The Story of 'Closing Time' Is WEIRDER Than You THINK

[@BB13131313]

In retrospect Closing Time feels like the song that perfectly captures the end of a magical decade.. it's like the song was a last call for the 90s even though it was still 1998..

[@NottyGurlStyle]

Closing TIme will always be a classic to me…it was on the radio all the time but I was never sick of it.

[@thedungeondelver]

I like "Closing Time".

[@drewknoles3258]

I like that you know not to end a sentence with a quotation mark. It's refreshing, seriously.

[@thedungeondelver]

@@drewknoles3258 I'm a writer by trade, it's ingrained :)

[@Timbo6669]

@@drewknoles3258”seriously?”

[@snailcorepistolwhippits9488]

You seem like the type.

[@roygalaasen]

@@drewknoles3258this is confusing. I do it the other way because… ”In American English, a quote that comes at the end of a sentence will contain a period inside the final quotation marks.” “UK English does put the closing punctuation inside the quote marks if the quote is, or ends with, a complete sentence.” Confusing.

[@marcop1587]

I wanna live in _Closing Time_ video, an alternate reality where the late 90s never ended.

[@jmason61]

The drummer Jake wrote a GREAT book about the band & the rock industry from the time... it's funny too. Called "So you want to be a rock n roll star" I highly recommend it

[@kevinevans8370]

The album "Feeling Strangely Fine" is one of my favorites from that time period. I loved Secret Smile and Closing Time. I never knew there was a secret meaning though to that song. Great choice on this story!

[@jonbourgoin182]

I used to work at a record store that was open till midnight. Needless to say, by the time it was midnight I was ready to go home but some customers just didn't get the message. Until I played Closing Time as a joke one night. It soon became a thing to get customers to buy their shit or get out.

[@rnrtruestories]

haha that's great.

[@FWDSUXARSE]

I went to a coffee shop in the late 90s / early 2000s that used to do the same thing 🤣

[@DarrenShaw-ev5tb]

Yuppers ! - You cant stay here ( best line ever ) lol

[@iWENT2pcs]

Try playing Yoko Ono - that will get them heading for the exits. 🤣

[@g6ter1]

along with every single basic run of the mill american bar from 2000-2012 at least

[@FrankDrive]

Rolling Stone magazine hasn't been relevant since the 1970s

[@Vestavia-cq5fh]

90's till the end of 2007

[@JRPLawyeress1]

I agree. Rolling Stone is run by political hacks. Idk why they’re still around.

[@bsjeffrey]

...you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.....is the only way to clear a room

[@rnrtruestories]

yup

[@FWDSUXARSE]

Facts

[@conors4430]

I love how record execs get to decide what is a hit. People can’t like something they’ve never heard. And a hit can’t be a hit before it’s ever been played.

[@TheBorderHookups]

I agree! Check out Jake's book - So You Want to be a Rock and Roll Star. He speaks to this and more.

[@karinnotkaren8991]

My signature on my email used to be "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end" I love that line!

[@Jakew9]

Do Lifehouse! I recently got into them, they were pretty big in the 2000s love to hear extra stories if you can find about their precursor Blyss!

[@jessehutchings]

I think it's a great song and many of us have nostalgia for it bc we grew up hearing it. It's really sad that label execs can be so hostile to their own working bands like that

[@matthewatwood8641]

I think a lot of record company executives resent musicians because they want them to just be performing monkeys for them to make money off of.

[@alienvomitsex]

​@@matthewatwood8641 Interesting how bosses so often resent the workers that earn them their money under capitalism

[@rnrtruestories]

were you a fan of semisonic? Also, does the song deserve to be on Rolling Stone's most annoying list?

[@amx1820]

A song like Smells like Teen Spirit, Live Forever and such were at the very top in the 90's, and Closing Time is just below that tier, it's that damnn good!

[@SuperFacecloth]

You have no taste. Sorry. Get a clue.

[@jamescarter3196]

Lol, no dude, it isn't. Closing Time is a cute little throwaway lullabye song with trite lyrics and hummable melodies, and record execs crammed it up radio's ass until we couldn't forget it no matter how hard we try.

