# Songs with false endings **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 9, 2004, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-false-endings/278980 "2004-12-09T19:41:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-false-endings/278980/41 "2004-12-10T20:51:08Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Mike Oldfield’s Amarok has a nice one. It is kind of a “song” - it is a 60 minute long CD with only one track. There is a nice climax, a pause, then the drums start again and a Margaret Thatcher impersonator comes on to say that though endings normally happen at the end, that once we’ve gotten started we should just keep going, since the world is crying out for fresh beginnings. Then a jolly song starts, you clear the stomping of feet as she dances, then the sound of a window breaking, as she dances right out of it, then we go to the real ending. And the ending should be played as loud as possible. Seriously, Amarok is my favorite Mike Oldfield piece and I always crank it up. Also, a fairly obscure New York band called “The Ordinaires” do a kickass instrumental version of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” which also fades out and then back in again. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-false-endings/278980/42 "2004-12-10T20:57:04Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Not sure if this really counts or not, but another example from the **Beatles** would be the end of the “Abbey Road” medley. After an extended pause, “Her Majesty” finishes the album. “Her Majesty” is a funny story. It was supposed to be sandwiched between “Mean Mr. Mustard” and “Polythene Pam,” but the band decided to cut it. It was placed at the end of the tape to be cut, but someone forgot to do it. Oops. Another Beatles example is “A Day in the Life” which ends with on note that only dogs can hear held for about 30 seconds before the weird endless ending featuring the guys singing the first thing that came to their heads. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-false-endings/278980/43 "2004-12-10T21:53:32Z")
Metallica’s “Sad But True” (track #2 on the black album) made me think it was ending about five times the first time I heard it. “Patience” by Guns ‘n’ Roses is another one. I always think it’s going to end after the whistling part (not at the beginning, the whistling later on in the song.). ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-false-endings/278980/44 "2004-12-10T22:03:55Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > Another Beatles example is “A Day in the Life” which ends with on note that only dogs can hear held for about 30 seconds before the weird endless ending featuring the guys singing the first thing that came to their heads. Good news and bad news: Bad News: for years, I didn’t know that there was a spoken pre-song and a coda to “Nights in White Satin”: now I curse whenever it gets cut off on the radio. Good News: I always thought that one note in aDitL was the _best_ ending (well, one note ending at least) to a song ever. I’m glad now that I’ve never heard the “real” version. ---
**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:** [December 10, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-false-endings/278980/45 "2004-12-10T22:18:58Z")
The studio version of “Spoonful” by Cream. The first time I heard Jack Bruce come screaming back in after the long, slow fade–_ **Everything’s a-dyin’ about it!** _–it scared the hell out of me. ---
**Author:** ![Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d9b06d/32.png) [@Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichini_Sanshigo)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-false-endings/278980/46 "2004-12-10T22:26:02Z")
The Roots song, “Step Into the Realm” has this weird beat/background music that keeps fading out. The song always sounds like it’s about to end, especially when the rapped verses end with the music. It’s really kind of creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-false-endings/278980/47 "2004-12-11T05:28:31Z")
Quoth **umop ap!sdn** : > [@](#): > > _Anywhere Is_ by Enya. As she utters the last word of the song, everything abruptly fades to silence, but after a few seconds the instruments start back up again and continue the melody for a while before fading out. It’s better than that, even… The last line of the song is “It might be just beginning / It might be near the end”. And then the opening bars start up again, as if the song _is_ just beginning. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-false-endings/278980/48 "2004-12-11T05:31:10Z")
Oh… I forgot Monty Python’s song, “I’m So Worried.” It has several different false endings! After fretting about all sorts of things, Terry Jones adds… "I’m so worried about this very next verse, It isn’t the best that I’ve got. And I’m so worried about whether I should go on Or whether I shouldn’t just stop. (You think he’s finished, but then he returns with…) I’m so worried about whether I ought to have stopped. And I’m so worried because it’s the sort of thing I ought to know. And I’m so worried about the baggage retrieval System they’ve got at Heathrow. (Finished now, right? Wrong! He comes back with…) I’m so worried about whether I should have stopped then, I’m so worried that I’m driving everyone round the bend. And I’m so worried about the baggage retrieval System they’ve got at Heathrow." ---
