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[Ben yayayayayayayay]

Hey guys let's have some fun!

Rules: Post a song that has some sort of twist, be it lyrically or musically, and explain why.

My Dog Was Lost But Now He's Found - Fiery Furnaces
The title and most of the lyrics may give you a straightforward story of somebody's dog running away, and then returning home. But the last few lines tell us that the dog actually ran away to a church and found religion.

I went to the church that Wednesday night
The guest preacher said I bark but I don?t bite;
I saw my dog, but he?d seen the light:
My dog was lost but now he?s found.


Nevereverdid - Architecture in Helsinki
I couldn't really think of any great examples music-wise, but this is the best I could do. The song kicks off the album, In Case We Die, with a good minute or so of choir chanting, trumpets, and what I think is a singing saw. It actually reminded me of the theme for Star Trek at first. It definitely had everyone I played it for asking me "wtf is this?", with my only response being "shut up and wait". This is because, soon after all the weirdness, a piano starts playing, accompanied by the soft voice and dreamy lyrics of Cameron Bird. The contrast between the intro and main parts of this song is very strong and very surprising.

C'mon and do the twist!

[valley_parade]

I'm gonna say the last track on the latest Casualties album, "Stand and Fight".

It's an instrumental, but it really just sounds like they wrote an entire song and forgot to record the vocals.

[The Hammered]

I've got one musical and one lyrical twist.

The musical one: The Stooges - Funhouse - 1970.
So up through this song, it's been just standard guitar, bass, drums, vocals on the album. Then right in the middle of "1970," at the perfect moment, you hear those first few notes on the saxophone, and all the way to the end it's a bitchin' sax solo and Iggy screaming like an animal. Is it any wonder that Funhouse has become a meme here?

And for a twist lyrical ending (and here is your spoiler warning, if anyone cares), Alasdair Roberts's version of the folk song "Lord Ronald." I haven't heard any other versions, so I can't say if they all end in a similar way, but this version of the song takes the form of a dialogue between Ronald and his mother. After a few verses, it's been established that Ronald has been poisoned. His mother then starts asking him what he'll leave to people. He leaves valuable possessions to his brother and father. But in the final verse:

"What do you leave to your sweetheart, Lord Ronald my son?
What do you leave to your sweetheart, my handsome young man?"

"I'll leave her the rope and the high gallows tree
And let her hang there for the poisoning of me."

Not as great as the Stooges example, but it's a pretty effective twist.

[Will]

Dude, Funhouse

[KharBevNor]

"What do you leave to your sweetheart, Lord Ronald my son?
What do you leave to your sweetheart, my handsome young man?"

"I'll leave her the rope and the high gallows tree
And let her hang there for the poisoning of me."

Not as great as the Stooges example, but it's a pretty effective twist.

It is more unusual for a folk song NOT to have a twist like this in the end.

[Will]

A number of years ago, there was a country single released to radio by a man named Dusty Drake called "One Last Time."  The song starts out sounding like it's to be typical country; man is on the phone with his wife saying how he misses her, how he's sorry for all these things he did that were shitty, on and on like such, and you figure the whole time it's just going to be a regular old country song...then the last section comes in, and you find out the guy is actually calling his wife from the AirFone on a plane he's in, which is crashing to the ground, and he's calling in the last few seconds he has to live just to say goodbye.  The first time you hear it, it really just kind of hits you in the gut.

We played this song a few times on my station, but after about a week people started calling asking us to pull it because it was too depressing.  Go figure...
Here's the song:

When she picked up the telephone
His vioce came on the line
She said this can't be happening
And tears fell from her eyes.
She said what am I suppose to do?
I can't handle losing you.
He said I just had to call and say goodbye
One last time...

He said there are some things in our lives that are out of our control
Like who we fall in love with
And when it's time to go.
She said what about the plans we had?
He said this connections getting bad
Now come on baby let me hear you smile
One last time...

She started to apologize for all the things that she'd done wrong
She said I would have loved you better if only I'd known.
He said you were the perfect wife, promise me you'll go on with you're life.
She said the boys won't understand
He said tell them Daddy loves them and
Be strong

He said Hun, I've got to go
She said don't you dare hang up
There so many things I need to say
I love you so much.
It was almost like she felt him leave
She cried out can you still hear me?
She fell down on the kitchen floor
When the signal died.
As the pilot tried to pull out of the dive.
One last...

