that that did _not_ fade out? > [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Well, the gauntlet has been thrown. I’m off to compile a list – don’t wait up. Apologies for the extreme delay. This list is far from comprehensive (I kind of quit them after, “Time.”) but I did discover something – as ELO became more popular, they produced more fade-out (read: radio-friendly) tunes per album. Anyway, the list: \*No Answer – 9 songs, 1 fade-out \*ELO 2 – 5 songs, no real fade-outs \*On the Third Day – 9 songs, no fade-outs \*Eldorado – 10 songs, 1 fade-out \*Face the Music – 8 songs, 4 fade-outs \*New World Record – 9 songs, 4 fade-outs \*Out of The Blue – 17 songs, 7 fade-outs \*Discovery – 9 songs, 7 fade-outs \*Time – 13 songs, 4 fade-outs [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-not-ending-but-rather-fade-away-an-80s-thing/962830.md?page=2)