Top 3 Closing Album Tracks

Often they are the songs that can make or break an album. To me a perfect album should always have a great song to end on. The best closing album tracks I find often sum up the album in one song and really leave you with an excited feeling for more material. Thought I would share mine and thought it would be interesting to hear other people's.

1. Faded - The Afghan Whigs: The final song on their Black Love album really is epic in its scope. The haunting piano and smoky vocals make this a really interesting listen and it just builds and builds to such an epic finale. To me it just encapsulates a lifetime in this one song. This is what you call a closing track! I owe Brian one for introducing me to Greg Dulli

Key line: 'Lord lift me out of the night, come on look down, see the mess I'm in tonight'

2. No Gods - Sharks: Probably the best song on their album of the same name. This song really does sum up the message of the album and is hopeful and optimistic. It is not an anti-religious song by any means (I personally believe in God) but the message is you don't need help from greater powers, if you believe in yourself anything is possible and this feeling of freedom is summed up by the guitar solo towards the end of the song. It really is stunning.

Key line: 'so let this be the start of something, each to an empire we can call our own'

3. The Backseat - The Gaslight Anthem: What can I say that hasn't already been said on this forum about this song? I wouldn't put it in my top 5 Gaslight songs but as a closing album track it doesn't get much better than this. Anthemic, rousing and completely relatable this song really confirms for me why The '59 Sound is my favourite album ever. To me it just captures the spirit of youth and that feeling of wanting to belong. Great song.

Key line: 'Come July, we'll ride the Ferris Wheel, go round and round and round, and if you never let me go, well I will never let you down'

I get goosebumps every time I listen to these songs.

Mine would be:

Jimmy Eat World - Goodbye Sky Harbor
Jimmy Eat World - 23
Foo Fighters - Walk

I'll add reasons why later but I've got to run for now.

This is a cool idea, Christophe! Here are my top three album closers:

1. "I Believe Jesus Brought Us Together" - The Horrible Crowes: I don't think there could have been a better way to end Elsie. So many of the songs were heavy and dark, having a song that showed hope that maybe things would be okay really brought the album full circle.

Key lines: Did you say you were afraid of dying? I ain't lived a single day without you.

2. "My Hometown" - Bruce Springsteen: Born in the U.S.A. has always been one of my favorite albums, and this poignant tale of a working class town that has fallen on hard times is the perfect way to end the album. I always get chills when I hear the last verse.

Key lines: I'm thirty-five we got a boy of our own now. Last night I sat him up behind the wheel and said son take a good look around. This is your hometown.

3. "The End" - The Beatles: Even though Abbey Road technically ends with the hidden 23 second track "Her Majesty", "The End" is the final part of the medley that closes out the album and it's just perfect. Nothing fancy at all, in fact this one is about as simple as a Beatles song gets lyric-wise, but I love it. And as an added bonus, it inspired one of the best SNL skits with Chris Farley and Paul McCartney. Awesome!

Key lines: And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.

1) Only In Dreams by Weezer, closing track on The Blue Album.

2) Venice Queen by RHCP, closing track on By The Way

3) The Backseat

"Train in Vain" - The Clash (London Calling)
"Constant Headache" - Joyce Manor (s/t)
"Sleep Forever" - Portugal. the Man (In the Mountain In the Cloud)

That's no definitive list but 3 that I thought of right away.

How a Resurrection Really Feels - The Hold Steady:

An amazing ending to Separation Sunday. The song is pretty triumphant. I guess it's a happy ending to an album that also has some really dark stories. I love the guitars in this song and Craig's lyrics are as good as ever.

...But Home is Nowhere(/Poem/This Time Imperfect) - AFI:

This really dark and haunting and it gets me every time. It's just full of despair and hopelessness:

This is my line, this is eternal
How did I ever end up here?
Discarnate, preternatural
My prayers to disappear
Absent of grace, marked as infernal
Ungranted in dead time left me disowned
To this nature, so unnatural
I remain alone

The apocalyptic poem spoken by three geneartions is really beautiful and the ending This Time Imperfect is epic.