**Author:** ![RevCo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@RevCo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RevCo)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-false-endings/278980/49 "2004-12-11T05:36:54Z")
Well, my favorite was in about 1978 or so - my sister bought the 8 track of Pieces of Eight by Styx - I don’t know if anyone else remembers this - but on the song Renegade was at a point where it would switch tracks - there were 4 sections - hell, if you don’t know how an 8-track works, I can’t do it 😉 Either way it was about the "law man has put an end to my run and I don’t have very long… YEAH!!! _ **looooooonggggg pause while 8 track switches sections** _\*\* “A renegade, you had it made, etc” Sheesh! What a crummy point to put a break! ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-false-endings/278980/50 "2004-12-11T05:46:41Z")
“In the Middle of the Night” by Billy Joel has about three of these. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Big\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@The\_Big\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Big_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-false-endings/278980/51 "2004-12-11T12:54:53Z")
my new favorite singer, Damien Rice does this on the last song of his cd ‘O’. Song is ‘Eskimo’. He seems to end the song after 5 minutes, then there is silence for 2 minutes. He does another verse or so for 4 minutes or so and then ends it. Then there’s silence for another 45 seconds and then the female singer who helps out on here does a 2 minute ‘song’ with anti-war sentiment sung to the sound of ‘Silent Night’. The whole track lasts 13 minutes. It all works well. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-false-endings/278980/52 "2004-12-11T23:04:00Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The last line of the song is “It might be just beginning / It might be near the end”. And then the opening bars start up again, as if the song _is_ just beginning. Hey neat! I hadn’t thought of it that way. Minor nitpick: the words are “_I_ might be…” but that’s a nice effect nonetheless. Sort of like the aforementioned Nights In White Satin which ends with a spoken piece and a gong sound. It’s the last track on _Days of Future Passed_, and the first track begins with a reverse gong sound and a spoken part. Enigma’s _MCMXCAD_ also ends the same way it begins. > [@continuity eror](#): > > “In the Middle of the Night” by Billy Joel has about three of these. _River of Dreams_. It’s a really nice song - I have the album on CD and there’s lots of good music on there. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-false-endings/278980/53 "2004-12-11T23:28:10Z")
Paging **Mr Blue Sky**. 🙂 Just when it reaches what you’re sure must be the finishing cresendo, it starts up again. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-false-endings/278980/54 "2004-12-11T23:34:13Z")
“I’ve Seen All Good People” by Yes is virtually two separate songs (Your Move/My Turn) that happen to always be played together. That’s how I took it the first time I heard it on radio. ---
**Author:** ![iggy\_popov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@iggy\_popov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iggy_popov)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2004, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-false-endings/278980/55 "2004-12-11T23:57:51Z")
Iggy Pop seems to have a thing for almost ending a song then going back to the first verse. He does this in T.V. Eye and Sick Of You. Also Marquee Moon by Television has a pause then starts up again. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2004, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-false-endings/278980/56 "2004-12-12T02:26:53Z")
_Let me in_ From **Eddie Money** has a part near the end where everything stops for a couple of seconds, then starts back up again and fades out. In the music video however, the song stops after the fake ending. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2004, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-false-endings/278980/57 "2004-12-20T01:29:48Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Oh… I forgot Monty Python’s song, “I’m So Worried.” It has several different false endings! > > After fretting about all sorts of things, Terry Jones adds… > > "I’m so worried about this very next verse, > It isn’t the best that I’ve got. > And I’m so worried about whether I should go on > Or whether I shouldn’t just stop. > > (You think he’s finished, but then he returns with…) > > I’m so worried about whether I ought to have stopped. > And I’m so worried because it’s the sort of thing I ought to know. > And I’m so worried about the baggage retrieval > System they’ve got at Heathrow. > > (Finished now, right? Wrong! He comes back with…) > > I’m so worried about whether I should have stopped then, > I’m so worried that I’m driving everyone round the bend. > And I’m so worried about the baggage retrieval > System they’ve got at Heathrow." Yes, and I love the sound effect of rustling paper that accompanies the second come-back, like the orchestra members are all checking their sheet music. > [@](#): > > Another Beatles example is “A Day in the Life” which ends with on note that only dogs can hear held for about 30 seconds before the weird endless ending featuring the guys singing the first thing that came to their heads. That was, I believe, Macca’s idea. For those not old enough to have listened to **Pepper** on vinyl, there was a time when phonograph arms didn’t have automatic return. If someone didn’t get up to change the record, the needle would stay in the last, “inner” or “playout” groove, indefinitely. One night Macca and some non-Beatle friends were hanging out, smoking up, and started digging the “chig-unk…chig-unk…chig-unk” sound of the needle on the endlessly spinning disk. “Wouldn’t it be cool if there was something **in** that groove?” And if you **really** want to pick nits, I’m not sure that was even the guys singing; I think it was just party noise. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-false-endings/278980.md?page=2)