Happy Ending

UNKLE Matt was right — setting at least personal rules for this playlist was important: otherwise, my list would be a rundown of my favorite artists’ greatest album-closing hits, and you’d have nothing really new to add to your iPods. So when I approached this challenge, I decided to focus on the usual suspects, but make my list from lesser-known tunes. I hope you dig:

1. The Rolling Stones, “Slipping Away”
   Some of the Stones’ most iconic tunes are album closers (”You Can’t Always Get What You Want” from Let It Bleed, “Salt of the Earth” from Beggar’s Baquet, “Moonlight Mile” from Sticky Fingers), and you can add this (more) recent gem to the list: the Keith-sung ballad “Slipping Away,” which closed their 1989 comeback album Steel Wheels. It’s one of the best Keith numbers from a Stones album, and after the riff-heavy rock of Wheels, the song’s R&B-flavored sound and woozy sweetness sound fantastic. It’s rightly become a live favorite.
2. Bob Dylan, “Shooting Star”
   Dylan’s most famous closers are generally long, poetic affairs that drive fanatics wild with analysis (”Desolation Row,” “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands,” and even the recent “Highlands”), so I decided to pick something a little shorter, sweeter, and digestible from his Lanois-produced ‘89 comeback Shot of Love Oh Mercy (thanks for the catch, Sally — note to self: don’t write these posts right before bed).
3. U2, “The Wanderer (feat. Johnny Cash)”
   Bono and the gang usually keep the ends of their albums moody and spiritually reflective, especially recently (”Grace,” “Yahweh”), and that’s why their synth-gospel collaboration with the late, great Johnny Cash is so darn striking.
4. David Bowie, “Strangers When We Meet”
   I’ve sung the praises of this song before, but I think it still deserves mention here. On Outside, he saved the best song of his late-period albums for last.
5. Prince, “Gold”
   On 1993’s criminally ignored album The Gold Experience, Prince reminded us all that his list of classic, guitar-fueled, album-closing epics does not begin and end with “Purple Rain.” Damn, that’s one hell of a solo.

Download: The Rolling Stones, “Slipping Away” (mp3)
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Download: Bob Dylan, “Shooting Star” (mp3)
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Download: U2, “The Wanderer (feat. Johnny Cash)” (mp3)
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Download: David Bowie, “Strangers When We Meet” (mp3)
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Download: Prince, “Gold” (mp3)
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Download: Uncle Sam’s “Happy Ending” (XML Playlist)
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You can grab the whole thing in a single ZIP file, too:

Download: “Happy Ending” (ZIP)
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