Keith Urban Praises Fadeouts in Music as Creative Endings

Fadeouts in music are a debated musical device, described variously as either a space for experimentation or as a lazy ending that avoids resolving a song. They often repeat a track’s final chorus while the volume decreases, avoiding a new chord progression or a major change in direction. Famous songs featuring fadeouts include Hotel California by The Eagles, Hey Jude by The Beatles, and Every Breath You Take by The Police. Some listeners who grew up with fades know to turn the volume up at the very end because performers sometimes play distinctive or unplanned material as the song disappears.

Keith Urban discusses fadeouts in a Billboard interview about Flow State, his yacht rock covers album, and he has described the end of songs as a place where he likes to go off script. He said long outros on songs such as Stupid Boy came from what the band did during those periods and that he did not want those moments not to be heard. Urban described the end-of-song fade as a place where “the cool stuff starts happening,” and the article concludes that he is a fan of the fadeout.

In a Billboard interview about Flow State, Keith Urban discussed fadeouts in music and described the ends of songs as one of the areas he likes to “go off script.” He said people who grew up in the era of fades know to turn the volume up at the very end because performers sometimes play for playing’s sake as the track disappears, and he observed that “that’s when all the cool stuff starts happening.”

Urban explained that session players often assume “we’re out by now” and therefore play distinctive or unplanned material during fades, which can create noteworthy musical moments even as the volume decreases. He framed the fadeout as a debated musical device that can function as a deliberate space for experimentation rather than merely a lazy ending.

Urban linked this approach to his own records, saying that long outros on songs such as Stupid Boy resulted from what the band did at those periods and that he “didn’t want it to not be heard.” He said the band’s creative input at the ends of certain tracks produced passages he wanted preserved on his records, which accounted for extended outros in some cases.

So let it be known that Keith Urban is a fan of the fadeout.

Notable examples of famous songs that use fadeouts include “Hotel California” by The Eagles, “Hey Jude” by The Beatles, and “Every Breath You Take” by The Police. The source identifies these recordings as examples of tracks that close with a fadeout rather than a hard stop, and it highlights them as well-known instances of the technique. In such tracks, the fadeout often repeats the song’s final chorus while the volume decreases. This method typically avoids introducing a new chord progression or a major change in direction at the ending.

A typical fadeout in music repeats a track’s final chorus while the overall volume is gradually lowered, rather than resolving to a new chord progression or a major change in direction. Performers and session players often assume “we’re out by now” and may play spontaneous or unplanned material during the disappearing ending, effectively playing for playing’s sake. Listeners who grew up with fades have learned to turn the volume up at the very end in order to catch distinctive moments, because “that’s when all the cool stuff starts happening.” Keith Urban linked long outros on songs such as Stupid Boy to the band’s creative input and said he did not want those moments not to be heard.

Keith Urban made direct remarks about fadeouts and the ends of songs in his interview. “One of the areas I’ve always found that I like to go off script, if you will, is at the end of songs.” “People who grew up in that era where there were fades know all about turning the volume up because this amazing thing happened right at the very end of the fade – you could just hear the guitarist do something that was so cool, because typically the session players figure, ‘We’re out by now, they’re not going to use all this, we’re just now playing for playing’s sake.’ That’s when all the cool stuff starts happening.”

He addressed long outros and the intention to preserve band performances on record. “I’ve found so many times on my records, the reason why Stupid Boy and some of those [songs] had these long outros is what the band would do at those periods was really cool, and I didn’t want it to not be heard.” “So let it be known that Keith Urban is a fan of the fadeout.”

Fadeouts in music remain a debated device, described in the article as either a space for experimentation or a lazy ending, and notable recordings that use the technique include Hotel California, Hey Jude and Every Breath You Take. The piece reports that fadeouts typically repeat a song’s final chorus while decreasing volume and avoid introducing a new chord progression or major directional change.

Keith Urban, speaking in a Billboard interview about Flow State, described the ends of songs as moments where he likes to “go off script.” He said long outros on tracks such as Stupid Boy came from the band’s creative input and that he did not want those moments unheard, stating that “that’s when all the cool stuff starts happening.” The article presents Urban’s comments as an endorsement of fadeouts as a legitimate creative choice.