That Damn Last Song

So lately I’ve been trying to organise my songs and work out which order I want them to be on the album. This has become quite a frustrating process. I’ve already got my first track sorted out, which is cool. But finding a track to put on the end of the album is starting to annoy me.

You want the last track on the album to leave the listener on a good note, make them feel like the album is complete. The thing is, I’ve had a shortlist of songs I could put on the end of my album, but when I work on them for too long I decide that the song deserves to be higher up on the list – obviously being the last track the percentage of listeners actually listening to the song would be quite low in comparison to say my first 3-5 songs. Headache!

Anyway, to clear my head I went in search of albums I like that have a great closing track. Here’s my top ten:

10. Freedom – Rage Against The Machine
Ok lets start off with Rage, a phat 6 minute song at the end of their self titled album. It really starts at around 1:47 when it goes on an almighty breakdown, with a series of tight riffs which just gels together really well. I love it how at the end its just an absolute mess, giving you the feeling that Rage has just trashed all their shit and left the studio.

9. Champagne Supernova – Oasis
Unforunately now when I hear this song it reminds me of a particular episode of the OC, and no not the first series (where it was actually kinda good…) more of the woeful second series. But anyway the version on the OC was a cover, so it didn’t destroy this song completely.

8. Eclipse – Pink Floyd
It’s not my favourite song on the album, but with a such a powerful list of songs, it would have been pretty hard to finish it off. Pink Floyd did just that, I think Eclipse brings all the elements of the album together, and the quote ‘There is no dark side of the moon really, as a matter of fact it’s all dark’ is just awesome, as is the heartbeat that fades away (which is also used at the start for Speak To Me).

7. Vegan in Furs – Of Montreal
Satanic Panic in the Attic is my favourite Of Montreal album, as my flatmates would know (was probably spun on repeat for a month!). It doesn’t really seem to have the elements of ‘epic last songs’ but for me personally its just a really good song, and it’s just as strong as any other song on that album. But anyway the last 30 seconds is awesome, gotta love the bass riff followed by the gong.

6. Her Majesty – The Beatles
Ok, so it’s 20 seconds long, so does it count? Yes of course it does, because it’s awesome. It feels like the Beatles just came back out for one more song and really just toned it down. Ok better stop writing more crap about a 20 second song, but the guitar part rules. Oh and THAT bass note at the end…

5. The Past and Pending – The Shins
Ok getting into the business end now. Mercer really has such an amazing tone with his voice in this song. Its so minimal too (mostly guitar and vocals) which really just makes it so nice and the way it just brilliantly build up is just so soothing. A great end to a fantastic album.

4. Rider on the Storm – The Doors
This song just screams epic. With its 7 minute length, sound effects of rain and that slightly distorted electric keyboard, nothing else on the album comes close in my opinion (except possibly Love Her Madly).

3. Aneurysm – Nirvana
Definitely the best song on the album (Insecticide) and would arguably be regarded as one of their top songs. The build up at the start is terrific, followed by such a change in pace. “Beat It, Beat It” is just so catchy and the outro of the song “She keeps it pumping straight to my heart” is just awesome. Would have been one of those songs in their live shows where the crowd would have gone mental.

2. A Day In The Life – The Beatles
I think we’re all secretly glad that The Beatles didn’t end Sergeant Pepper’s with the reprise song… A Day In The Life is just over the top mental. Combining both styles of Lennon and McCartney separated by a ridiculous orchestral breakdown.

Producer George Martin explains writing the orchestra part:
“What I did there was to write … the lowest possible note for each of the instruments in the orchestra. At the end of the twenty-four bars, I wrote the highest note…near a chord of E major. Then I put a squiggly line right through the twenty-four bars, with reference points to tell them roughly what note they should have reached during each bar … Of course, they all looked at me as though I were completely mad.”

1. Street Spirit (Fade Out) – Radiohead
I change my mind everyday when I think about whether ‘The Bends’ or ‘OK Computer’ is my favourite album. But in terms of last songs on both albums, Street Spirit definitely takes the cake. Not saying that ‘The Tourist’ (last song on OK computer) is bad, its just that Street Spirit is just so well written. The guitar riff puts you in such a state, hooking you in everytime. I love the guitar work that comes in around the 2 minute mark, building up to the string and heavy drums at the end which just completes the song, and the album, perfectly.

Also an honorable mention goes to Sir Psycho Sexy by the Chili Peppers, since technically it isn’t the last song on the album as ‘They’re red hot’ completes the cd and is just a stupid crappy 1:21 popcorn tune, Psycho sexy just has terrific chord progressions and has a nice, calm, consistent groove, which is a great change of pace as we all know some of the stuff in Sex Magik can be quite spastic.