the 'we don't know what else to do so....' ending

here's the archetypical example, using a popular theme

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI9OYMRwN1Q

those two chords at the end. to anyone who's listened to a lot of music they just scream 'yeah this was a cool idea, but now we're locked into making a song with it, and we have no idea how to end it. let's have a meeting in which we decide a fast V-I progression will wrap things up nicely w00t we done made a hit!!1!'

name and optionally post other examples of the 'no idea how to end the track' syndrome here!

better or worse than a fadeout???

oh, far worse. a fadeout has a slight whiff of honest defeat about it.

i can't think of a single good song that ends this way.

some of the best music just fades out

good endings for 3 minute songs seems like a stupid idea

this thread has proper fucked me; i can't stop listening to the end of BorW and marvelling at it.

Always fade out in a montage,

If you fade out, it seem like more time

Has passed in a montage,

Montage

fade outs drive me cray but i agree that this is worse.

Stars in Their Eyes

recent BoC...the tape/record effect towards the end of Chromakey Dreamcoat screams gimmick to me...the hippie tabla jam at the end of the Why remix also seemed like a weak cop out

also, cymbal crashes to end a song. fuck that

i disagree about fadeout. on an album, it's cool if songs fade into eachother.

my favorite album, Loveless, I am pretty sure contains fadeouts on every track (though they're usually incredibly fast and lead straight into the next song)

also dj sets consist entirely of fadeouts.

there is something about hearing a repetition for a few minutes and then hearing the repetition fade out. it's entrancing.

  On 7/6/2009 at 6:00 AM, vamos scorcho said:

i disagree about fadeout. on an album, it's cool if songs fade into eachother.

 

my favorite album, Loveless, I am pretty sure contains fadeouts on every track (though they're usually incredibly fast and lead straight into the next song)

 

also dj sets consist entirely of fadeouts.

 

there is something about hearing a repetition for a few minutes and then hearing the repetition fade out. it's entrancing.

that is not what they are talking about

thanks sneaksta, i was gonna go apeshit.

  On 7/6/2009 at 6:05 AM, essines said:

thanks sneaksta, i was gonna go apeshit.

i had to restrain myself...

I like the end of 84 Pontiac Dream by Boards of Canada

  On 7/6/2009 at 5:54 AM, olson said:

also, cymbal crashes to end a song. fuck that

oh you mean

da da da (pause, drummer "subtly" counts 4 on sticks...) CRASH!

aka the Battle Of The Bands ending

there's an entire conversation about fade outs in this book i once read.

one of the characters says she likes fade outs because it always seems like the singers become more enthusiastic as the song starts to fade, like they're fighting against the dying volume...

i can't find a quote, but the book is vox by nicholas baker.

  On 7/6/2009 at 6:48 AM, chaosmachine said:

there's an entire conversation about fade outs in this book i once read.

 

one of the characters says she likes fade outs because it always seems like the singers become more enthusiastic as the song starts to fade, like they're fighting against the dying volume...

 

i can't find a quote, but the book is vox by nicholas baker.

Usually they fade right when the singer gets TOO enthusiatic and does something off-key or just retarded sounding. When you heard the un-faded acapellas of famous songs you generally have a "THAT'S why they faded it there" moment.

The most famous is Marvin Gaye's "Please dont procrastinate, [fade starts] it's not good to ma..." in Sexual Healing

  On 7/6/2009 at 6:03 AM, sneaksta303 said:

that is not what they are talking about

i was being defensive because i use fade outs quite often. i like them.

favorite fadeout:

Pavement - We Dance (skip to 2:30)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcJ7GpHQT24

wow. just listened to the michael jackson clip. that was terrible. they definitely should have faded out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQCQ3yWJDoU

ba da ba da ba da da da PSHHH

like this analogue wings

  On 7/6/2009 at 8:34 AM, olson said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQCQ3yWJDoU

 

ba da ba da ba da da da PSHHH

 

like this analogue wings

Fucking LOL! I only listened to the last five seconds and it was easily the best five seconds of my life.