You can signal that this really is the end of your song and tie things up with a pretty bow by repeating the end of the chorus. This works best by singing the final line twice or three times.
Double Final Line
All I've Got To Do
When I Get Home
Think For Yourself
Yes It Is
Triple Final Line
Nowhere Man
One After 909
Please Please Me
Your Mother Should Know
If your final line ends on the tonic/root chord (I) - which it almost certainly will - you can combine this ticket with Aeolian Cadence (Ticket 10) by ending the penultimate line on the six minor (vi) instead of the root chord (I). Octopus's Garden is a great example of this (2:30)
In an octopus's garden with you (F G Am)
In an octopus's garden with you (F G Am)
In an octopus's garden with you (F G C)
She Loves You finishes on the I but then moves to the vi to set up further repeats (1:47)
With a love like that you know you should be glad (Cm D G Em)
The vi chord isn't the only substitute for the I chord when you want to delay the end and set up for a repeat of the last line. The iv, IV, bVI are just a few that would work (The False Picardy - Ticket 46).
I Want To Hold Your Hand is another great example (2:08), delaying the root first with the III (B7) then IV (C) before finally ending on the I (G)
I Want To Hold Your Hand (C D G Em)
I Want To Hold Your Hand (C D B7)
I Want To Hold Your Hand (C D C G)
I Will delays with the bVI before an altered version of the title line and a wordless coda (1:22).
Your Mother Should Know uses the VI to delay the end (twice) and I Saw Her Standing There has two lines ending on the I chord before delaying with the IV on the final line (2:30)
Since I saw her standing there (E B7 E)
Since I saw her standing there (E B7 E)
Since I saw her standing there (E B7 A E)
Sometimes the ending is better set up by repeating a lyric just before the end. I'm Happy Just To Dance With You delays with the vi chord but changes the penultimate line of lyric to better set up the original final line (1:37)
I've discovered I'm in love with you (A Baug C#m F#m G#)
Cos I'm happy just to dance with you (A Baug C#m F#m G#)
before five more “oh”s round the whole thing off. Adding a musical or lyrical phrase after the 'last line' like this can be just the ticket. It's Only Love adds a final “loving you...” (1:36) after the repeats (1:28) and P.S. I Love You adds a final, higher “I love you...” over it's repeated chord progression (1:49).
You can find more examples in the Ticket 77 Playlist.
I think it's a great 'trick'. The listener is far less likely to forget your song; admittedly something that rarely happens with Lennon & McCartney material.
ReplyDeleteThanks John. It's almost too obvious to write a post about, but then so few modern songwriters use it...
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