Closing Time (Semisonic song)

1998 single by Semisonic

"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 was written by Dan Wilson and produced by Nick Launay. The single reached number one on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and the top 50 in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. It is certified gold in the UK and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song in 1999. The song reappeared on the charts of three countries in 2011 after being featured in the 2011 movie Friends with Benefits and an episode of the television sitcom The Office; it attained its highest chart peaks in Australia and Ireland during this period. 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".

Prior to composing "Closing Time", Semisonic would usually end their concerts with the song "If I Run". The band grew tired of playing this song every night and so Wilson set out to write a new song that they could play at the end of their set. Wilson's girlfriend 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."

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." Doug Reece of the same magazine called the song "impossibly hooky". "Closing Time" was placed at number 19 on Rolling Stones 2007 list of the "20 Most Annoying Songs".

The music video was directed by Chris Applebaum.

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.

RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)Ref(s). (Reference(s))United StatesFebruary 23, 1998Mainstream rock, modern rock, Adult album alternative, triple A radioMCAEuropeMarch 10, 1998CDJapanJuly 23, 1998CDUnited KingdomOctober 25, 1999CD, cassette