Just like some movies have an extra scene after the end credits, some songs take a similarly experimental approach with their conclusions, by making the listeners think they've finished when they actually haven't. Here are eight great songs with fake-out endings.
1. The Beatles - "Helter Skelter" (1968)
Though the mono version of the Beatles' "Helter Skelter" ends with a traditional fade-out, the stereo version of the song is actually fifty seconds longer. After the fadeout in the stereo version, the song actually fades back in, just in time for us to hear Ringo's famous "I got blisters on my fingers!" outburst.
2. Pink Floyd - "Jugband Blues" (1968)
The last song Syd Barrett would write for Pink Floyd was also one of his strangest and most beautiful. After a Sgt. Pepper's style horn section, the song breaks down into a psychedelic frenzy before abruptly cutting short. However, Barrett fades back in with his acoustic guitar for the final verse.
3. King Crimson - "In the Court of the Crimson King" (1969)
After seven minutes of haunting mellotron and flute melodies, "In the Court of the Crimson King" appears to conclude. However, it wouldn't be prog rock if it didn't go on longer than you expected it to: the flutes return to reprise the main melody, followed by the entire band playing a sinisterly atonal version of the chorus.
4. The Smiths - "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" (1985)
The only single released from the Smiths' Meat is Murder was the gorgeous ballad "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore," which follows the same fade-out/fade-back-in template as "Helter Skelter." After Morrissey repeats the song's final lyric about a dozen times, the song almost completely fades out, before quickly fading back in for a minute-long instrumental coda, eventually fading out for real.
5. Depeche Mode - "Enjoy The Silence" (1990)
The radio edit for Depeche Mode's greatest song "Enjoy the Silence" runs just 4:16 and fades out normally, but the album version of the song runs nearly two minutes longer. After the fade-out, singer Dave Gahan quickly returns to sing the song's title, which is followed by an instrumental gothic techno piece.
6. Pavement - "Fame Throwa" (1991)
Pavement has written plenty of bizarre songs, but one of the strangest is "Fame Throwa" from the band's debut album Slanted & Enchanted. After a fuzzy and screechy two minutes, the band decides to speed up the tempo and be a hardcore punk band for about five seconds before the song cuts short. As if that wasn't strange enough, the band suddenly bursts back in to the chorus as if nothing happened.
7. Alice in Chains - "Rain When I Die" (1992)
Another band to pull the "Helter Skelter" fade-out trick was Alice in Chains, whose epic 1992 song "Rain When I Die" fades to a complete silence for half a second, before coming back in for just ten more seconds of ghoulish moaning.
8. Radiohead - "Motion Picture Soundtrack" (2000)
Some albums tack on hidden songs to their final tracks, but what Radiohead did for its album Kid A was much stranger. When the album's final song "Motion Picture Soundtrack" ends after about three minutes, there's a minute of silence before a heavenly flurry of sounds comes rushing in for another minute. Afterwards, however, there's another minute and a half of complete silence left in the track.
