Whether you’re partying at home or at a club or bar, the end of the night always inevitably comes. Back in the 1970s, some amazing songs were well-suited for hinting that it was time to call it a night. Let’s take a look at a few classic rock songs from the year 1975, specifically, that really do sound like the end of the party… either literally or figuratively. Maybe even spiritually.
“Tonight’s The Night” by Neil Young from ‘Tonight’s The Night’
“’Cause, people, let me tell you / It sent a chill up and down my spine / When I picked up the telephone / And heard that he’d died out on the mainline.”
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This one’s bleak, but it’s still suitable for an end-of-the-night tune. “Tonight’s The Night” is about a man who worked hard during the day as a roadie and plays vulnerable music by night. The whole thing alludes to the narrator, Young, lamenting the real-life deaths of two of his close friends from h*roin overdoses. The whole of this album, not just its title track, carries the weight of grief in a way that no other Young album has since.
“Curtains” by Elton John from ‘Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy’
“There’s treasure children always seek to find / And just like us / You must have had / A once upon a time.”
I’m still surprised that “Curtains” was never released as a single off Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy. Regardless, it’s a top-notch album closer, as well as a solid pop-rock track to end a night of partying. In “Curtains”, John croons away while looking back in time. I recommend placing “We All Fall In Love Sometimes” before “Curtains” on your end-of-the-night playlist.
“Jungleland” by Bruce Springsteen from ‘Born To Run’
“In the tunnels uptown, the Rat’s own dream guns him down / As shots echo down them hallways in the night / No one watches when the ambulance pulls away / Or as the girl shuts out the bedroom light.”
Not only does this song sound like the end of a party or a long night, but it also sounds like the actual end of a dream, of hope, of a literal life. “Jungleland” is another album-closer on our list of classic rock songs from 1975, and it was the perfect way to end Born To Run, in my opinion. Like the rest of the tracks on that album, “Jungleland” opens with desperate hopefulness before spiraling into despair. It’s a bit dark, but it’s a beauty of a jazz-rock tune nonetheless.
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