Here are 10 of the funniest, weirdest or most well-hidden messages at the end of rock and metal songs!
For as much as rock and metal artists love taking their music seriously, a lot of them relish the opportunity to mess with listeners in startling ways.
One of the most popular means of doing this is leaving humorous, disturbing, meaningful or otherwise surprising Easter eggs at the end of compositions. You know, things such as band members yelling at each other, bizarre sound effects, creepy reversed phrasing (a.k.a. backmasking) or in the case of The Guess Who’s “Hang On To Your Life,” three verses of Psalm 22.
READ MORE: 20 Rock + Metal Songs With Social Messages
The 10 tunes featured below are among the greatest instances of bands tossing in unexpected messages as their songs conclude. Some are easier to miss than others – and some require more investigation to grasp – but they all prove why you never want to bail on a track before it’s completely over.
Let us know how many you’ve heard before, as well as if there are any other memorable ones we may’ve missed!
10 Hidden, Funny or Weird Messages at the End of Rock + Metal Songs
Guns N’ Roses, “Don’t Damn Me”
Taken from 1991’s Use Your Illusion I, the rebellious “Don’t Damn Me” is – at best – a mid-tier Guns N’ Roses rocker. It seems as if the group agrees since they’ve never played it live (although they did rehearse it during an October 2022 soundcheck in South America, and Slash has said that it’s got “too many words” to do in concert). If they ever do perform it on stage, we hope that they keep the final moments intact since it includes Axl Rose declaring (sarcastically or seriously):
“Smoke ‘em if you got em! / Alright, that sucked!”
Is he implying that what they just played sucked? That shouting such a cliched phrase beforehand sucked? We’re not sure, but either way, it’s a delightfully comical moment.
Iron Maiden, “The Thin Line Between Love and Hate”
As with “Don’t Damn Me” and GNR’s catalog, Brave New World finisher “The Thin Line Between Love and Hate” isn’t one of Iron Maiden’s greatest closers. Nevertheless, it’s still a fitting and entertaining slice of characteristically adrenaline-fueled melodic mayhem. Given the somber tone with which the piece fades away, it’s all the more amusing to hear that weightiness get undercut by drummer Nicko McBrain suddenly and faintly exclaiming:
“Aghh, I fucking missed it!”
As far as we can tell, he didn’t miss anything, and fortunately, it sounds as if he – and his bandmates – are laughing about it afterward.
Edguy, “Catch of the Century”
As founding vocalist/keyboardist Tobias Sammet once confirmed, German power/heavy metal staple Edguy were known for having tongue-in-cheek lyrics, artwork and the like.
Just look at the cover and songs of 2006’s decidedly hard rock Rocket Ride. Yes, “Fucking with Fire (Hair Force Once)” and “Superheroes” are superficially playful, but the record’s superlative dive into absurdity comes during the final minute of the otherwise straightforward and unassuming “Catch of the Century.”
Why? Because it sees Sammet ranting (with perpetual shrillness) about how he’s going to “sell millions of records” and “have hundreds of women” (among other necessities of a lavish lifestyle). Eventually, the music dies down, leaving only his manic shouts of “Nothing, you’re nothing! / Helicopter!”
Whatever you say, man. Whatever you say.
Full rant below:
“I tell you, one day you will regret it
I will sell millions of records
I’m gonna have hundreds of women
Seven, seven Ferraris!
A private jet!
A helicopter license!
I’m gonna be the Formula One world champion!
I’m gonna have a big house in Hollywood Hills!
And you will be nothing
Nothing! Nothing! You will be nothing but nothing!
AAAAAHHH! AAAAAHHH! YOU! NOTHING! NOTHING, YOU’RE NOTHING!
HELICOPTER!“Velvet Revolver, “Gravedancer”
This one is kind of two-fold since it involves a hidden composition that leads to a correspondingly hidden remark. (Think of it as Revolverception!)
You see, Velvet Revolver’s second and final studio LP – 2007’s Libertad – wraps up with “Gravedancer.” Or, at least that’s what you’d think judging by the official track list.
Actually, “Gravedancer” concludes about halfway into its roughly nine-minute duration.
Following some silence, a drastically different secret new gem – “Don’t Drop That Dime” – kicks in, and at the end of it, late frontman Scott Weiland appropriately (but still unpredictably) begins yodeling. Then, someone dismissively states, “Whatever.”
Yeah, that about sums it up.
