Closing Time (Semisonic song)
| "Closing Time" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Semisonic | ||||
| from the album Feeling Strangely Fine | ||||
| Released | March 10, 1998 | |||
| Format | CD | |||
| Recorded | mid-1997 | |||
| Genre | Post-grunge,[1] Rock, Pop[2] | |||
| Length | 4:33 (album version) 3:49 (single version) |
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| Label | MCA | |||
| Writer(s) | Dan Wilson | |||
| Producer | Nick Launay | |||
| Semisonic singles chronology | ||||
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"Closing Time" is the title of a song by American alternative rock band Semisonic. It was released in March 1998 as the lead single from their album Feeling Strangely Fine. One of the band's most popular songs, it was written by Dan Wilson and produced by Nick Launay. The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song in 1999.[3] It reached number-one on the Modern Rock Tracks.
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[edit] Interpretation
The book So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star (ISBN 0-7679-1470-8) by Semisonic's drummer Jacob Slichter indicates that the song was written partly in response to the anxious, and at times precarious, state of the band during the opening of Wilson's new bar, The Rehab Lounge, which closed in late 2008;[4] however, Slichter has also indicated that the song was written by Wilson "in anticipation of fatherhood", and that it is about "being sent forth from the womb as if by a bouncer clearing out a bar".[5]
In concert Dan Wilson has confirmed that the song was written in anticipation of fatherhood but that he disguised it because he knew his bandmates would get sick of playing a song about his kids.
[edit] Music video
The music video was directed by Chris Applebaum. It features two continuous shots[citation needed], running side by side on the screen. One side shows the band playing the song in a rehearsal space. The other side features a woman (played by Denise Franco), who is playing the part of the singer Dan Wilson's girlfriend. As the video progresses, Dan and his girlfriend switch sides of screen, as they attempt to meet up. At the end of the video, they both wind up at the same nightclub. However, they still end up missing each other by mere seconds and never meet up. The "trick" of the video is that each shot was done as one long, continuous shot, with no cuts or editing, and therefore relies on proper timing during the filming to get the two sides of the video lined up properly.
[edit] Covers and samples
"Closing Time" was the final song in the polka medley "Polka Power!" on "Weird Al" Yankovic's 1999 album Running with Scissors.
[edit] In popular culture
[edit] Film
- The song was referenced in the Soultaker episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
- The song was featured on the 1998 charitable album Live in the X Lounge.
- The song was featured in the 2010 film Due Date. In an article about the song's oddly enduring legacy at http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/38262/we-are-all-closing-time-why-semisonics-1998-hit-still-resonates, Dan Wilson says that he while he wasn't "bummed" about the song's usage in the film, he would not have approved said usage if it'd been requested because the scene it was used in was very violent.
- The song was prominently featured in the 2011 film Friends with Benefits where Justin Timberlake's character says the song was by Third Eye Blind.
[edit] Television
- In 1998, "Closing Time" was heard right before the credits in the final episode of Melrose Place.
- The intro to "Closing Time" is briefly heard in the Friends episode "The One with Rachel's Date".
- The song was used in an episode of The Simpsons entitled "That '90s Show".
- The song appeared on the MTV cartoon series Daria.
- The line "you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here" is referenced by Daniel Tosh at the end of an episode of Tosh.0. The line is also used by the Dr. John Carter character played by Noah Wyle on ER in a 1998 episode when he tells a dorm's Halloween party guests it's time to call it a night.
- The chorus of "Closing Time" was used by the character of Barney Stinson in the episode "Three Days of Snow", the 13th episode in the fourth season of the television series How I Met Your Mother and 77th overall. Barney quotes "Closing Time" after last call at MacLaren's.
- In a Season 8 episode of The Office titled "Doomsday", it is revealed that new manager Andy Bernard ends every work day by leading the office in singing "Closing Time". While no one in the office particularly likes the song (and Stanley Hudson admits his joy on hearing Andy sing it solely relates to his appreciation for anything that ends a workday), Wilson interviewed that he felt its usage on the show was enjoyable.
[edit] Chart positions
| Chart (1998/2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia ARIA Charts | 40 |
| Canadian RPM Alternative 30 | 2 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 84 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 50 |
| UK Singles Chart | 25 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay | 11 |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Top 40 | 8 |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 13 |
| U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 1 |
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia ARIA Charts | 40 |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Allmusic.com: Post Grunge+
- ^ Billboard 21 Feb 1998
- ^ "41st Grammy Awards - 1999". Rock on the Net. http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1999/grammys.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
- ^ Slichter, Jacob (2004). So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star. New York: Broadway Books. p. 135. ISBN 0767914708.
- ^ A Hit Single and the Heart-Wrenching Story Behind it, by Claudia Ricci, The Huffington Post, posted February 8 2011, retrieved February 27 2011
