You know, like…
And this moment in “Born To Run”
Beat sounds like it’s winding down, coming to a finish…but then suddenly picks right up again like “Ha! And you thought it was endng.”
My favorite one is a bit obscure, but IMHO it defines the genre (along with defining the sound of 80’s saxaphone):
“Will You”, Hazel O’Connor.
I think you will find that this is the champ: “Boring Song” by Status Quid (a Status Quo parody by the estimable Hee Bee Gee Bees).
Guns n’ Roses had a couple of good ones, too: “Patience” and “November Rain”.
“Repent Walpurgis” (Procol Harum) has a crashing terminal chord.
Then after a pause, more crashing terminal chords.
It fooled me nastily as a college DJ.
Soul Sacrifice by Santana
The first thing I thought of when reading the thread title was
Terence Trent D’Arby - Dance little sister - 12 Inch
It’s an extended song that I used to play when I needed some prep time (or whiz break) as a DJ.
The song appears to quit at 7:49 but then lights up again with TTD commenting at 8:08 “Y’all thought we quit didn’t ya” at 8:08.
So do I get a prize for finding the song where the artist actually admits that he used a false ending?
Eloise by The Damned. At 2:18 the audience starts clapping.
I once worked for a tiny radio station that tended to inherit the lightly used discards of its bigger brothers around town (they felt sorry for us). Many of the LPs had notes taped to them like “Cue it in or you’ll be sooooorrrrrryyyyyyyy!” and “DOES NOT END at 3:05… watch the timing!”
I’m somewhat astounded that “Strawberry Fields Forever” was not mentioned in the first couple of posts. The greatest false ending ever, and one of the most psychedelic moments in rock history.
Others:
“Do You Love Me” – The Contours (fades out all the way before returning with a snare drum thwack and one more round of singing)
“Keep on Dancing” – The Gentrys (similar to the above, but with a snare drum roll and one more chorus)
“Suspicious Minds” – Elvis Presley (the repeating chorus near the end fades a bit, though not all the way out, before returning at full level)
Dwight Yoakam - Sorry You Asked
Surprised I’m the first to mention the first movement of Beethoven’s fifth symphony.
Both the Beatles’ “Helter Skelter” and King Crimson’s “21st Century Schizoid Man” have false breaks a few seconds before the actual ending.
Monty Python’s comical song “I’m So Worried” plays with us, too:
Little Stevie Wonder’s “Fingertips – Pt. 2.” Even fools one of the musicians on stage with him, who asks “What key?” presumably because he thinks they’ve started a new song.
Talking of King Crimson, one of the all time great false endings is in The Court of the Crimson King. There are a few Mellotron farts, then apocalyptic drums come crashing down from the skies.
2+2=? by the Bob Seger System (yes back before the Silver Bullet Band) is one that fades all the way out before coming back for an extra 20 seconds of song.
“The Concept” by Teenage Fanclub. You think the song is about to fade out but then it goes on for about 2 1/2 more minutes.
On the 1967 LP Gettin’ Together, in which Tommy James and the Shondells make a rather clumsy but fairly engaging attempt to come to grips with psychedelia, there’s a song called “Some Happy Day”, in which each chorus ends in a fadeout, as if the song is ending, but then the next verse bursts in suddenly. I’ve never heard that done elsewhere, and I think there’s a good reason why – after the novelty wears off, it’s pretty annoying. It’s a shame that that song was picked for that treatment, because otherwise it might have been the strongest tune on the album.
There’s an unexpected break about two thirds of the way through 4′33″; it’s really jarring when it comes back in after an off-tempo rest.
The Golden Boy by Freddy Mercury and Montserrat Caballe has a false ending too.
The Wall, by Pink Floyd, is the musical equivalent of LOTR The Return of the King.