Jungleland - Bruce Springsteen. :

Jungleland is always Jungleland.

simo wrote:

"Train in Vain" - The Clash (London Calling)
"Constant Headache" - Joyce Manor (s/t)
"Sleep Forever" - Portugal. the Man (In the Mountain In the Cloud)

That's no definitive list but 3 that I thought of right away.

Sleep Forever truly does elevate that album greatly.

The Backseat is definitely there for me. Jungleland. Probably Release from Ten.

1- the gaslight anthem - the backseat
"The ideal angels twist and turn, ask forgiveness for future mistakes. But you and I we've been through this maybe 100 times before. Always hitching rides with strangers."

2- the swellers - warming up
"Every day I find a way to make you wait for me It feels better in the heat."

3- bane - swan song
"When Armageddon's been locked and loaded I will come back for you."

Call It Off from The Con by Tegan and Sara
- It's hard to explain my love for this song, but I'm sure most of you know how important just one song can be. This song and album meant everything to me and helped me through a lot of difficult moments in my life, and continues to be one of my favorite songs. The perfect song to end my favorite album ever.

I Didn't Understand from XO by Elliott Smith
- Another one of my favorite albums, and this song for me sums up a lot of things everybody feels at some point, but they're just afraid to say it.

We Did It When We Were Young
- This song basically locked in Gaslight as my favorite band. It blew my mind when I first heard it, and everytime I hear it, it's takes me back to the first time I heard it, and gives me goosebumps all over again.

Gonna keep this non-TGA/THC

- Jungleland - The Boss (Born to Run)
Simply amazing, one of the greatest songs ever
- 'And the poets down here don't write nothing at all, they just stand back and let it all be . . .

- The Blood - The Frames (Set:List)
Live album, brilliant preformance. Song gives me goosebumps everytime I hear it, powerful stuff
-'There's a note, I found / Reminding me, not to wait / Cause you'd come and look for me/ But not to wait'

- The Joker - Coronas (Heroes or Ghosts)
Song that stops me in my tracks everytime I hear, just has that something about it
-'When we first met you didn't know / But I saw a spark in your soul . . . '

1. We Did It When We Were Young - The Gaslight Anthem

2. Jungleland - Bruce Springsteen

3. Only In Dreams - Weezer

Christophe wrote:

1. Faded - The Afghan Whigs: The final song on their Black Love album really is epic in its scope. The haunting piano and smoky vocals make this a really interesting listen and it just builds and builds to such an epic finale. To me it just encapsulates a lifetime in this one song. This is what you call a closing track! I owe Brian one for introducing me to Greg Dulli
Key line: 'Lord lift me out of the night, come on look down, see the mess I'm in tonight'

You guys have such great picks! I especially love Faded

So i'm gonna steer clear of gaslight crowes and stuff thats already been said..
1. 505 - Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys always have really strong closing songs, but i think this one is my favorite. It's really different, it's got only two chords and starts out with an organ riff. I always love listening to it when I'm traveling somewhere or coming home, it's so emotional!
Key line: "I'm going back to 505, if it's a 7 hour flight or a 45 minute drive, in my imagination you're waiting lying on your side, with your hands between your thighs."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifZfUVp2chE
2. Heart BPM - Fake Problems
This song is just so epic, I'm sure some of you heard it already but it's really inspiring and reminds me to savor being young and make the most of my time here. Ah, youth! What great instrumentation too.
Key line: "There's nothing really left to say, my soul is stuck on the interstate. When I finally get around to calling home, I'll have long forgotten the area code."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5hyV6EdGdw
3. Jet Lag - Frank Turner
So I guess I've been choosing bands who happen to always have great closing tracks, and Frank Turner's the same way. But I feel like people never talk about Jet Lag, and in my opinion it's one of his best and definitely most emotional songs. It also has to do with travel and exhaustion, and it's different for him in that it's just piano and his voice - and what a voice Frank has, holy crap.
Key line: "Because we used to be slick, with supple young hips, romantic young kissable lips, unbearably sharp unbreakable heart, wide eyes and faith that life could never pull us apart if we were OK… But distance kills the best intentions."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPlu40gIx_A

