Instead of a lame fade out. My favorites:
Wild Night (Van Morrison)
Mississippi Queen (Mountain)
I had more in mind when I thought of this post. They’ll come to me presently. Other candidates?
The Beatles “A Day In The Life”
Uh, I think that’s the exact opposite of what the OP is looking for.
I nominate “I want you (She’s so heavy).”
Since you’re thinking Classic Rock to start with, and assuming you mean songs that end GREAT, here are some off the top of my head:
Baba O’Riley (The Who)
Not To Touch The Earth (The Doors)
Helter Skelter (The Beatles)
Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin)
Rosalia (Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band)
Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie)
Lady, Mr. Roboto (Styx)
This thread will end in Cafe Society, rather than IMHO.
Be Kind To Your Web-footed Friends
Pretty sure the OP wants songs that actually finish playing, even if the final note takes a while to fade away. In which case, “A Day in the Life” certainly counts.
“Pull Me Under” by Dream Theater has a very cold ending, much similar to the aforementioned “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” by the Beatles.
I once figured out that every song by Iron Maiden has a “finished” ending as opposed to a fade, the only two exceptions being “Stranger in a Strange Land” and “Women in Uniform”. There may be some new songs or Blaze Bayley-era songs that I missed but I’m not aware of any.
Black Sabbath: “Black Sabbath”, “War Pigs”, “Iron Man”, lots of others.
The Who: “Won’t Get Fooled Again”
This was the first one I thought of. I think most Who songs qualify. On “Who’s Next” for example 7of 9 have definite endings.
Well, there’s *Miss You Much *by Janet Jackson-
you think it’s going to fade away,
I miss ya much baby I really miss ya much
I miss ya much I really miss you much
I miss ya much baby I really miss ya much
But then
That’s the end
Also, I think *Paradise by the Dashboard Light *fits. Ends the story pretty well, then shuts up.
Ah. I see. As opposed to “Na, na, na, na, na, na, na…” as the recording engineer turns the volume down.
Best ending ever. (after a few fake endings). Motorhead: Overkill
Layla. Bell Bottom Blues. She Loves You.
Boddhisatva, Rikki, and a lot of things by Steely Dan. Masterful.
Genesis: “The Musical Box.” Very “symphonic” ending.
There are way too many songs that end that way to even begin to name them all, even if we limit them to really good songs. Clapton’s “Tears In Heaven” and “Wonderful Tonight” both end. One of my personal favs is the environmental anthem from Kenny Loggins, “Conviction of the Heart.”
I could go on endlessly, just off the top of my head, but to what point?
Back then, WMMS in Cleveland prided itself on being the kind of station that would let the entire last chord fade away on the air. It’s about 45 seconds as I recall. And even then, they would quietly come back to the studio mike, never a raucous commercial or something. Towards the end of the chord, as it gets fainter, you can hear odd things like crickets or something.
Dennis
[quote=“bobot, post:11, topic:770660”]
Best ending ever. (after a few fake endings). Motorhead: Overkill
[/QUOTE]I think I got the Crabs from watching that.
The Doors: “Touch Me” (“tougher than dirt!”)
Queen: “Bohemian Rhapsody”
It was “Stronger than dirt” (Mr Clean)
Supposedly the squeak of Ringo’s bass drum pedal as he releases it. As the sound of the piano chord gets fainter, the engineers are gradually RAISING the microphone volume, to stretch out the experience – so even quiet extraneous studio noises start to get picked up toward the end.
Never could be any other way! 