[Scytale]

For a Muiscal twist at the end of a song, listen to "Crossing the Triangle of Flames, the last track on Darkthrone's 'Under a Funeral Moon'. It starts of as a fairly standard track for the album all be it with some awesome drumming then out of nowhere bam, the drumming stops and then you're hit with it, the most evil sounding instrument you'll hear anywhere, the humble cow bell and wow what an effect it changes the whole tempo of the song, it moves it into a nice dirge, so evil and forboding sounding. I don't know words cannot describe the effect that humble bell has, it just works so well.

As for lyrics I think "Lord of Light" on the new Iron Maiden album has a really nice twist, for most of the song you think the "lord of light" is god. Then 3/4 of the way through you find out it's actually Lucifer, it's a really god song actually one of my favorites on the album. There's a pretty good discussion of the lyrics here.

There are secrets that you keep
There are secrets that you keep
There are secrets that you tell to me alone
I can't reach things I can't see
You don't see this strange world
Quite the same as me
Don't deny me what I am
Nothing hidden still you fail to see the truth
These are things you can't reveal
These are things you can't reveal

We are part of some strange plan
Why the slaughter of the brotherhood of man
Infernal sacrifice of hell
Fire breathing lead the way
Mounds of bodies as they all burn into one
Revenge is living in the past
Time to look into a new millennium

Spiral path leads through the maze
Down into the fiery underworld below
Fire breathing lead the way
Lucifer was just an angel led astray

Free your soul and let it fly
Give your life to the Lord of Light
Keep your secrets and rain on me
All I see are mysteries

We are not worthy in your black and blazing eyes
We gather demons in the mirror every day
The bridge of darkness casts a shadow on us all
And all our sins to you we give this day

Others wait their turn their lives were meant to last
Use yours wisely as the light is fading fast
Free your soul and let it fly
Mine was caught I couldn't try
Time returns again to punish all of us

We are cast out by our bloody fathers hand
We are strangers in this lonely promised land
We are shadows of the one unholy ghost
In our nightmare world the only one we trust

[timehat]

Voivod's song structures feature some pretty interesting twists and turns most of the time, so they aren't really mentionable as unexpected for them, unless it's the first time you're hearing them, but at the end of the song "The Unknown Knows", after a false ending, the song kicks back in for about 10 more seconds with a variation on the last riff and some beautiful strains of accordion (wtf, this is metal?) on a fadeout. Trippy.

[John Curtin]

Something a little different: both the 3rd and 4th movements of Dvo??k's 8th symphony.  The third is a pretty standard scherzo and trio, but right at the end there's this little throwaway fast dance, which not only has pretty much no relation to the rest of the movement, but is in 2/4, when everything in a scherzo+trio movement is almost always in 3!  What the hell is that, Antonin?!

And then you have the fourth movement.  The way I like to think of this movement is of a conflict between wild characteristics and more stately, reserved behaviour.  The movement starts out with the slow version of the theme, which is initially more grand than reserved, but the stateliness is in there.  Then suddenly the horns blast the theme out faster, and there's a culmination with this absolutely wild, animalistic part where the trumpets just let loose and blare out to create a sound totally unlike anything you're used to hearing (I'm not a brass player, so I don't know what it's called).  There's a brief pastoral section, though this is still in the faster tempo.  Things stay wild for a while and there are some really cool episodes, but then it starts to wind down a bit and we're back to the slow part, which is more nostalgic than before, and a little bit world-weary, as though we want to be back at the start of the musiic, and we're also a bit glad to have gotten over that wild animal outburst; in fact the orchestra almost sounds regretful of the fact that it let itself go like that.  The music stays calm and keeps winding down, with a long diminuendo and what are some really beautiful episodes with dialogues between different sections (the flute/violin part is particularly magnificent).  Finally, everything winds right down and it finishes.

But it doesn't!  This is one of the best things ever in music.  The orchestra pauses on a long suspension, but instead of resolving to the tonic like a good boy, everyone decides that it's a lot more fun to just let their hair down and go back to the awesome part, with everyone playing even more out of control than the first time.

I consider this one of the best finales in all orchestral music.  At performances, it manages to get me on my feet quicker than any other piece of music.  The first time I heard it live I thought I was going to have a heart attack from excitement (seriously, I had actual chest pains.  But in an awesome way!  A part of me was surprised that, considering the average age of the typical classical music concert goer, nobody actually died at the end).  If you have a recording of it, listen to it now!  Seriously, the New World symphony may be more popular and better known, but the eighth blows it away.

