# What are songs with great climaxes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [June 12, 2025, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545 "2025-06-12T21:29:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545/41 "2025-06-13T06:33:46Z")
Thunder Road has a fairly steady build up throughout and then climaxes when Clarence and his sax enter the chat. Fun fact: Google AI says “The line ‘Mary’s dress sways’ is often used to represent the climax of the song.” That’s literally the second line of the song. Talk about premature E Streetulation. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545/42 "2025-06-13T07:08:36Z")
Another Peter Gabriel number: “Solsbury Hill.” ---
**Author:** ![Clawdio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Clawdio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clawdio)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545/43 "2025-06-13T08:19:58Z")
Shocked that Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd hasn’t been mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545/44 "2025-06-13T09:06:07Z")
Beethoven’s Symphony #9, toward the end of the final movement. “Seid umschlungen, Millionen!”/ “Alle Menschen werden Brüder!” Orchestra and chorus go full throttle—double fugue, full brass, the entire cosmic choir. Cataclysmic! ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545/45 "2025-06-13T09:36:29Z")
> [@Clawdio](#): > > Shocked that Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd hasn’t been mentioned. Yea, that was the first one one I thought of, too. [Heroin by The Velvet Underground](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN-EZW0Plsg) turns into an ear-splitting mess. I love it. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545/46 "2025-06-13T09:53:45Z")
[The Lovers](https://youtu.be/LUg_lu_D5aU) by The Enid. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545/47 "2025-06-13T11:27:42Z")
[A Slow Song](https://youtu.be/SUiADTHbrW8?feature=shared) by Joe Jackson. The live version in the link has a saxophone that is prominent in the climax. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545/48 "2025-06-13T12:35:04Z")
“Total Eclipse of the Hear” has multiple climaxes, of course. But I immediately thought of Yes’ “Close to the Edge.” It took me about three times listening to it before I could stay awake through the somnolent section. But I somehow popped awake for the climax. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545/49 "2025-06-13T12:43:38Z")
[I’m Going Home](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljCM8g8yztw) - Ten Years After @ Woodstock ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545/50 "2025-06-13T13:15:30Z")
If you like a loooooong slow build to a cracking climax, have I got the tracks for you: [Dogs](https://youtu.be/0fPx4cYRWLU?feature=shared) by Pink Floyd And a much more recent and very different track, but a similar structure: [Joan in the Garden](https://youtu.be/6nhLuHWcTdo?feature=shared) by The Decemberists ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545/51 "2025-06-13T14:30:14Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > Paradise By The Dashboard Light by Meatloaf. Yeah, that song had a literal climax. Followed by a cooldown outro that seemed to last until the end of time… ---
**Author:** ![Chelonaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@Chelonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chelonaut)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545/52 "2025-06-13T15:18:33Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Television’s “Marquee Moon” has one of my favorite guitar solo build-ups ever. It’s positively orgasmic. Have you heard the 15 minute version on “The Blow Up”? Messy but IMHO even better than the studio version. TBOalso has a glorious 15 minute version of Little Johnny Jewel. ---
**Author:** ![DaveUnknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@DaveUnknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveUnknown)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545/53 "2025-06-13T15:25:05Z")
I just heard “Running Scared” (Orbison) on the radio. I think that’s a good one. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545/54 "2025-06-13T15:29:00Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > But I can think of a few others such as the brilliant one in [White Rabbit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnJM_jC7j_4) This is the one that always comes to mind. It’s all crescendo. There’s no calming at the end but I suppose that’s the point. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545/55 "2025-06-13T15:38:17Z")
Grieg - “In the Hall of the Mountain King” ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545/56 "2025-06-13T15:39:30Z")
Pink Floyd - High Hopes, it’s all a setup for Gilmour’s epic slide solo at the end. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545/57 "2025-06-13T15:42:01Z")
Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody”. Wagner’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King”. ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545/58 "2025-06-13T15:46:29Z")
I came here to say Orbison’s got a bunch of them. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545/59 "2025-06-13T15:48:22Z")
Ya know what? I have not. I think I know what I’ll be listening to later today. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545/60 "2025-06-13T15:49:42Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Wagner’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King”. I prefer Grieg’s. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-songs-with-great-climaxes/1019545.md?page=4)