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Friday, November 4, 2011

Closing Time

(photo via Patrishka)
Album closing tracks are of a highly specialized class: there are variations to the rule, but as a whole the underlying principle states they should either present themselves as either a short coda -- reflecting back upon the album themes, often presented as a quiet, acoustic piece -- or they raise the stakes into high-flown territory, stretching their musical arms into the expanses, touching upon an area the rest of the album dared not traverse.

Hip-hop, in particular, is not very conducive to this theory; many have a superfluous remix tacked on at the end, offer a sampled outro to show us the door, or proceed like it's business as usual. That's not a knock on the genre as a whole by any means, only a personal frustration over the lack of hip-hop reflected in this stew I've cooked up rather quickly. It can be argued that Kanye West's "Who Will Survive in America" or OutKast's "Chonkyfire" serve as excellent closing tracks that support my theory, and they do, but their respective albums didn't hinge on them to become classics; basically, they are outshined by other tracks. Or, more tellingly, I should simply say I'm not fit to be the spokesperson for the history of hip-hop.

It should also be very apparent that this is an unorganized, non-comprehensive list of pop and rock music (jazz/ambient/classical and other genres outside of the usual song spectrum would be much harder). I'm also aware some of the tracks represented are cover versions. You can decide which fall into what class of song: short coda or theme-expanding red giant?

Closing Time (full list):

Written by precisely 8:17 PM
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