There's something that always gets me in music. I love it when a song builds up in excitement and intensity, and you feel the jubilation when the song has a fantastic release at the end. These seven songs are prime examples of this. They might not catch your attention right away. They might not start out super flashy. But by the end, you're blown away by how strongly it ended. So, I picked seven songs from across the musical spectrum that I believe are strong examples of this. Seven songs where it ain't about how you start, but how you finish!
Bridge over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel
This 1970 song was the original inspiration for the list, especially considering I'm playing its namesake album on my show next week. In my mind, this is the perfect example of a song that builds up in intensity. It goes from 0 to 100 over the course of a song, and does so brilliantly. Art Garfunkel's tender vocals carry us through the first two verses in a very delicate manner. But then you can hear the orchestra start to build up by the time he harmonizes with Paul Simon. And the ending? An absolute burst of energy. Garfunkel is punching high notes, and you can hear a percussive "boom" at the end that gets me every time.
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| Simon and Garfunkel's fantastic 1970 song has one of my all-time favorite endings. |
A Day in the Life by The Beatles
The critics certainly love this Beatles song, as it's consistently rated as one of their all time best. While it's not one of my personal favorites, I will always love the ending. Well, not the very ending with all the weird noises. I'm talking more of the epic orchestral buildup to the final note. By 1967, The Beatles could basically afford anything they wanted musically. And so, George Martin had quite the interesting musical idea for his group. What if his orchestra would either randomly go from their highest to lowest note, or from their lowest to highest note? What kind of chaos would ensue? The brilliant result was the ending of this song (and also the middle right before Paul's part). But it's even more effective at the end, given the release of that final note.
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| The 1967 Beatles... Paul never looked right with a mustache, in my opinion. |
My Prayer by The Platters
With their fabulous lead singer Tony Williams, the Platters had plenty of great endings. "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is another one that comes to mind. Much like that song, most of "My Prayer" is a mellow slow jam. But it builds up quite brilliantly. By the middle, you start to feel some tension at the "tonight, while our hearts are aglow" section. However, the best is certainly saved for last. Williams hits a fantastic high note on "Prayer" right at the end and holds it out. Quite simply, it's singers like him that are the envy of fellow tenors like me! But even then, I saw a talented a capella group at Lead East cover this song recently, where the lead singer did that final note justice.
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| This 1956 song is one of the group's best. |
Love Story by Taylor Swift
Perhaps this is a bit surprising, but we're only traveling back to 2008 for this one. It's a popular misconception that I think all pop music from the past 20 years is bad, I only think most of it is bad. Because there's iconic songs like "Love Story" that I did indeed grow up with as a 6-year old kid. The song starts out very mellow, with Taylor setting the scene and meeting her man on a balcony in summer air. The song does a great job of building excitement as it goes along, as it follows the forbidden "Romeo and Juliet" format. By the time it gets to the "I got tired of waiting", tension is all built up. What will happen? But then the man asks her to marry her, and that tension is released in a beautiful ending.
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| She's the biggest pop star of my generation... Her best song was still 14 years ago, though. |
White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane
So here we have another psychedelic song from 1967. And this song is quite psychedelic, indeed. It starts with images of Alice in Wonderland and of course... pills. The beginning is quiet, but you can already feel the song building towards something greater with its drum rolls. Then lead singer Grace Slick guides us through having "some kind of mushroom" in the middle, tension is only getting greater. Finally, the release comes at the end with the refrain of "Remember what the dormouse said, feed your head!". The song has been described by Slick, who also wrote the song, as one long crescendo. Well, that more than qualifies it for this list.
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| I have played the song on one of my shows before and dedicated it to my Aunt Peggy. |
Highway to Hell by AC/DC
This iconic 1979 rock song shows off the Young brothers' immense guitar talents quite well at the end. Unlike most of the songs on this list, it does not start off soft. I mean, it's AC/DC, do you expect their songs to be quiet? I can name one quiet AC/DC song, "Ride On", that's it. Now as I mentioned, the best moment for "Highway to Hell" comes at the end, with Bon Scott's growling vocals. All the while, Angus is shredding it on lead guitar, while brother Malcolm follows along on rhythm. It's a very satisfying ending to one of the group's most iconic songs.
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| The Amish were NOT fans when Peter played "Highway to Hell". |
Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out on Broadway)
We conclude our list with this fabulous song from Billy Joel, featuring one of my all-time favorite piano parts courtesy of the Piano Man. Back in 1976, Billy wasn't the mega star he was in the 80s, and was still kinda the starving artist type coming up with beautifully fresh ideas. And that includes this dystopian song that has a phenomenal ending. Billy pounds out the piano, and "tells the world about the way the lights went out". All the while, the orchestra is at its peak buildup. But after that, the quiet and pretty piano from the beginning is reprised. Turnstiles will eventually be played on Graeme's Awesome Albums, and this song is the biggest reason why.
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| 1976 Billy Joel was entering his career peak. |
What other songs do you think have amazing endings? Let me know in the comments.
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