Cut the Chord: In Offense of the Fade Out
Are you gonna end the song like a gentleman or fade it out like some kind of democrat?
Fade outs are lazy.
When a song fades out, it is almost always because the writer(s) couldn’t think of an actual ending to the song. It’s an uncreative fall-back for people who simply can’t be bothered.
“Fade outs are lazy, and I hate them.”
- Caleb Schilly (Needless To Say)
Inevitably, a fade out is going to be a weak ending. As soon as it starts, you might as well turn off the song: there will be no more dramatic tension, suspense, or payoff. In other words, the song has failed to make a case for its own existence, a failure which I condemn in this post.
Take a song like “Hey Jude” by the Beatles. It’s a seven minute song, and the last four minutes are one long fade out. By the time you’ve hit the 3:30 mark, you’ve heard the whole song! Why bother listening to the rest? Right?
…
You’re not convinced. I can sense you’ve pulled back.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have gone after the greatest band of all time in my introduction.
The Rules
I will select two songs: one with a fadeout, and one with an actual ending.
The two songs must be connected in some way.
The two songs must be bangers.
We will decide together which song has the best ending.
It will largely be a unilateral decision by me.
The names of each piece/song will be linked to Spotify if you care to listen along.
Round 1
“Neptune, the Mystic” by Gustav Holst (1914-1917)
Symphony No. 5 in C Minor by Ludwig Van Beethoven (1804-1808)
Connection: These are two seminal orchestral works that influenced the sound and evolution of music in the coming century. Beethoven perfects the symphonic form, while Holst revolutionizes the traditional orchestral sound.
So which one ends better?
The ending of Beethoven’s Fifth is the stuff of legend. It’s the paragon of classical endings, with huge, climactic bursts and a definitive resolution. It’s tasteful. Classy. Everything you want out of an ending. Honestly, it wasn’t very fair of me to pick this one to go first.
“Neptune” is the final piece of Holst’s seven-movement orchestral suite The Planets. He wrote one piece for each of the planets of the solar system (not including Earth), characterizing each celestial body by its astrological qualities. The suite as a whole functions as a sonic tour of the solar system; the audience imagines drifting past each of the subjects as they journey further and further out into space.
And then “Neptune” fades out.
It’s ominous. It’s uncertain. It feels like we’ve drifted past Neptune and into the unknown void of space. I can imagine the audience, braced for applause but unsure of the exact moment that the piece ends. There would be a moment of ambiguous silence that is enormous, contemplative, and meaningful.
Wait a second.
Did the fade out just win?
Round 2
“Fire and Rain” by James Taylor (1970)
“American Pie” by Don McLean (1971)
Connection: A couple of folksy, acoustic sing-alongs about dead people.
“Fire and Rain” is a beautiful, sentimental song in which Taylor sings about the death of his childhood friend. It’s an emotional work of art, and should be treated with respect.
But this fade out stinks.
It’s like everyone in the band forgot how the song went for the last fifteen seconds and so the producer just turned everything down and sent them all home.
On the other hand, we’ve got “American Pie,” Don McLean’s campfire classic that ends with what I can only assume is a group of drunken friends standing shoulder to shoulder and belting out the refrain. Then they slow down as they reach the final lines while Don strums the final, conclusive chord.
“American Pie” wins, and it’s not even close.
Round 3
“Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd
“The Spirit of Radio” by Rush
Connection: Two iconic rock songs that came out in 1980. (Well, The Wall dropped in 1979, by “Comfortably Numb” wasn’t released as a single until 1980.
I used to take great umbrage with the ending of “Comfortably Numb,” a song which dares to fade out during one of the best and most iconic guitar solos of all time.
I mean, how long was [David Gilmour] playing? He must have kept going for a least a few seconds after the song has become inaudible. Maybe even ten seconds. Maybe thirty! Maybe he thought he had a full minute left to shred. … This egregious conclusion sullies an otherwise perfect song, and—
- Caleb Schilly, ten minutes ago (edited for brevity)
I took great umbrage, that is, until I looked at the ending of The Planets while writing this post. After all, isn’t Pink Floyd’s ending basically accomplishing what Holst did back in “Neptune, the Mystic”?
Instead of floating through outer space, this song is about drifting off into nothingness after a healthy dose of tranquilizers. It’s about the liminal space between awareness and the subconscious. It’s about becoming comfortably numb to the world.
But that means…
Dear me. The fade out is…good??
The good news is that no matter how good the “Comfortably Numb” fade out is, it will not top the ending of “The Spirit of Radio”.
We rocket out of Alex Lifeson’s guitar solo and settle into the groove of main riff. Then the piano sweeps us into a coda, which features a blistering reprisal of the opening lick before two conclusive stabs that say “This is the best ending of 1980 and we know it.”
Round 4
“Wild God” by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
“Breathless” by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Connection: Both songs sprouted from a batch of suspect germ.
Nick Cave is a weird guy, and “Wild God” is a weird song. But it’s also awesome, and beautiful, and powerful. The strings grow strong and stronger, and the accompanying choir drives the energy to the heavens.
The fade out baffles me.
Now, let’s be fair. This is the leading single off an album that will drop in August—perhaps the ending of “Wild God” will lead nicely into the next song once we can play everything in the intended sequence. But for now…I really wish they’d gone for a strong, epic conclusion. They’ve got the big orchestral sound—this was a perfect time for a Beethoven’s-Fifth-type of resolution.
“Breathless” goes for the opposite of a big finish—this is your textbook fizzler. It sounds like Nick runs out of breath on the last few words, and the flute that finishes the song is played in short, soft bursts rather than holding sustained legato notes like the flurry of woodwinds that opens the song.
Do you see what…do you see what they’ve done?
Having everyone in the band run out of breath at the end of a song called “Breathless” is just good business.
The Results
Needless to say, this newsletter could have gone on forever. There are so many examples to choose from—I merely selected a few that I consider to be a) iconic, b) immensely frustrating, or c) underrated.
The results: proper endings took 3 out of 4 match-ups.
But two of those pairings were extremely close. Crowd-favorite Beethoven’s 5th fell to Holst in overtime, and underdog “Comfortably Numb” clawed its way back from a huge deficit only to lose on a buzzer-beater by Rush.
So, the real result? Maybe fade outs aren’t lazy.
Maybe fade outs are just another tool in a songwriter’s toolbox.
Maybe it depends on the song, and the circumstance, and the intention behind the ending.
Maybe I was wrong.
Maybe…