[fish across face]

Nine Inch Nails' Hurt, I suppose.  Sudden, far too loud, distorted chord goes *THRAM* at the end of an otherwise quiet song.

De La Soul & Teenage Fanclub's Fallin' ends mid-bar like someone just muted the track. To this day I wonder if it's an error.

Trying to think of things that aren't just big twisty mutating mayhem, 'cause that's not really any kind of surprise outcome.  There're a few techno tracks that are surprising simply because they do change.  Always puts me in mind of the Oblique Strategy that states "Repetition is a form of change" - a slight shift after apparent stasis is such a big deal compared to constant changes.

[Gridgm]

the curse of milhaven by nick cave

last verse starts with the narator singing

it is I lottie the curse of milhaven

[Inlander]

I'd like to lodge a formal protest against this thread. One of my most precious music-listening memories is the very first time I heard "New Partner" by Palace Music, and the song got to the bridge, and there was the twist. Now, I'm not going to tell anyone what the twist is, and I think it's a bit mean to tell anyone else what the twist in any other song is, because it's not very nice to deprive people of precious little moments like that.

Though I guess anyone who reads this thread knows what coming. Perhaps a general spoiler warning in the topic heading or in the first post, as is the norm in the "Music, T.V. Shows, and Books" section, would be in order?

[Thrillho]

The obvious one on this board is 'She's A Jar' by Wilco which ends with the line 'she begs me not to hit her.'

As far as musical twists, there's 'Peggy Day' by Bob Dylan, for what it's worth.

[Ben yayayayayayayay]

The Streets - Empty Cans
Don't read this if you ever plan on getting A Grand Don't Come For Free (I think warnings are a good idea now =D)
At the beginning of the album, a guy loses 1000 dollars he had in en envelope, and that's the theme of the first track. In this song, he starts talking about his broken television and how his friend offered to fix it for him. He doesn't trust his friend enough to fix it (because he blames other people for the bad things that have been happening to him the past few days) so he hires a TV repairman instead. As they're trying to determine what the problem is, an argument breaks out and they end up getting in a fight. The whole mood is pretty down throughout.
Then, as if time was rewound, the guy's back to making the decision between his friend and the TV repairman. He chooses his friend this time (he starts to blame himself for losing the money) and the overall mood is hopeful. As they're looking at the television, trying to find the problem, he sees his envelope sticking out the back. He's got his grand back, and the listener goes Hurrayayayayy!


Radiohead - The Tourist
Don't read this if you haven't already heard OK Computer....lol
The album begins with a guy getting out of a car wreck. The album ends with a guy driving too fast. Connect the dots!@

[Kai]

1. Guy gets in car wreck
2.Guy drives too fast
3. ???
4. Profit!

[KharBevNor]

haven't already heard OK Computer....lol

Yeah man, who would listen to an album that shit?

[Thrillho]

The Streets - Empty Cans
Don't read this if you ever plan on getting A Grand Don't Come For Free (I think warnings are a good idea now =D)
At the beginning of the album, a guy loses 1000 dollars he had in en envelope, and that's the theme of the first track. In this song, he starts talking about his broken television and how his friend offered to fix it for him. He doesn't trust his friend enough to fix it (because he blames other people for the bad things that have been happening to him the past few days) so he hires a TV repairman instead. As they're trying to determine what the problem is, an argument breaks out and they end up getting in a fight. The whole mood is pretty down throughout.
Then, as if time was rewound, the guy's back to making the decision between his friend and the TV repairman. He chooses his friend this time (he starts to blame himself for losing the money) and the overall mood is hopeful. As they're looking at the television, trying to find the problem, he sees his envelope sticking out the back. He's got his grand back, and the listener goes Hurrayayayayy!


Radiohead - The Tourist
Don't read this if you haven't already heard OK Computer....lol
The album begins with a guy getting out of a car wreck. The album ends with a guy driving too fast. Connect the dots!@

It's a thousand pounds not a thousand dollars. The Streets are pretty easily identifiable as British.

[Ben yayayayayayayay]

My bad i thought dollar just meant one unit of currency. Learning huzzah!

haven't already heard OK Computer....lol

Yeah man, who would listen to an album that shit?

inorite

[Johnny C]

The ending of "PDA" by Interpol is still striking every time I hear it. It goes from broody post-punk to sudden, drifting beauty. Seriously.

