How to End Your Song With a Punch Line

Ending a song with a punch line is a playful way to take everything you've said in your song up until the very last line and turn it on its head.

Look at the lyrics from Train's song, "I'm Not Waiting In Line."


Verse


It's clear to see that you're down to earth

With a hold on what your worth

Like no other

And I'd like to thank your mother for that

I betcha there's a line outside your door

And it's a line I know for sure

That you don't want from me

Like a hole in your head

Pre-Chorus

I want to be

Just you, just me

No tricks, no show

But I got to let you know

Chorus

I'm not waiting in line

I'm not changing my mind for you

I'm not wasting my time

I'm not waiting in line for you

Verse

Now I think if we got something started

We would both fall in whole hearted

I'm not like no other

And you can thank my mother for that

I'm sure there is a line in front of me

And it's a line I'm sure to need

From you, yeah

Like a hole in my head

Pre-Chorus

I want to be

Just you, just me

No tricks, no show

But I got to let you know

Chorus

I'm not waiting in line

I'm not changing my mind for you

I'm not wasting my time

I'm not waiting in line for you

Bridge

I've been saving myself for you

But I'm not wasting my time for no one

Oh, but if you want me to be

Baby, I'll be rough enough

Baby, I'll be tough enough

Oh you know I'm rich enough

But I won't be nobody's fool

Chorus/Outro

I'm not waiting in line

And I'm not changing my mind for you

I'm not wasting my time

I'm not waiting in line for you

I'm not waiting in line for you

And I'm not changing my mind for no one

I'm not wasting my time for you

I'm not waiting in line


These are all of the lyrics of the song, except the very last line. I'm holding off on sharing that with you for just a second. From these lyrics you can see that the overall idea in this song is about being in a relationship with someone and wanting it to be a certain, straightforward way. Lead singer Pat Monahan is basically saying he wants a relationship, but he's not willing to put up with any games being played. That idea is summed up with lines like "Just you, just me / No tricks, no show," and "I'm not waiting in line / I'm not changing my mind for you."


He makes a strong case for that idea throughout the song. Then the very last line chimes in. It tacks itself onto the end of the song and presents itself like this:


I'm not waiting in line for you


And I'm not changing my mind for no one

I'm not wasting my time for you

I'm not waiting in line

Unless you want me to


After the whole song being about not wanting to put up with certain behaviors, the song ends with Monahan saying "Unless you want me to." This one little line undermines everything said previously. So much so, it even comes off as humorous when you hear it.


It's like there was that doubt in him all along. It just wasn't revealed to us until the very last line. If we listened to the song again, with that last line in mind, we'd get a whole different perspective on things knowing what we learned in the last line. We'd know that he's not as confident as it sounds throughout the song.

Go back and read all the lyrics again to see what I mean. But this time tack on the punch line, "unless you want me to," to the end and see how it negates everything he said throughout the lyric. It makes for a fun and playful gesture at the end of the song that unties everything we learned previously.

It's a fun little trick to keep your audience interested when your last line hits. You can also check out the lyrics to Jimi Hendrix's "Red House" for a similar punch line finale.