Career closers

[lotusamerica]

Sorry, if there is already a thread on this somewhere, but what are some great career closing songs, by which I mean some apparent career capping song on their last proper studio album? ideally, a self-aware song commenting on it all, but not necessary.

marley - redemption song
replacements - all shook down
skynyrd - that smell
sam cooke - a change is gonna come

[dime in the gutter]

duane allman/little martha

[beantownbubba]

John Lennon's Double Fantasy. I'm sure plenty of people are reaching for their barf bags already, and maybe "career capper" is not quite right, but it demonstrates beautifully how he had evolved and exactly where he was in his life when it was recorded and when he was murdered shortly after. So i think that qualifies as a great ending in some ways even tho it wasn't his "best" music by any objective standard.

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

Zevon's last couple of albums. He saw what was coming and stood up to it. And he offered some of the wisest words I've ever heard about life: Enjoy EVERY Sandwich!

[RevMatt]

The Beatles had two great career closers; on their last recording the Abbey Road medley ends with the lines, "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." And, the last release ends with, "I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and myself and I hope we passed the audition."

[Iowan]

"Bar Lights" Whiskeytown

[OtisTheBulldog]

Not an album, but I always found it fitting that in Jerry Garcia's last show he played So Many Roads and the last song he sang lead was Black Muddy River, a song about going to die alone.

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

Not an album, but I always found it fitting that in Jerry Garcia's last show he played So Many Roads and the last song he sang lead was Black Muddy River, a song about going to die alone.

and good lord, does he ever lay his soul wide open for all to hear on that So Many Roads from 7/9/95, painful to listen to but he is testifying. And Phil had a bad feeling, so he couldn't let Black Muddy River be the last song, which is why he threw in Box of Rain as a (somewhat rare for the 90s) second encore

[Patman]

Otis Redding - (Sittin On) The Dock of the Bay

If that counts since he died before it was even finished. Still, that's one hell of a last song to release. There's not one thing in that song that isn't perfect.

[DeadBro in eastTenn]

Bon Scott "Night Prowler":

Shazbot, Nanu nanu.

[dime in the gutter]

[OtisTheBulldog]

Not an album, but I always found it fitting that in Jerry Garcia's last show he played So Many Roads and the last song he sang lead was Black Muddy River, a song about going to die alone.

and good lord, does he ever lay his soul wide open for all to hear on that So Many Roads from 7/9/95, painful to listen to but he is testifying. And Phil had a bad feeling, so he couldn't let Black Muddy River be the last song, which is why he threw in Box of Rain as a (somewhat rare for the 90s) second encore

In the year 2001, I killed a 1990 Toyota Camry on my way to Newport, RI (apparently you are supposed to keep the engine full of oil or it seizes. Who knew?) I sat at the tow yard in my dead vehicle waiting for a friend to pick us up where I'd spend the next 4 days calling off work and hanging out at the beach. As luck would have it, I had a Dead box set (I think it's called So Many Roads) which I believe has at least a portion of the 7/9/95 So Many Roads (another version may be spliced in if memory serves).

Anyways, I pop in So Many Roads and smoke a cigarette and say good bye to my first car (which I murdered). It was a fitting moment.

[Steve French]

saying on the record you were underwhelmed when meeting your commander in chief, or

publicly undermining your plan. What the hell was McCrystal ON with that interview!!??

[beantownbubba]

saying on the record you were underwhelmed when meeting your commander in chief, or

publicly undermining your plan. What the hell was McCrystal ON with that interview!!??

I had the same thought - see your original post - but this is better.

[Clams]

That song gives me chills every single time. That's some scary, scary shit.

[mhc]

Johnny Cash's version of "Hurt".

[mhc]

Gram Parsons
In my hour of Darkness

[Clams]

Gram Parsons
In my hour of Darkness

Hell yeah.

another young man safely strummed
his silver string guitar
and he played to people everywhere
some say he was a star
but he was just a country boy
his simple songs confess
and the music he had in him so very few possess

[UTHeathen]

Not an album, but I always found it fitting that in Jerry Garcia's last show he played So Many Roads and the last song he sang lead was Black Muddy River, a song about going to die alone.

My thoughts exactly. Thank you Otis.

[tinnitus photography]

i know most won't know (or give a damn) about Tar, but their farewell _Over And Out_ is a masterpiece.

