End Of The Tour: The John Henry End Credits
From Walkman tears to vinyl healing, They Might Be Giants’ “End of the Tour” is my soundtrack for surviving the endings of things.
This one’s about endings, grief, and how a single organ note can still break me open. Subscribe to get more of these weekly therapy sessions disguised as song essays.
The first time I listened to this song, I cried.
If Stomp Box were the final punctuation mark on this album, the final climactic scene, then End Of The Tour is the John Henry end credits.
End Of The Tour successfully evoked emotion out of me before I even had an opportunity to consider what the lyrics were. It is a perfect song to end any album. After my divorce the last four months that followed, I was constantly ridding myself of every tear and anxious thought in my body as I navigated the emotional wreckage. I’ve been carefully wading through my life and this song is both a lighthouse bringing me safely home and a farewell to this John Henry journey.
Laying on my bed, Walkman headphones on, alone in my room I listened to this album. Reading the lyrics from the cassette liner notes as I went along as was customary. Hearing the rich and emotion filled sounds of this song as I read each verse felt heavy then and my uncle hadn’t even died yet. Maybe that’s why the song’s sound still feels like a ceremony to me, it’s not just lyrics; it’s the architecture behind it.
Welcome to the Church of John Henry
John Linnell carries this song with two different organs (drawbar and rock) along with a synth choir sound that elevates this whole thing into something almost spiritual sounding. The final note ringing out at the end being his organ. Up until John Henry, I’m almost certain that none of their previous studio albums featured an organ on any track.
So there is something especially beautiful about the final holding note of End Of The Tour being a single organ; ending an album that brought us that true organ tone in over half the songs.
While not the case for every track, the organ in this one feels very churchy. There are parts where it seems as though I have stepped into a cathedral and am listening to the worship team as they provide the background to a sermon from the Johns.
Just a moment ago, I stepped away from my computer and played this song one more time on my recently acquired limited release vinyl. As that solitary last note plays above the silence, parts of my life flash in my mind.
My uncle’s funeral, saying good bye to my grandma one last time, the last time I’d ever share a morning cuddle with my wife, watching her drive away, seeing my kids be adults, and writing through every song of this album up to today.
A lot of songs make you want to bop your head along and sing. This song made me want to express my heart on paper.
Dear They Might Be Giants, It’s Me, Emotional Traumatized Chase.
I wrote the band a letter to send to their Brooklyn fan mail address after one of my album listens. I squirreled away in my room, black curtains drawn, hiding from the adults in my life who wanted to ask me if I’m okay since my uncle’s passing. Of course I’m not. Stop bothering me.
Tears poured down my cheeks as I tried to express to the Johns how much their music meant to me. The idea of End Of The Tour possibly hinting at They Might Be Giants hanging their hats also made me sad. A wave of worry washed over me that one day I wouldn’t have these guys creating things that made me feel so seen and understood. Of course, that led to the inevitable thoughts of one day not having anybody at all on account of me being dead. Eventually.
Never did I have any notion that I’d get a reply but it felt right to send. Today, you can visit a favorite artist on social media and leave a comment whenever you want. That day in the 90’s however, I had to hand write a letter which felt very personal.
Looking for songs from the Flood album? Start Here!
How Dare They Still Get Me With This Song
I believe End Of The Tour largely covers the loss of something significant. Acknowledging that we don’t know what happens at the very end but if there’s something, maybe I’ll see you there. For me, it’s song about a heavy loss, a traumatic event, and knowing that there is a long full road ahead of you to deal and cope with it all.
This lyric has always given me goosebumps. It’s meaning, cadence, and melody it’s sung to is without exaggeration, one of the most beautiful pieces of music.
At the end of the tour
When the road disappears
If there’s any more people around
When the tour runs aground
And if you’re still around
Then we’ll meet at the end of the tour
That entire phrase calls my heart up on the phone and speaks to me as if it is every memory of every person I’ve ever truly loved who is longer around. Just to say, “Hi, do you remember?”
What I did not expect was for the opening verse to rush in and devastate me in the wake of an unexpected divorce.
. . .and she says that the scene isn’t what it’s been
And she’s thinking of going home
That it’s old and it’s totally over now
How dare they still get me with this song.
I also hear this song as not only being about death but specifically about a fatal car accident. I challenge you to listen to the lyrics with this in mind and come back to tell me if you agree.
End of the Tour, Roll Credits
Intrusive thoughts about my existence, a childhood with a parent who has untreated BPD, and the grief of a loved one to suicide were a LOT for teenage me. The recent marriage ending (I’m not going into it anymore!), adding an additional layer that I could not have fathomed decades ago.
I’ve heard that the purpose of life is to love others, fully. It’s also said that to truly love is to know pain. That we hurt when we lose someone because we loved so deeply and honestly. If all of this is true, and I believe that it is, then every time I hear this song, I’m reminded that I lived.
And that every time the final organ note holds, I’m still alive to hear it.
Beautiful piece, and one that hopefully felt cathartic, in a gut-churning, purging, freeing sort of way. And was this the song that won the finale of the song contest? I can't recall you revealing the results of the poll. You always reveal new viewpoints to the TMBG songs in these essays, which is impressive. I hope that Factory Showroom is less fraught with traumatic memories.