[Inlander]

'Viva Last Blues' might be my favourite Will Oldham release overall.

I find it very difficult to pick between Viva Last Blues, Lost Blues and Other Songs, and Ease Down the Road (which is a criminally underrated album as far as I'm concerned).

Hmm, thread idea . . .

[fish across face]

'New Partner' is my favourite Oldham song, but for the life of me I don't get what the twist is!?    Are you meaning lyrically?

[Inlander]

Yes. In the bridge - where the melody of the song changes ("But oh . . ." etc.). I won't say any more than that, for reasons outlined above.

[fish across face]

Duh, sorry, have listened to the song so many times I wasn't really thinking about that part being a surprise. 

[Inlander]

I just have such a vivid memory of hearing it the first time, and that part being a real kick in the guts. In the best possible way, of course.

[Ben yayayayayayayay]

mmmm honey roasted peanuts

EDIT: Damn thought you said kick in the nuts. In that case, mmmm this

[minkles]

Musically, "Une Annee Sans Lumiere" by Arcade Fire.  Throughout the song it's nice, gentle, slow moving.  Then about a minute from the end, it goes crazy.  They do the twist ending thing on "Crown of Love" and "Wake Up", but it's not as striking.

Then again, you all knew that. 

[TheFuriousWombat]

a cautionary song by the decemberists sorta has one. most of the song is about "your mother" being voluntarily sexed up by several boatloads of seamen (as in sailors you sickos). it ends with her being thrown some money and with an advisory: "so be kind to your mother, though she may seem an awful bother, and the next time she tries to feed you collard greens, remember what she does when you're asleep"

i guess it's kind of a twists...

[KharBevNor]

Hmn, musical twists.

The first one is, I think, the best I've ever heard. It's not a twist in a song so much as a twist in an album. The album being 'Turn Loose the Swans' by My Dying Bride. Apart from a brief Swans-like bit at the end of 'The Songless Bird', so far the whole albums been somewhere between pretty slow and fucking slow. Electric guitars don't even break in properly till about a minute into the second song (the shortest track is seven minutes long). Anyway, you're listening to 'The Snow in My Hand' thinking you're still getting more of the same, when suddenly, the voice trails off, a fucking evil, almost Sabbath-like riff plays and then the band picks you up and slams you into a brick-wall with blast-beats, machine-gun bass and low, throttled, brutal vocals, all still as doom as fuck. "GEEET AAAWAAAY FROM MEEE!". Afraid I can't oblige, you're too good.

There's another great one in the live version of 'Horsey' by Current 93. It's all been quite a slow, slowly building affair, with guitars slowly building up in volume a bit and Dave Tibet basically just talking. Then at about 3:30 we come to the line.

"She's tearing up papers,
She's tearing up life
But she only starts thinking,
When her blood. is. BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWN!!!!!"

He agonisedly screams the word brown for at least 20 seconds (this is a live recording) whilst a short flute solo plays underneath him, and it suddenly just marks this tide in the song, as all sorts of noise and electric bass and flute and whatnot just starts coming in as his vocals get more and more impassioned, and it just becomes so beautiful.

[MDK HappyCamper]

How bout Universal Mind by Liquid Tension Experiment?  After 7+ minutes of hard rocking they spontaneously BobMarlify and then flip out a few seconds later with... carnival music?!!  I'm pretty sure there's a DT song they got this from.

[ampersandwitch]

Lyrically, the best I can do is As Smart as Geek is Chic Right Now (Say Hi to your Mom)
I don't think I was expecting the abrupt ending with a pretty little guitar chord.  I mean. . . I was figuring an epic twee story about smart toys.  Really, can you imagine a more typical song?
"They made a mistake at the toy factory
and forgot to turn off the brain machine.
So when security opened the door the next day,
there was a plastic, brand new army.
And they were as smart as geek is chic right now,
and as clever as the invention of pillow cases.
And they asked the guard who had made them,
but he wasn't so smart.
So he shot them all dead. "

And musically, I guess it would have to be Firebird's Finale, which is supremely mellow (especially if preceeded by the ridiculously laidback Berceuse) until the blaring French Horns and crazy 7/8 doppio . . . it was just a surprise the first time I heard it.  Jubilant?  Absolutely!