[mhc]

Not an album, but I always found it fitting that in Jerry Garcia's last show he played So Many Roads and the last song he sang lead was Black Muddy River, a song about going to die alone.

and good lord, does he ever lay his soul wide open for all to hear on that So Many Roads from 7/9/95, painful to listen to but he is testifying. And Phil had a bad feeling, so he couldn't let Black Muddy River be the last song, which is why he threw in Box of Rain as a (somewhat rare for the 90s) second encore

That So Many Roads is gut wrenching!! I have a hard time listening to it, especially when he says "Lord".
I am getting emotional typing it. I have a hard time listening to anything from 95. Jerry was really struggling. I saw the 2 shows in Memphis and the disaster at Deer Creek that year.I remember in the second set aLl the lights were up, due to the Death Threat, the gates came down in the Lawn and Jerry put it all in prospective on New Speedway Boogie."this Darkness Got To Give"!!!
I was in the pavilion during the 1st set. They were playing Desolation Row and the lawn went nuts. I turned around and people were jumping the fence, tearing it down. Very depressing scene. They finished the 1st set with Let it Grow and had the longest set break imaginable. They came out for the 2nd set and the house lights stayed up. It sucked to be there and it sucked to have my last show be this one. I can't make myself listen to it.

[Jeremy]

Not sure if rappers count because they tend to release 10 albums after they die but:
Biggie Smalls-Long Kiss Goodnight
TuPac-I Aint Mad At Cha
Both of these songs sound a little different since both were shot.

Not an album, but I always found it fitting that in Jerry Garcia's last show he played So Many Roads and the last song he sang lead was Black Muddy River, a song about going to die alone.

Didnt really get into to the dead until after Jerry died, but one of my buddies who is a little older than me and a true dead head(something like 200 shows between 1975 and 1995) was telling me about that show and broke down a little bit talking about it.

[lotusamerica]

"I wish I knew how it feels to be free" was a great career closer for Levon Helm. Even if he didn't write it, he knew it was a great last album, last song number... RIP forever Mr. Helm.


( Richard Carroll Lamp, Willy E. Taylor )

I wish I knew how it would feel to be free
I wish I could break all the chains holding me
I wish I could say all the things that I should say
Say 'em loud, say 'em clear
For the whole round world to hear.

I wish I could share all the love that's in my heart
Remove all the bars that keep us apart
I wish you could know what it means to be me
Then you'd see and agree
That every man should be free.

I wish I could give all I'm longing to give
I wish I could live like I'm longing to live
I wish that I could do all the things that I can do
Though I'm way overdue I'd be starting anew.

Well I wish I could be like a bird in the sky
How sweet it would be if I found I could fly
Oh I'd soar to the sun and look down at the sea
And I'd sing cos I'd know that
And I'd sing cos I'd know that
And I'd sing cos I'd know that
I'd know how it feels to be free
I'd know how it feels to be free
I'd know how it feels to be free

[Kudzu Guillotine]

The last song on their last full length album:

[tinnitus photography]

Unwound - Leaves Turn Inside You


great way to call it quits.

[Rocky]

Otis Redding - (Sittin On) The Dock of the Bay

If that counts since he died before it was even finished. Still, that's one hell of a last song to release. There's not one thing in that song that isn't perfect.

Thank you. 9 posts in is too late for this song IMHO.

[Zip City]

Last tracks on last albums:

Queen - The Show Must Go On

Not only a great song worthy of inclusion in the Queen canon, but one recorded when Mercury was nearing death due to rapid onset of the AIDS virus. How he managed to hit those notes while so sick......chilling




Pink Floyd - High Hopes

Like the Queen track, it's a great song on an otherwise bland album. The lyrics are a look back across the band's beginnings. Great video (directed by the late Storm Thorgensen) that pays tribute to Syd Barrett.


http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1ss32 ... dQxqDGWUeY


Nirvana - All Apologies

"Where Did You Sleep Last Night" is also a great entry here, but "All Apologies" is the last studio track for Nirvana. It's a direct response to his critics, though they'd never get to answer his questions....

[John A Arkansawyer]

Here's a great one:

[blackwll]

Led Zeppelin, All of My Love

Freddie Mercury tribute concert was off the hook. Even George Michael sounded good. Tony Iommi was awesome.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

Didn't The Last Waltz sort of set the precedent for the big, last concert blow out? And yeah, I know the Band reunited sans Robertson. Even if he was a major pain in the ass, it was not the same without him.