DeathoftheCool wrote:

Christophe wrote:

1. Faded - The Afghan Whigs: The final song on their Black Love album really is epic in its scope. The haunting piano and smoky vocals make this a really interesting listen and it just builds and builds to such an epic finale. To me it just encapsulates a lifetime in this one song. This is what you call a closing track! I owe Brian one for introducing me to Greg Dulli
Key line: 'Lord lift me out of the night, come on look down, see the mess I'm in tonight'

You guys have such great picks! I especially love Faded

So i'm gonna steer clear of gaslight crowes and stuff thats already been said..
1. 505 - Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys always have really strong closing songs, but i think this one is my favorite. It's really different, it's got only two chords and starts out with an organ riff. I always love listening to it when I'm traveling somewhere or coming home, it's so emotional!
Key line: "I'm going back to 505, if it's a 7 hour flight or a 45 minute drive, in my imagination you're waiting lying on your side, with your hands between your thighs."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifZfUVp2chE
2. Heart BPM - Fake Problems
This song is just so epic, I'm sure some of you heard it already but it's really inspiring and reminds me to savor being young and make the most of my time here. Ah, youth! What great instrumentation too.
Key line: "There's nothing really left to say, my soul is stuck on the interstate. When I finally get around to calling home, I'll have long forgotten the area code."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5hyV6EdGdw
3. Jet Lag - Frank Turner
So I guess I've been choosing bands who happen to always have great closing tracks, and Frank Turner's the same way. But I feel like people never talk about Jet Lag, and in my opinion it's one of his best and definitely most emotional songs. It also has to do with travel and exhaustion, and it's different for him in that it's just piano and his voice - and what a voice Frank has, holy crap.
Key line: "Because we used to be slick, with supple young hips, romantic young kissable lips, unbearably sharp unbreakable heart, wide eyes and faith that life could never pull us apart if we were OK… But distance kills the best intentions."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPlu40gIx_A

"i travelled forty thousand miles last year, and i'm working on the same again,
i fell for fifteen different girls and nearly lost all of my friends
i'm jet set, jet lagged, jaded,
you're always sixteen hours ahead,
quietly reminding me of how i used to be"

gets me every single time.

1. Frank Turner- Jet Lag (see above)

2. Brothers in Arms- Dire Straits

great lyrics, great atmosphere, perfect way to end the album. Knopfler sings this one perfectly, both vocally and on the guitar. i'm not really sure how to describe the mood when i hear the last verse and the outtro. maybe the best word for it would be "determined."

"we're fools to make war on our brothers in arms"

3. Louisiana Rain- Tom Petty

Petty can be a cinematic writer at times, and this is one of his most cinematic songs lyrically and musically. it's got great American locations, heartbreak, large amounts of substance abuse, music, and rain that is more than just rain. who wouldn't want to make a movie about that?

i also just love the way Petty says "California."

1) Slapped Actress - Stay Positive - The Hold Steady
Starts off with a powerful guitar and keys intro riff, and then suddenly quiets down, but gradually resumes getting louder and louder as the song progresses. Listening to The Hold Steady's Stay Positive is like watching a play, and there is a great story behind each song. I tend to pair Joke About Jamaica and this song together as the "final act" in the "play." The overall tone of those two songs, but particularly Slapped Actress really do feel like something incredible is about to come to an end, but the song offers a comforting closure. If it wasn't this song that made the list it would be How A Resurrection Really Feels off of their second album Separation Sunday.

