# Songs that have false endings. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 21, 2014, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010 "2014-10-21T10:46:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010/21 "2014-10-21T18:33:57Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > Surprised I’m the first to mention the first movement of Beethoven’s fifth symphony. Exactly what I was going to say. Defines it. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010/22 "2014-10-21T18:43:44Z")
Another: “I Just Dropped In (to See What Condition My Condition Was In”) by The First Edition. Big crashing chord, then a few more sneaky notes, followed by another crashing chord. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010/23 "2014-10-21T18:45:11Z")
“Free to Be You and Me.” ---
**Author:** ![alphamatix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@alphamatix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphamatix)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010/24 "2014-10-21T18:50:48Z")
Strawberry Fields Forever ---
**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:** [October 21, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010/25 "2014-10-21T18:56:00Z")
The Peppers’ version of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground” tacks on a silly double-time coda. The Stones’ “Stray Cat Blues” has a long, mellow, rather pointless coda, which they sensibly omitted when playing it live. Eric Clapton went through a period in the 70s when he had trouble ending songs gracefully. I think it’s “Motherless Children” where the drummer adds a series of unnecessary cymbal crashes after the song is over. Cat Stevens ends “I Think I See The Light” with a resolved major chord…in this case, ending on the unresolved chord would have sounded a lot better. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010/26 "2014-10-21T19:02:50Z")
I haven’t heard it in a few years, but doesn’t “Carry On Wayward Son” by Kansas have at least two fake-out endings? ---
**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:** [October 21, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010/27 "2014-10-21T19:08:23Z")
Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping” (or is it Tubthumping’s “Chumbawamba”?) has an odd, Strawberry Fields-like instrumental coda. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010/28 "2014-10-21T20:17:49Z")
There’s “Are You Experienced?” by the Jimi Hendrix Experience… IIRC, “I Don’t Live Today” also has at least one false ending. Jethro Tull’s “For a Thousand Mothers” comes to a grand end before a set of cymbal taps ushers in a swirling instrumental outro. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010/29 "2014-10-21T20:57:44Z")
At least two mentions of “Strawberry Fields Forever,” but nobody mentioned _The Beatles_’ “Hello, Goodbye” yet. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010/30 "2014-10-21T21:03:32Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > At least two mentions of “Strawberry Fields Forever,” but nobody mentioned _The Beatles_’ “Hello, Goodbye” yet. Not quite in the same category, though, as the note that precedes the “Hey la” coda decays, but ultimately goes right into the final part without pause. There’s no actual silence between the sections. Plus, the less I think about “Hello Goodbye,” the better! One of a very small number of Beatles songs I actively dislike. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010/31 "2014-10-21T21:47:59Z")
No Matter What by Badfinger ---
**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:** [October 21, 2014, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010/32 "2014-10-21T23:26:43Z")
A more extreme, more awesome version: “[Improper Dancing](http://youtu.be/t1HQ6T2vCyw?t=2m35s)” by Electric Six. That link starts near the end of the song.At 2:50, the singer yells “Stop!” After the band goes silent for 2.5 beats, he yells “Continue!” The band plays the outro for about 23 more seconds. ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010/33 "2014-10-22T01:53:17Z")
I’ve always thought that Bonnie Tyler’s “[Total Eclipse of the Heart](http://youtu.be/TQPp-cWumJM)” sounds like it’s ending several times before it actually does. ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010/34 "2014-10-22T01:56:53Z")
Then there’s [this part](http://youtu.be/dMSFqXGZ5TQ?t=4m) of Rush’s “Time Stand Still” that sounds like it’s wrapping up, when there’s another verse on the way. It’s like the Springsteen clip in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010/35 "2014-10-22T10:53:02Z")
John Entwistle did almost the opposite in I Wonder (which has a killer brass section, btw). The song abruptly stops right after the start of a verse. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010/36 "2014-10-22T13:17:31Z")
Alanis Morisette in [All I Really Want](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TICq2VDXk8U), though she does give it away slightly by saying “Here, can you handle this?” Enya also has an unexpected pause in “Anywhere Is”. ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010/37 "2014-10-23T02:16:12Z")
Heard another one today. [“Channel Z” by The B-52s](http://youtu.be/pB4G9WBYMFo?t=4m11s). ---
**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:** [October 23, 2014, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010/38 "2014-10-23T04:47:39Z")
Dudley Moore’s Beethoven parody from “Beyond the Fringe” has several points where it sounds like it’s about to end but continues. The first is at about 3:15. [Dudley Moore Beethoven Sonata Parody - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GazlqD4mLvw) ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010/39 "2014-10-23T08:46:55Z")
Gee, no mention of one of the most famous musical pauses ahhh… **Bernadette !!!**       [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_(Four_Tops_song)) says > [@](#): > > Critic Maury Dean described the effectiveness of Stubb’s shout of “BERNADETTE!!!” as being the key ingredient in getting listeners to buy the record, even if Bernadette herself may not have heard him. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010/40 "2014-10-23T10:56:30Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > 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. Absolutely. I opened the thread with SFF in mind. You speak true. Another example might be “[Final Solution](http://youtu.be/VelS-YCtHV4)” by Pere Ubu. The song comes to an abrupt halt precisely at its midpoint, after the line “Guitars trying to sound like a nuclear destruction.” And then there’s [Stoptime](http://youtu.be/rpPrsiFpCms). Although this doesn’t actually fit the OP concept, because of the ostinato foot stomps, it does explore the concept of notes that aren’t played, in the spirit of [the _Tao Te Ching_’s eleventh chapter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao_Te_Ching#Emptiness) on “the usefulness of what is not.” Likewise, Robert Fripp’s guitar solo on Bowie’s “Ashes to Ashes” makes excellent use of the notes that are not played. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-have-false-endings/702010.md?page=3)