50 Best Rock Songs About Endings

Best Rock Tracks That Mark the End

There’s a certain mood that creeps in when things wind down. Not fireworks or confetti, more like the hollow quiet after someone leaves the room and the air feels heavier. Endings carry that strange mix of relief and regret, a sense that something mattered but now it’s slipping out of reach. Some songs capture that space with guitars that sound too raw to fake calm, while others lean into drama and make the fade-out feel bigger than life. They’re not always literal goodbye tracks, but they hit the same pulse when you’re staring at the ceiling, thinking through what already slipped past.

A good ending track doesn’t smooth things over. It lingers on the cracks, the awkward pauses, the messy parts that never really got fixed. Think of how some pop, rock, country, and R&B songs pull off that trick where they feel like a door shutting but also like a spark still hanging in the air. Rock especially thrives in that place, with riffs that stretch longer than they should, vocals that wobble between bitter and nostalgic. The appeal isn’t in closure, it’s in the reminder that endings rarely clean themselves up neatly.

Sometimes the energy goes chaotic instead of solemn, and that fits too. There are songs that play like a meltdown in slow motion, others that laugh through the chaos while everything’s still smoldering. Those tracks belong here alongside the quieter ones, because an ending can swing in any direction and still feel like the rug got pulled. These are the rock songs that lock into that headspace and set the scene for the final scroll. Here are the best rock songs for endings.

1. 'Go Your Own Way' by Fleetwood Mac

2. 'I'd Rather Go Blind' by Etta James

3. 'Goodbye to You' by Scandal

4. 'Black' by Pearl Jam

5. 'It's Too Late' by Carole King

6. 'The Show Must Go On' by Queen

7. 'Don't Speak' by No Doubt

8. 'Every Breath You Take' by The Police

9. 'Already Gone' by Eagles

10. 'Changes' by Black Sabbath

11. 'She's Gone' by Hall & Oates

12. 'Since U Been Gone' by Kelly Clarkson

13. 'Love Bites' by Def Leppard

14. 'Don't Look Back in Anger' by Oasis

15. 'Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)' by Green Day

16. 'The Last Goodbye' by Billy Boyd

17. 'End of the Road' by Boyz II Men

18. 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' by Joy Division

19. 'Fade to Black' by Metallica

20. 'Goodbye Stranger' by Supertramp

21. 'Goodbye' by Air Supply

22. 'Goodbye My Lover' by James Blunt

23. 'The End' by The Doors

24. 'Dust in the Wind' by Kansas

25. 'Last Kiss' by Pearl Jam

26. 'I Don't Love You' by My Chemical Romance

27. 'Without You' by Harry Nilsson

28. 'Last Resort' by Papa Roach

29. 'I Miss the Misery' by Halestorm

30. 'Goodbye to Love' by The Carpenters

31. 'Walk Away' by James Gang

32. 'Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)' by Phil Collins

33. 'You Oughta Know' by Alanis Morissette

34. 'Since I've Been Loving You' by Led Zeppelin

35. 'The Blower's Daughter' by Damien Rice

36. 'Love Hurts' by Nazareth

37. 'Time for Me to Fly' by REO Speedwagon

38. 'The Sun Always Shines on T.V.' by A-ha

39. 'Losing My Religion' by R.E.M.

40. 'Hurt' by Johnny Cash

41. 'Don't Fear the Reaper' by Blue öyster Cult

42. 'Hello Goodbye' by The Beatles

43. 'Goodbye Blue Sky' by Pink Floyd

44. 'So Far Away' by Dire Straits

45. 'A Farewell to Kings' by Rush

46. 'The Final Countdown' by Europe

47. 'Bye Bye Bye' by *NSYNC

48. 'Wake Me Up When September Ends' by Green Day

49. 'The Long and Winding Road' by The Beatles

50. 'I Will Remember You' by Sarah McLachlan