Metallica, “Helpless”
Even though the guys in Metallica have been at odds with each other from time to time (especially during the creation of St. Anger), they generally have a friendly – if not familial – rapport. That includes clowning around while recording, as their banter at the conclusion of their 1987 cover of Diamond Head’s “Helpless” demonstrates.
After Kirk Hammett unleashes a face-melting solo, the frenetic instrumental slowly winds down. That is, until it creeps back in before James Hetfield yells, “See ya!” Next, Lars Ulrich instructs: “Keep it going and keep it ringing out. Let it ring out. . . . Okay, turn it off now.”
Did they need to keep that there? No way, but we’re glad they did!
The Tubes, “White Punks on Dope”
With a title like “White Punks on Dope,” you’d be justified to expect some upbeat shenanigans from this finale to The Tubes’ self-titled 1975 debut LP.
Indeed, the famously described “absurd anthem of wretched excess” is reliably energetic and fun, with its glam rock party vibe reaching its peak when the song stops about 20 seconds prematurely.
The remaining time consists of a toilet flushing, multiple men laughing hysterically and perhaps most bizarrely, a reference to (or excerpt from) a Japanese commercial for Tetoron polyester fibers made by the Teijin chemical company.
At the risk of misquoting/misinterpreting what the man utters, suffice to say that what he mentions loosely translates to “This autumn, it has to be Teijin’s Tetoron.”
There must be some connection there, right?
Jethro Tull, “Baker St. Muse”
Following the divisive reception to Jethro Tull’s second album-length piece, 1973’s A Passion Play, mastermind Ian Anderson decided to pen simpler and shorter pieces for 1974’s War Child. However, he returned to his love of epic journeys with “Baker St. Muse,” the 17-minute suite at the climax of 1975’s Minstrel in the Gallery.
It’s a thoroughly stunning composition that culminates with typical Anderson drollness via sounds of him wistfully singing the chorus (“I’m just a Baker Street muse”) as he walks toward the recording studio door. Unfortunately, it’s locked, leading him to howl with desperation: “I can’t get out!”
For better or worse, he escaped in time to create 1976’s Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young to Die!
Tenacious D, “Karate”
Comprised of Jack Black and Kyle Gass, Tenacious D have spent about 30 years reigning as rock and metal’s chief comedic duo. (To be clear, they’re also great songwriters, musicians and singers.) Specifically, their lovably goofy – and occasionally vulgar – antics appear all over their eponymous 2001 record, especially during its brief skits.
The last moments of “Karate,” for instance, contain a particularly short but sweet bit of humor when – after he’s done threatening to “kick your ass” – Black uses backmasking to demand that listeners do something really disgusting: “Eat donkey crap.”
We’re just glad he didn’t ask us to drink the “mighty juice” from Wonderboy’s crevasse.
Prince – “Darling Nikki”
Taken from 1984’s Purple Rain, “Darling Nikki” is one of Prince’s most beloved and risqué songs; in fact, its sexually explicit lyrics (which include references to female masturbation and promiscuity) led Tipper Gore to start the PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center) and implement the controversial “Parental Advisory” label on CDs.
That’s why it’s extremely surprising to hear the track end with a reversed message about Jesus Christ resurfacing after the Apocalypse. When played normally, Prince asks, “Hello, how are you? / Fine, fine, ‘cause I know that the Lord is coming soon. / Coming, coming soon.”
Per Far Out Magazine, this tactic “reflects a fascination with the apocalypse seen in other Prince songs like ‘Purple Rain’ and ‘1999.’” Plus, they continue, “Darling Nikki” released “[in] an era in which some Christian groups were still concerned that music was the work of the devil, and that many rock musicians were exposing children and teens to evil messages through subliminal messaging in tracks.”
Therefore, they rightly surmise, it was quite “ironic” to see how “Prince was using subliminal messaging to promote Christian ideals.”
The Beatles – “Strawberry Fields Forever”
The latter half of the Beatles’ career was utterly revolutionary and captivating for numerous reasons, not the least of which was the whole “Paul is dead” myth popularized by late radio JD Russ Gibb. For years, fans poured over the Fab Four’s records to find musical, lyrical and visual “clues” that Paul McCartney died in 1966 and was replaced by a look-alike imposter.
Despite obviously being untrue, it led to some truly scary stuff, with arguably the eeriest “clue” being the coda to “Strawberry Fields Forever.”
As the famously unsettling collage of noise and instruments creeps back in, John Lennon’s slowed-down voice was thought to be confessing, “I buried Paul.” In actuality, he’s saying, “Cranberry sauce” (for one reason or another).
Nearly 60 years later, it’s still spooky as hell.