Most haunting final song lines

After ten long years they let him out of the home
And he dug up her grave and built a cage with her bones

 

"A Song For You" by the Carpenters

"And when my life is over, remember when we were together."
"We were alone and I was singing this song for you."
"We were alone and I was singing this song...for you."

 

Keeping in mind that the last two lines are the rueful one-line refrain sung twice, I've bolded that last harrowing lyrics in the detail-oriented narrative verses. That said, even that counterpoint refrain — which in most contexts would be a cheap pick-up line — is a poignantly melancholic plea for solace.

Six O'Clock News —John Prine

Spoiler: Lyrics for rest of the song

Wanda had a baby in 1951.
The father was a stranger and a stranger was the son.
Call that child James Lewis, call these rooms a home.
Changing all them diapers. Polish all that chrome.
C'mon, baby, spend the night with me.

All around the schoolyard playing all the games.
Running, laughing back and forth the kid with two first names.
Stranger in the closet, lock the diary.
The past is running faster singing harmony.
C'mon, baby, spend the night with me.

"God bless this kitchen," said the knick-knack shelf.
"Dinner's almost ready. Go and wash yourself."
Jimmy's growing up now and Wanda's growing old,
The time is growin' shorter the nights are long and cold.
C'mon, baby, spend the night with me.

Sneaking in the closet and through the diary.
Now, don't you know all he saw was all there was to see.
The whole town saw Jimmy on the six o'clock news.
His brains were on the sidewalk and blood was on his shoes.
C'mon, baby, spend the night with me.
C'mon, baby, spend the night with me.

 

I include the full last verse of Townes Van Zandt's "Marie" for the final line.

Marie she didn't wake up this morning, she didn't even try
She just rolled over and went to heaven, my little boy safe inside
I laid them in the sun where somebody'd find them, caught a Chesapeake on the fly
Marie'll know I'm headed south so's to meet me by and by

 

"Lazy Me" (Moby Grape)

Who holds the blank thoughts of people when nothing is said?
And who turns the lights out after you've gotten in bed?

I guess I'll never know why
I'll just lay here and decay here...

 

Creepy tune....."Woman in the Wall" by The Beautiful South.

He was just a social drinker but social every night
He enjoyed a pint or two or three or four
She was just a silent thinker, silent every night
He'd enjoy the thought of killing her before

Well he was very rarely drunk but very rarely sober
And he didn't think the problem was his drink
But he only knew his problem when he knocked her over
And when the rotting flesh began to stink

Cry freedom for the woman in the wall
Cry freedom for she has no voice at all
I hear her cry all day, all night
I hear her voice from deep within the wall
Made a cross from knitting needles
Made a grave from hoover bags
Especially for the woman in the wall

She'd knitted him a jumper with dominoes on
So he wore it everyday in every week
Pretended to himself that she hadn't really gone
Pretended that he thought he beard her speak

Then at last it seemed that he was really winning
He felt that he had some sort of grip
But all of his new life was sent a-spinning
When the rotting wall began to drip

 

Front Line Assembly-Lifeline, 1992 Track 8, Last Line-
'There Were No Survivors'

 

Wreck on the Highway - Bruce Springsteen

last verse
Sometimes I sit up in the darkness
And I watch my baby as she sleeps
Then I climb in bed and I hold her tight
I just lay there awake in the middle of the night
Thinking 'bout the wreck on the highway

 

The New Timer - Bruce Springsteen

last verse:
My Jesus your gracious love and mercy
Tonight I'm sorry could not fill my heart
Like one good rifle And the name of who I ought to kill

 

Don't confront me with my failures
I had not forgotten them

 

This song destroys me every time, especially the last lines. It really helps if you can remember Roger's delivery too - the hurt and betrayal is palpable.

When The Tigers Broke Free - Pink Floyd

It was just before dawn
One miserable morning in black '44
When the forward commander
Was told to sit tight
When he asked that his men be withdrawn
And the generals gave thanks
As the other ranks
Held back the enemy tanks for a while
And the Anzio bridghead was held for the price
Of a few hundred ordinary lives

And kind old King George sent mother a note
When he heard that father was gone
It was, I recall, in the form of a scroll
With gold leaf and all
And I found it one day
In a drawer of old photographs, hidden away
And my eyes still grow damp
To remember
That his majesty signed
With his own rubber stamp

It was dark all around
There was frost in the ground
When the tigers broke free
And no one survived from the Royal Fusiliers, Company Z
They were all left behind
Most of them dead
The rest of them dying
And that's how the high command
Took my daddy from me

 

You came on my pillow
(Sounds of strangling).

 

Finally I understand the feelings of the few.
Ashes and diamonds
Foe and friend
We were all equal in the end.

 

Rainbow - "The Gates of Babylon"

...
The power of what has been before
Rises to trap you within
A magic carpet ride a genie maybe more
A city of heavenly sin
Sleep with the devil and then you must pay
Sleep with the devil and the devil will take you away
Black gates of Babylon
The devil is me and I'm holding the key
to the gates of sweet Hell, Babylon!!

 

Weary inside, now our heart's lost forever,
Can't replace the fear, or the thrill of the chase,
Each ritual showed up the door for our wanderings,
Open then shut, then slammed in our face.

Where have they been?
Where have they been?
Where have they been?
Where have they been?

 

Tom waits
Annie's Back in Town

The singer spends the whole song sympathizing with the poor schlub whose life is down the tubes since Annie has returned. Then he turns it all around.
"Oh, but it's always good for business, guess we'll be seeing you around
Now that Annie's Back in Town."

 

These aren't technically the final lines since the chorus follows one last time, but it's the first thing that came to mind:

So my mind was filled with wonder when the evening headlines read:
"Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head."

"Richard Cory" - Simon and Garfunkel

This was the second that came to mind:

He said, "Go, get lost!" and walked towards his Cadillac.
I chopped down the palm tree and it landed on his back.

"Last Trip To Tulsa" - Neil Young

 

The Doors - Moonlight Drive

"Baby gonna drown tonight
Goin' down, down, down..."

 

I always liked the end of "Time" by Pink Floyd

Far away, across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spell

Not necessarily haunting, but it evokes a specific mood, especially with the music that follows in "Great Gig in the Sky."

 

Yeah - I was considering that song too. Two Suns In The Sunset from The Final Cut. Lyrically, Roger was on a roll on that album. A lot of those songs have stunning final lines, since they're setting up the next song.

e.g.

In the corner of some foreign field
The gunner sleeps tonight
What's done is done
We cannot just write off his final scene
Take heed of his dream
Take heed

(The Gunner's Dream)

or

thought i oughta bare my naked feelings
thought i oughta tear the curtain down
i held the blade in trembling hands
prepared to make it but just then the phone rang
i never had the nerve to make the final cut

(The Final Cut)

Cheers,
Paul

 

Jeff Buckley Dream Brother (ends 'Grace')

'Asleep in the sand as the wave washes over'

Not news that he drowned prior to his next record release.

 

My Chemical Romance - Dead

"If life ain't just a joke, then why are we laughing? If life ain't just a joke, then why am I dead?"

 

Most Haunting;
The Smiths – Asleep

 

Well, I dreamed I saw the silver spaceships flying in the yellow haze of the sun,
There were children crying and colors flying all around the chosen ones.
All in a dream, all in a dream the loading had begun.
They were flying Mother Nature's silver seed to a new home in the sun.

 

"I can't believe it, I can't believe I'm still alive.
But without you it just doesn't seem riiiiiiiiiiiiight!!!"
Bob Dylan - Where are You Tonight (Journey Through Black Heat)