"Closing Time" is a song by American rock band Semisonic. It was released on March 10,1998,as the lead single from their second studio album,Feeling Strangely Fine,and began to receive mainstream radio airplay on April 27,1998. The ballad[5] was written by Dan Wilson and produced by Nick Launay.
While the song is about people leaving a bar at closing time (also called last call),and widely interpreted as such,drummer Jacob 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".[10][11]
Background and composition
Prior to composing "Closing Time",Semisonic usually ended their concerts with the song "If I Run". The band grew tired of playing this song every night and so Dan Wilson set out to write a new song that they could play at the end of their set.[12] Wilson's girlfriend Diane Espaldon was pregnant at the time and although Wilson did not set out consciously to write a song about giving birth,he has stated that "Part way into the writing of the song,I realized it was also about being born."[12]
Jacob Slichter,the drummer for Semisonic,said in 2006 that payola was how they turned "Closing Time" into a hit. Slichter stated:"It cost something close to $700,000 to $800,000 to get 'Closing Time' on the air."[13]
Critical reception
Billboard magazine described "Closing Time" as an "instantly memorable rock ditty",saying,"...the core of 'Closing Time' is pure pop with a sticky chorus that will have you singing along before the end of your first listen. This could be the jam that establishes Semisonic as the top 40 heroes they deserve to be."[14] Doug Reece of the same magazine called the song "impossibly hooky".[15] "Closing Time" was placed at number 19 on Rolling Stone's 2007 list of the "20 Most Annoying Songs".[16]
Music video
The music video was directed by Chris Applebaum.[17] It involves a split screen in which Wilson and the band performing the song together are on the right side while a woman working in a laundromat she is about to close down for the night is on the left. The woman tries to call Wilson,but he does not hear the phone ring or see the message she left due to his performing the song. Both she and Wilson then each leave their respective locations and make their way through the streets to the same club. The woman gets there first,looks around,and leaves. She walks just past Wilson as he comes in,with neither of them seeing the other. Wilson also then looks around for the woman too and then leaves. The video ends as Wilson meets the band outside by the car and shrugs.
Usage in other media
This song is frequently used by some radio stations as their last song before changing formats,mostly alternative rock stations. Most notably on November 16,2016,Fort Worth and Dallas,Texas-based alternative station KDGE (102.1 FM) played a continuous loop of "Closing Time" while redirecting its listeners to its area sister mainstream rock station KEGL (97.1 FM). This continued until 5 p.m. on November 17,2016,when the station flipped to Christmas music then full-time to a mainstream adult contemporary format on December 26.[18]
On March 17,2025,the official White House Twitter account posted a video of an undocumented immigrant getting arrested,featuring lines from the song. During that same day,White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt used lyrics from the song to describe kicking out undocumented immigrants from the United States.[19] The band reacted negatively to the post in a statement to the press,writing "We did not authorize or condone the White House’s use of our song in any way,and no,they didn’t ask. The song is about joy and possibilities and hope,and they have missed the point entirely.”[20]
↑ Wood, Olivia (January 15, 2020). "Episode 176: Semisonic". Song Exploder. Archived from the original on February 16, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
↑ Closing Time (European CD single liner notes). Semisonic. MCA Records. 1998. MCD-49091.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
↑ Closing Time (European maxi-CD single liner notes). Semisonic. MCA Records. 1998. MCD 49076.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
↑ Closing Time (UK CD1 liner notes). Semisonic. MCA Records. 1999. MCSTD 40221, 155645-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
↑ Closing Time (UK CD2 liner notes). Semisonic. MCA Records. 1999. MCSXD 40221, 155646-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
↑ Closing Time (UK cassette single sleeve). Semisonic. MCA Records. 1999. MCSC 40221, 155 645-4.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
↑ Closing Time (Japanese CD single liner notes). Semisonic. MCA Records. 1998. MVCE-9009.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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