[@SuperFacecloth]

@@jamescarter3196 bingo. Almost like brainwashing, but there's no such thing as brainwashing. That does not exist. That's just something crazy people talk about. Crazy. People.

[@e-rockmixtapes4073]

Great Divide is great a great album! Dan Wilson also co-wrote "Someone Like You" with Adele. He should get more credit for his songwriting. "Free Life" by Dan Wilson...damn that one gets me every time.

[@kenterminateddq5311]

"Closing Time" is the perfect song to use when the store or fancy restaurant is about to close.

[@jamescarter3196]

LMAO, "fancy restaurant"? No, this is pizza-parlor music. This is 'time to load the kids in the car' music.

[@JRPLawyeress1]

I think it’s a great song. 25 years ago our kids were 5, 8 and 10. They had a wonderful childhood growing up in the 90s. I loved being a mom. Now even our kids have gray hair. We didn’t feel time rushing by but it was. My daughter was dressing like Scary Spice. Now she’s 35. I remember rollerblading in the cul de sac with all the neighborhood kids. Chokes me up remembering. 😢

[@jasonbungard7484]

Semisonic is a great band, I own both those albums and there are no duffers on either of them. I introduced my wife to 'Secret Smile', and I put it on our wedding reception playlist, but the DJ skipped it because he was just trying to play the dance songs.

[@jamesbarrick3403]

LOL nice DJ - You hire him and he decides your opinion is not so important. Oh BTW Semisonic is NOT a great band. Most people have never heard of them. Great bands are well known. I think you mean to say you think they are underrated and you like their material a lot!! They are not a great band lmao

[@jasonbungard7484]

@@jamesbarrick3403 The DJ was a friend, I didn't hire him. Define "great" however you please. I define "great" as the Oxford Dictionary does: "of ability, quality, or eminence considerably above the normal or average." Notice the word "or" is used before "eminence". As in, ability, quality OR eminence are needed for something to be great. I don't wait around for others to tell me what bands I think are great, I can choose for myself. Semisonic is also underrated. I think you might give to much weight to public opinion, but you do you.

[@K37-h1z]

​@@jasonbungard7484then yr friends kinda a dick

[@andrewbeauparlant2477]

This song is one of my favorites to sing along to. Never gets old imo

[@claymccoy]

"All About Chemistry" is a great song.

[@JasonWharton82]

Closing time is a great song but the real MVP on that album is Secret Smile.

[@TheBorderHookups]

Feeling Strangely Fine is a stacked album and a prime example of why we should not stop at the hit and instead deep dive to find the hidden gems. This can be said for countless albums beyond Semi Sonic. I suggest that you do the same for Trip Shakespeare. Just one music lover's opinion.

[@joeldukes303]

There was a cute little blonde that would walk around the library and play/sing closing time to shoo us out Loved her

[@renzomonero]

One of the MOST BEAUTIFUL songs ever (Secret Smile very close too)! Very underrated band, on my opinion! This song was my companion when I move on from my mother home to a new city in college. It has a special place in my heart. Thanks for the Vid, man, you rocks! ;)

[@yu1142]

Time to go to Chili's with my fuckin boys

[@captainbaseballbatboy7915]

Due Date!

[@RED-cy7ig]

This is not an annoying song. I never bother with those lists.

[@AtomizedSound]

It’s a great late 90’s song regardless of double meaning. Songs are meant to be interpreted different ways depending upon the listeners emotion and perspective of how they interpret the lyrics and music anyway. 👍🏻

[@MrBobbit666]

Closing time was a pretty big hit over here in Australia I remember when it came out it still gets played on the radio and everywhere I have worked 90% of people are singing along out loud

[@rnrtruestories]

Yeah, in Canada it was a huge hit. Then the Office included it in one of their cold opens, and it ended up in that Justin Timberlake movie and Rock Band as DLC and Rocksmith I believe too.

[@MrBobbit666]

@@rnrtruestories yeah sic it's a mad song I love always a good song along to make the work day pass by faster

[@fakshen1973]

Closing time had a deeper meaning. But it definitely resonated with anyone who's felt desperate to make a connection AT closing time. The world can be a lonely place... and maybe for what's left of an evening, two people aren't so lonely that day.

[@matthewjames206]

Ahh, a timeless classic. The singer for Semisonic has wrote some great songs for other artists. Definitely has done quite well for himself. Thanks for the insight 🍻

[@grumpysnail81]

I used to work at a bar and this song is like nails in my ears. I had to hear it *every* *single* *night* for 4 years straight.

[@billchief397]

Yeahh.... like karaoke and black velvet.....

[@DoomSlayersNephew7270]

Yeah, that’d be pretty bad

[@billchief397]

@@DoomSlayersNephew7270 yep. It is.... seeing a gal have too much black velvet thinking the sounds like alana....but reality is more of Yoko ono screeching...

[@DoomSlayersNephew7270]

@@billchief397 hey! it’s art, ok!? 🤣

[@billchief397]

@DoomSlayersNephew7270 oh not totally knocking yoko down she had some awesome dance mixes out there ha

[@rev68]

I was a bouncer at a bar that played live music 7 nights a week during this time in Minneapolis. Needless to say, just about every bouncer claimed they were the one that came up with the "You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here."

[@rbdz29]

The video omitted that Dan Wilson has also worked with Adele, writing the song, Someone like You. I was 15 when Closing Time was big, I walked to the K-Mart to buy Feeling Strangely Fine, an interesting fact about that is, I had to walk past the point in Soquel where the acid tests of Ken Kesey and Ken Babbs in the 60s were (there is now a bus stop to commemorate it as the birth place of the counter-culture). To me, the song was about wanting to graduate from high school - open all the doors and let you out into the world. It was also an ironic slam for politicians to get voted out of office. Because of Feeling Strangely Fine, I also downloaded songs from The Great Divide, such as The Prize, and Down in Flames. It ranks as an annoying song because it could be construed as a torch song, when I never thought of it as a torch song. It was like a S happens song but being able to move to what's next.

[@armchairzen]

I love this tune. We play our own cover of it every week, and it's always a fave!

[@gunfighterdrummer]

No matter the genre or generation, we’ve heard of the songs that were nearly undiscovered. Now imagine, how many great songs went undiscovered, and are now completely forgotten?

[@TheBorderHookups]

A good example is "Name" by the Goo Dolls. A B-side song that was almost overlooked. Not that this was the case here, but a great argument for the value of college radio where the DJs are free to explore.

[@mndr1983]

Singing in my Sleep is their best song, imo

[@SimilasGraphics]

Dan Wilson also co wrote Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’. He did a covers album of it in 2019. The dudes a talent!

[@cris_261]

Good song, and I don't mind hearing it. Provided I don't hear it too much.😂

[@Gobble_de_Goop]

"You don't have to go home... but you can't stay here!!!"

[@efficiencygaming3494]

I think it's a nice song. It's very nostalgic with that late '90s production. I always imagined it as the song that plays in a store right before it closes and the lights switch off. Rolling Stone has some seriously bad taste calling this song one of the most annoying. When was the last time they were worth reading? The 1970s?

[@Jacksmusicshack]

I'm really surprised you haven't done anything by Death from Above 1979 as they have really quite a great story to tell For example their lawsuit with DFA records or the time we broke up and the reunions

[@BrianHartman]

It kind of stings to hear Semisonic referred to as a one-hit wonder. Feeling Strangely Fine is a great album, and I think there are some really good songs on All About Chemistry, too. I was glad to hear their latest album. I don't like it as much as FSF, but they're still putting out good stuff.

[@gnrsgl]

Saw these guys in Auckland 2000 where they supported a host of kiwi acts including Tim and Neil Finn The Exponents The Feelers che fu Dave Dobbyn was a quick get together after the collapse of the latest Sweetwaters festival They were fantastic ending with Closing time

[@thattowtruckguy436]

Never really been a fan of Semisonic but the song ain't that ignoring. I could probably think of 50 others song that would make me want to smash the radio . In a way it's kinda of makes me remember of a time where I was forced to hear it all the time. And there is someone wants to sing when it's time to lock up shop. Always gets a giggle everytime.

[@ZapperRS]

Love this band. They deserve more than being known as the "Closing Time" band

[@rnrtruestories]

they had critical acclaim with their albums, but I guess their weird relationship with their label didn't help.

[@katemaloney4296]

"Never You Mind" is really good, too.

[@Don-tj6pb]

Played in a band for years, we ALWAYS closed with closing time.

[@sourgir-wh6xd]

🤔💭 I've heard this double meaning explanation bf, but I still don't get the "being born" aspect of the song, but I definitely hear the "get out of my bar" meaning 😆. No I don't agree that it's an annoying song. It's a pretty good tune 🤘🏻😍

[@gyneve]

I choose to believe that in the second meaning, the "bar" that you're being encouraged to vacate, is your mother's vageen.

[@dxfifa]

It is about going out into the world (leaving the womb and then going home with your parents). Some of the lyrics are literal in the proper context, some aren't

[@jayluck8047]

Great song to perform around the campfire.

[@Ihad9eyes]

I love that album! I gifted it to all my girlfriends at that time 😊

[@chombus2602]

Ayo

[@DarkPhilosopherOG]

"Closing Time" always seemed like a cursed song for me. I went out of my way to ignore it for ten years. It always seemed to pop-up on the radio or as in-store music or as part of a playlist just before I was about to be fired, laid-off, or broken up by a girlfriend. It became such a frequent occurrence, the second I heard the opening piano keys, I would change the channel or skip it because it taint the right of the day or night it was playing.

[@juanosorio]

"Closing time" will always transport you in your memories of being at a club at 1:30 am at last call. If you close your eyes and think you can see it clearly in your head. The song is a hit because it's full of vivid happy memories.

[@jamescarter3196]

LMAO, no, the song will always transport YOU to the happy little club at 1:30 a.m., not everybody. Close your eyes and you'll see me in the pizza place where I worked in 1998 when I heard this song five times a day, because everybody has the same thoughts about everything. The song was a hit because record execs put it on the radio when there was no other 'lullabye' song available to sell.

[@billiebobbienorton2556]

My late husband would always stay til closing time. That's how we met. He had to take someone home....so I went.

[@Brigand231]

I always liked "Secret Smile". I also miss being told to take care at the end of videos.

[@TheJbhmetal]

Why in the thumbnail did you censor baby?

[@JayTor2112]

I like Steven Crowder's version. "Time to close" (something something something) "I Know that it's time for things to close"

[@allanvanuga9196]

Great video.

[@KipVaughan]

One of their new songs came through my streaming service and is a great song!

[@SPac316]

I don't think it was an annoying song. But it was just over played at the time. I watched MTV a lot back then an it was in heavy rotation for sure.

[@mustang4life]

There is no Top 90s Classics if this Epic Riff is left off the list. 🍻🇺🇸🙏🏼🇺🇸🍻

[@danabana8121]

The entire album was amazing. 👌

[@stregadisalem732]

I loved All About Chemistry and Closing Time never gets old for me.

[@PhilP8980]

Singing in my sleep is a good song.

[@msh6865]

It's OK, nothing groundbreaking but, certainly listenable.

[@rdspam]

The video for the song really leads to misunderstanding the lyrics. It’s literally them playing over a closing bar.

[@Gygesdcom]

I checked out Trip Shakespeare and definitely 90s all the way and cheesy, but in a way you can hear Semisonics roots

[@TheMightymolar]

I loved Great Divide at the time. I need to give it another listen.

[@bonjoev2781]

Bars in his town said closing time? That's crazy Mine too!!

[@kkupsky6321]

I forget it. I want to. MCA is what lynyrd skynyrd yells at. I was like twelve so I kinda appreciate it now because when I was 13-14 I started doin three hour shows in the bars. That phrase and sweet home Alabama or stairway just wanted to go beat them.

[@Pumpkin_Cult]

Bad take Rolling Stone. Closing Time is a great song.

[@rnrtruestories]

yeah rolling stone has some horrible takes.

[@PianoMan-hx3ev]

Like a fine wine...It grows better w time.

[@tonyjones1560]

“Closing Time,” annoying? Actually, I found the song “catchy” enough to buy it after hearing it once. Thank you for reminding me why I stopped buying/reading “Rolling Stone” decades ago…

[@andersuberman683]

Can't call them ''The Dixie Chicks'' anymore. Someone's gonna cry.😢 Boo-frickety-hoo!

[@PNWGuitar]

Not annoying at all, overplayed yes but inky because it was a great song

[@_Only_Zuul]

i don't really get his meaning for the lyrics, and reading them doesn't really make sense to be about babies except for maybe the first few opening lines..

[@cfhcowboy9292]

Man I remember this song it came out when I was in high school

[@berniekatzroy]

Dan voiced himself of an episode of Anerican dad playing closing time.

[@jomamma1750]

Dude's 100% right, "Closing Time" is the best jam to end the night.

[@jamescarter3196]

Hell no, "It's All Over Now" is the greatest closing song of all time

[@jomamma1750]

@jamescarter3196 Ahh, no. "It's All Over Now" is the jam you play after you leave the bar with the girl and then finish up kicking it with her. That's when you break out the Stones....

[@deztroyer76]

So how is it “so misunderstood”?

[@chuckppyro3137]

If I Run was their best song by far !

[@kenvyn123]

Secret smile is mine and parters “song” it’s underrated.

[@LabhriunnMaciain]

I didn't listen to much music after 1973, by 1975 cocaine took over completely, nothing but mindless disco, but this song is great. It actually tells a story.

[@lorenzodicapo6305]

As a bartender, I love this song. As a person, it sucks

[@67marlins]

Isn't it funny how there are stories like this where an executive at a record company has a tin ear....and no ability to hear a hit before the market proves it....!

[@joeriveracomedy]

Sirius xm broke it down in detail recently

[@toastangler]

I've liked that song ever since it's release. I was 17 when it came out. I never would have guessed back then, that 20 something years later it would be considered to a classic! So cool! As far as being "one of the most annoying songs of all time". I definitely don't agree with that, but I've noticed that people either love it, or hate it. I think one of the reasons some people hate it, is because it gets played so much. I can relate to that. I hate a lot of rock from the 70's because it's sooooo over played.

[@ninja_tony]

Ok, so what the heck word did you censor in the thumbnail, and why?

[@chris55529]

It ain't More Than A Feeling, but it is a great song.

[@aretnap3653]

Their "FamilyGuy" Appearance was Hilarious!

[@tygerstripes3752]

You completely lost me by beginning with 'one hit wonder'. Semisonic are a terrific band, one of my faves.

[@termitesc.aardwolf3644]

Semisonic is not a one hit wonder. I hear Chemistry often played in retail stores and I swear I've also heard Singing In My Sleep played on the radio before.

[@Santaheckler]

The whole CD is great…so is All About Chemistry

[@larrysimon1]

Closing Time is a fantastic and much underrated record, it will be reborn a massive hit again I'm sure as quality always shines thru.

[@chain872005]

What would even be annoying about Closing Time?

[@nicky5683]

I miss the 90s

[@RogueBoyScout]

It was in the Simpsons,. Nuff said,

[@RyanAnthonyDigitalMedia]

I always associate this song with Andy Bernard

[@rnrtruestories]

Yeah same here. Even as much as I wasn’t a fan of season 8 of the office

[@sortofanoakyafterbirth3661]

@@rnrtruestories Stanley's favorite song. Because it means he gets to go home...

[@BinkyStalls]

Hearing that a classic like ‘Closing Time’ was almost snuffed from radio, I wonder just how many other Bands and Songs with bangers we never got to hear due to bad decisions. Would love to find those lost tunes.

[@obsoleteelite8258]

Multitudes.

[@paulcurtis5317]

Yeah, no, its about getting told the pub is closing 😀