Some of the best lines in classic rock history have come at the very end of famous songs. And when it comes to the best of the best, the following three classic rock closing lines have always stood out to me. Let’s take a look at a few amazing song closers that might just blow your hair back.
“The End” by The Doors (1967)
“It hurts to set you free / But you’ll never follow me / The end of laughter and soft lies / The end of nights we tried to die / This is the end.”
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This epic psychedelic rock song was the closing track on The Doors’ self-titled debut album, and its final line still gets under listeners’ skin today. Jim Morrison croons about inevitable death, the only thing that can help him escape reality. Though, some fans think that this line is simply about the end of the album and the overarching narrative. Others think it’s about the ego death experienced via the use of LSD. Regardless, the inevitability of this closing line really does get to you.
“Eclipse” by Pink Floyd (1973)
“There is no dark side in the moon really / Matter of fact, it’s all dark.”
“Eclipse” is the final track of Pink Floyd’s legendary 1973 album The Dark Side Of The Moon. And that ending line references the title of the album while presenting what many believe is some sort of riddle a la Roger Waters. Though, Waters himself has shot that theory down.
“I don’t see it as a riddle,” said Waters in Pink Floyd: Bricks In The Wall. “The album uses the sun and the moon as symbols; the light and the dark; the good and the bad; the life force as opposed to the death force. I think it’s a very simple statement saying that all the good things life can offer are there for us to grasp, but that the influence of some dark force in our natures prevents us from seizing them.”
“Black” by Pearl Jam (1991)
“I know someday you’ll have a beautiful life, I know you’ll be a star / In somebody else’s sky, but why? Why? / Why can’t it be? Oh, can’t it be mine?”
I’ve always loved this song. Partly because I love grunge. But, just as well, Vedder managed to put together a breakup song that manages to not throw the other person in the trash from start to finish. There’s a level of emotional maturity here as Vedder celebrates that the woman he loves will be happy someday while (soul-crushingly) lamenting that he won’t be part of her life. It’s one of the most profound classic rock closing lines ever, in my opinion.
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