2) Goddamn Lonely Love - The Dirty South - Drive-By Truckers
An entire record made up of only great songs would be an understatement. Jason Isbell really came into his own as a song writer with The Dirty South, and finally found his groove in the Drive-By Truckers. Isbell contributes four out of the fourteen songs on this album, and it is those four that stand out the most. Goddamn Lonely Love is a heartbreaking song that I ruined for myself by learning on guitar, but nonetheless it is fantastic.

3) Salt of the Earth - Beggars Banquet - Rolling Stones
Probably an underrated Stones Song, but it's one of my favourites. I really enjoy Kieth's singing in the beginning.

I tried to make this a non Gaslight list, but I do feel this deserves to be here.

4) We Did It When We Were Young/She Loves You - American Slang - The Gaslight Anthem
It depends what copy you've got physical or digital of American Slang as to what ending track you will have, but both are too incredible to leave off a list like this. The layered vocals take an opposite direction from the rest of the sing-along-chorus album, but they moody tone was something we'd never heard from TGA before, and it set the tone for Elsie.

The Angry Johnny Revue wrote:

3) Salt of the Earth - Beggars Banquet - Rolling Stones
Probably an underrated Stones Song, but it's one of my favourites. I really enjoy Kieth's singing in the beginning.

That was a great choice. When Mick and Keith sang that song during the concert for New York after 9/11, it became one of my favorite Stones songs.

Release by Pearl Jam on Ten
Mom by Lucero on 1372 Overton
Hearts BPM by Fake Problems on It's Great to be Alive.

My list:

1. The Backseat. I know it's been listed quite a few times here, but c'mon - I have the lyric tattooed on me. How can I not include it?

2. Murder of One - August and Everything After - Counting Crows. A cry for making your life worth something. It could have been the first track because it so thoroughly sums up the feeling of that album.

3. A Day in the Life - Sgt. Pepper - The Beatles. Iconic for all the reasons it should be iconic.

njguy99 wrote:

My list:

3. A Day in the Life - Sgt. Pepper - The Beatles. Iconic for all the reasons it should be iconic.

YES. Also tomorrow never knows on revolver!!

1. The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses - I am the Resurrection. In my opinion the best album closer of all time, I can go back to this song time and time again and just obsess over the jam at the end.

2.The Streets - A Grand Don't Come for Free - Empty Cans. One of my favourite artists of all time and easily my favourite Streets album. For those of you who aren't familiar with this record it is essentially a concept album. The way the story is told is amazing and right at the end when you are feeling at the lowest point, you are lifted up given a sense of euphoria. Seriously check this album out !!

3.Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory? - Champagne Supernova. For me this was Noel Gallagher's finest hour. Anthem personified in my opinion, the way that it builds up is just awesome.

Honourable mentions;

Bob Dylan - desolation row
Gaslight - Backseat
Radiohead - Street Spirit

plugga wrote:

njguy99 wrote:

My list:

3. A Day in the Life - Sgt. Pepper - The Beatles. Iconic for all the reasons it should be iconic.

YES. Also tomorrow never knows on revolver!!

I also agree with A Day in the Life. It's my favourite Beatles song, don't know why I didn't think of it.

Camus wrote:

plugga wrote:

njguy99 wrote:

My list:

3. A Day in the Life - Sgt. Pepper - The Beatles. Iconic for all the reasons it should be iconic.

YES. Also tomorrow never knows on revolver!!

I also agree with A Day in the Life. It's my favourite Beatles song, don't know why I didn't think of it.

Ahhh, yes. I'm more attached to the Anthology version, but either way, that song is incredible.

stepsandnumbers wrote:

Camus wrote:

plugga wrote:

njguy99 wrote:

My list:

3. A Day in the Life - Sgt. Pepper - The Beatles. Iconic for all the reasons it should be iconic.

YES. Also tomorrow never knows on revolver!!

I also agree with A Day in the Life. It's my favourite Beatles song, don't know why I didn't think of it.

Ahhh, yes. I'm more attached to the Anthology version, but either way, that song is incredible.

At least now we know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall...