the last song

#Boredom.

I've been hit with quite the cold so I haven't left my house since Sunday..anyways.

I love me a good album closer. I'm a sucker for epic, bombastic ones too. And for a while I've been wanting to compile a list of my favorite ones. I like making lists.

So, here we go. In no particular order. (With videos! Most of them being live performances because live performances RULE)

#10: Death and All His Friends- Coldplay (Album: Viva la Vida)

"I don't wanna battle from beginning to end/ I don't wanna cycle on recycled revenge/ I don't wanna follow death and all of his friends"
Chris Martin sings this at the top of his lungs, and those words speak volumes about our innate goodness...beautiful album closer. Musically, I love all the dynamics in here, that riff in the middle that makes you feel loss and beauty all at once.


#9: The Suburbs (Continued)- Arcade Fire (Album: The Suburbs) 

"If I could have it back/ All the time that we wasted/ I'd only waste it again/...
Sometimes I can't believe it/ I'm moving past the feeling..."
It's a minute and a half long but there is no other song really that embodies nostalgia as well as this one. I will probably listen to this on my porch when I'm 67 and cry and remember how much fun I had 'wasting time' while I was young. Great end to a great concept album.


#8: Friend of Ours- Elbow (Album: The Seldom Seen Kid) 

"Never very good at goodbyes/ so gentle, shoulder charge/ love you mate."
You can just feel Guy Garvey's pain when he sings this. This song also helped a mourning of mine as well...but this song is just so beautiful. Thank you England for giving us Elbow.

#7: Louise Louisa- Mew (Album: And the Glass Handed Kites) 

"I'm a car/ I don't know where we are headed for/ Stay with me/ don't want to be alone"
First of all, Mew is the king of album closers. They're all so good! But this one is amazing. Another ending to a concept album (this album is one continual piece really) but THIS. SONG. The drum solo (at the 3 minute mark!), the floating vocals. The end, especially in this performance of it, literally leaves me in tears because its so beautiful. God Bless Denmark.


#6: City of Black and White- Mat Kearney (Album: City of Black and White) 

"I don't wanna wait until tomorrow/ to tell you how I'll feel the rest of my life"
In all honesty, I love the song, but the outro (3:45 to the end) is too epic for words. I remember one time listening to this while sitting on my roof when I was still living in Brooklyn and it was one of those magical moments. Looking out at the best city in the world with this chance-esque music playing. Beautiful.

#5: Where I Belong- Switchfoot (Album: Vice Verses) 

"This body's not my own/ This world is not my home"
Musically, this song is a little bland, but lyrically, OH MY this song has single handedly made me wanna get tatted up. Because I wanna take these words to my grave. IMO, one of the best songs ever written, I'm glad we don't belong to this world and we are all waiting for the world where we do belong. I love also how the ending of this song is a reprise of the first track, bringing the album full circle. Well done, boys.

#4: Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks- The National (Album: High Violet) 

"Vanderlyle, crybaby cry/ Man it's all been forgiving/ Swans are a swimmin'/ I'll explain everything to the geeks"
Nothing short of a bombastic, grandiose ending. I love this band way too much. But this song is a perfect way to close this album. Enough said. Sorry about the dramatic beach video.

#3: Daisy- Switchfoot (Album: Nothing is Sound) 

"Let it go/ Daisy, let it go/ Open up your fist/ This fallen world/ Doesn't hold your interest/ Doesn't hold your soul/ Daisy, let it go"
The above mentioned are probably some of my favorite lyrics ever written. This song is purely poetic and I love the acoustic building into a very rock and roll ending..perfect for the rainy days, and probs one of my favorite album closers ever, to my favorite album by this band.

#2: Paper Route- Calm My Soul (Album: The Peace of Wild Things) 

"In dust my ribs were formed/ and I'll return again/...Calm my soul."
Just watch that link above. What an underrated band, what a voice,what a lyric, what a song. I love that these guys poetically express what they believe without that 'christian' label. And I love JT's break from his chest to head voice..ahh. This song sounds a lot like what my prayers sound like..and like the song says, life and our consequent actions leave us no other choice but to ask God to calm our souls.

#1: Comforting Sounds- Mew (Album: Frengers) 

"I don't feel alright/ In spite of these comforting sounds you make."
I highly encourage you to watch the video above because it is PERFECTION- better than the album version. I know I said in no particular order, but this is my favorite album closer EVER. It's perfect. The build is perfect...and its like 9 minutes long but this song takes me there, and wherever that is is pure bliss. The lyric is so honest- we've all been there before. This song is a tranquilizer for my soul. The melody is so simple yet so powerful, and it makes me feel things I've never felt before in a good way. I'm gonna stop being a sap now and go listen to this..again. Long live Mew.