Of all the great imponderables of life, one keeps retuning to my thoughts like a poorly digested burrito. I speak not of the cosmic why of our existence, nor of the vastness of space and what lies beyond our increasingly expanding horizons. No, I refer to something far weightier: why do some pop songs have a definitive ending and some just fade out?
I will give you moment to catch your collective breath as you let that query sink in.
You know what I mean. “Revolution” has a nice sharp strong ending whilst “Hey Jude” na na na na na nas into forever. “Bohemian Rhapsody” (the song and the movie) stops definitively, while “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” fades out. There’s a distinct end to “Brown Sugar” yet the great “Sympathy for the Devil” just fades and fades.
I know what you’re thinking: why on Earth is he wasting valuable brain matter and my time on this nonsense? My answer is that I am really not a deep thinker, as you have no doubt noticed, and these are the types of things I find intriguing.
Before I go on, I’m sure someone has already come up with this idea, but wouldn’t it be cool to have an in-car karaoke machine that projects the lyrics on your windshield as the song is playing on your radio or streaming device? It would work like a teleprompter so you could still see the road and sing along using the correct lyrics.
We could finally put an end (not a fade out) to belting out these misheard lyrics:
“Like a virgin, touched for the 33rd time”
“You make me feel like a rash on a woman”
“These ants are my friends, they’re blowing in the wind”
“Scuse me while I kiss this guy”
But I digress.
When they are being recorded, songs must end, unless I am completely misunderstanding the laws of physics, time and union lunch breaks. So why, in the final production, are some songs given a nice sharp finale while others are allowed to meander off into infinity?
Other things in life are like this; they either fade out or just stop:
Sudden death games (stop)
TV shows (stop, unless they are X-Files reboots)
Relationships (both, sometimes simultaneously)
And yes, life itself can stop or fade out.
“Hope I die before I get old,” is the iconic lyric from “My Generation” (which has a definite ending by the way). Does Roger Daltrey still believe that? If he does, it’s irrelevant as he is already old and not dead, last I looked.
We ponder what might have been of those cut down in the prime of life – James Dean, Elvis, John Lennon, Joplin, Hendrix, Morrison –while we experience the slow fade of others before our eyes – Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, the Rolling Stones (except Keith Richards who I am convinced actually passed away in the ’80s but has been pickled by alcohol), not to mention the aforementioned Daltrey and Pete Townshend.
Then you have Kirk Douglas who recently turned 102. One hundred and two years old! He hasn’t performed in years but every time I see his photo I must admit, it kind of reassures me (just think how Michael Douglas feels). He is basically the “Hey Jude” of celebrities, gracefully refraining into the sunset.
When you next have nothing much to do, compare and contrast these:
“Born to Run” and “Born in the USA”
“Space Oddity” and “Suffragette City”
“Light My Fire” and “L.A. Woman”
“Whole Lotta Love” and “Stairway to Heaven”
Interestingly I believe pretty much all Hall and Oates songs fade. As do most Dave Matthews songs, but with Dave I get the feeling the band is still jamming away somewhere. Most ironically, of course, is the fade away to the Crickets’ brilliant “Not Fade Away.”
“A Day in the Life” may be the one song in the pop lexicon that got it both ways, ending its majestic 5:34 minutes with a sustained chord of 40 seconds that, incredibly, at once fades the song and brings it to a chillingly conclusive end.
By the way, this would make a great subject for a graduate thesis. You’re welcome.
Returning to my earlier shallow analogy of life and pop songs, if life is indeed sometimes an abrupt finale, sometimes a long fade, I hope don’t die until I get old.
Really, really old.
Steven welcomes your comments. You can reach him at
st***************@gm***.com
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