History Main / LastChorusSlowDown

-->'''Cogsworth''': OH NO!! ''NOT THE KICKLINE!!!''

* "Masquerade" from Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera is a prime example of this. The last repetition is much slower, and louder, than the rest of the piece. However, it doesn't speed up again, but rather suddenly falls sideways into a minor key when the Phantom enters, and then gets cut off.

* Played straight in "Come On Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners, but then subverted as the song ends up slightly faster than how they started!

[[folder: J-Pop/J-Rock]]

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!!Examples

* "What Would We Do Without You?" from ''[[Theatre/CompanySondheim Company]]'': "Okay now, ev-'ry-bo-dy..."
* The OneHitWonder "What's Up" by 4 Non Blondes repeats the first verse slower in the ending. The same thing happens in the ''[[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983 He-Man]]'' parody cover by Slackcircus.
* ''Theatre/HelloDolly'' does this with its title song... TWICE!
* The most characteristic example from ''Theatre/LaCageAuxFolles'' is the title song, but "Masculinity" and "The Best Of Times" also have this.
* Then there is also the act one finale to ''Mame'', which is the title song. [[SerialEscalation TWICE!!]]
* "SpringtimeForHitler" from ''Film/TheProducers''. FUCKING TWICE!!
** "The Inquisition" from ''Film/HistoryOfTheWorldPartI''.
* The title song of ''Theatre/{{Cabaret}}'' is a solo version of this, slowing down (with TruckDriversGearChange) to begin the final strain ("Start by admitting from cradle to tomb"). The opening number, "Willkommen," is also subjected to this.
* The Sinatra version of "New York, New York" is another solo example.

* "That's Death" from the Literature/{{Discworld}} adventure game ''VideoGame/DiscworldII: Mortality Bytes''.
* "Return to the Sea" from ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'' goes a little too far with this one. When it slows down, it also changes its tune enough that, until the full version came out on the CD, people thought the last part was a different song.
* "Castles Made of Sand" by Jimi Hendrix. Slowdown? Check. ("And so castles made of sand... slip into the sea... eventuallyyy.."). Normal end? Yeah, that too. (The slide guitar melody from the intro is repeated with added reverb)
* One song in the RhythmGame ''[=O2Jam=]'', "Identity part II," does this, and, if you're playing it on Hard difficulty, you are then suddenly greeted by rapid scales and a charlie foxtrot of notes arranged to form a word in Korean hangul. The latter is humanly impossible to clear without missing any notes.

** "The Thin Line Between Love and Hate" (though it doesn't play the entire chorus).
* "The House of the Rising Sun" played by Music/TheAnimals. Only in the instrumental portion at the ''very'' end, after the lyrics are done.
* "Your Cover's Blown" by Music/BelleAndSebastian.
* Music/RufusWainwright ''loves'' this trope.
* "Zehn kleine Jägermeister" by Die Toten Hosen.
* "Playboys of the Southwestern World" by Blake Shelton uses a last chorus slowdown, but only on the first half of the last chorus.
* The last verse of "99 Luftballons" (99 Red Balloons).
* "Masquerade" from Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera is a prime example of this. The last repetition is much slower, and louder, than the rest of the piece. However, it doesn't speed up again, but rather suddenly falls sideways into a minor key when the Phantom enters, and then gets cut off.
* "Be Our Guest" from ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast''.
** Oh, it gets better... The eight-minute extended version of "Be Our Guest," heard in the stage version, lampshades this!
-->'''Cogsworth''': OH NO!! ''NOT THE KICKLINE!!!!''
* "Prince Ali" from ''{{WesternAnimation/Aladdin}}''.
** In the Broadway version of the same show, there's also "High Adventure," originally written for the film and restored for the Broadway musical.
** Found in "A Friend Like Me" in the musical ''Disney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular'' that ran at Disney California Adventure.
* The Dropkick Murphys' version of Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya does this epically.

* "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood does this, complete with drumline and dramatic cymbal crash after "Stand up."

* "[[Music/LedZeppelin Stairway to Heaven]]".
* ''Babylon'' by Music/{{Edguy}}.
* "They Both Reached For The Gun" from ''Theatre/{{Chicago}}''.
* "Shoot to Thrill" by Music/{{ACDC}} fakes out one of these, because the song gets back to its normal speed just before the end.
* The full version of the ''Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure'' [[AnimeThemeSong opening theme]] could be considered as having this... except it's a Second-to-Last Chorus Slow Down.
* The full-length version of WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd's ThemeTune.

* Music/MeatLoaf's Bat Out of Hell does this several times. Actually it's more of a Bridge Slow Down, but whatever.
* The title song of ''Theatre/VictorVictoria'', at least in the ScreenToStageAdaptation.
* Music/BillyJoel's "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)".
* "Family Snapshot" by Music/PeterGabriel.
* While a bit hard to distinguish, Music/{{REM}}'s song "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" supposedly slows down during the last chorus. WordOfGod says the band noticed bassist Mike Mills looked pained during recording and slowed down somewhat, and Mills was taken to the hospital afterwards[[note]]Both the recording and the tour for ''Monster'' were quite the TroubledProduction: every band member save Peter Buck fell ill or required medical attention at least once[[/note]].
* "Magical Mystery Tour" by Music/TheBeatles.
* Played straight in "Come On Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners, but then subverted as the song ends up slightly faster than how they started!
* "The Cliff" by the Red Army Chorus. "...udaloye zhityo aaaaataaaaammaaaaaaannnaaaaaa...."
* Arch Enemy has quite some songs ending like these. A couple examples would be "The Last Enemy" or "Nemesis".
* Music/{{Megadeth}} has "A Tout le Monde" and "Trust".
* Music/{{Opeth}}'s "The Drapery Falls" kind of ends like this. "Deliverance" as well (though the "rock" ending after the LastChorusSlowDown is rather long).
** "Rather long" here means that the song extends for another four minutes after the last chorus. You know - longer than the average rock or pop song. And this four minute extension is home to some awesome riffs in a [[UncommonTime bizarre time signature.]]
* PowerMetal band Cellador has the song "No Chances Lost" ending like this.
* Music/{{Metallica}}'s "Nothing Else Matters".

* Also frequently done with the final chorus of "The Battle of the Hymn of the Republic", usually paired up with the most stirring, heartfelt, tear-jerking moment of a patriotic speech or battle.
* Parodied in some productions of ''Theatre/ThePiratesOfPenzance'' during the number "With Catlike Tread" starting with the Joseph Papp NYC revival. Some productions take this to further extremes by performing [[OverlyLongGag AN ALMOST INFINITE NUMBER OF ENCORES]] to this particular moment, each slower and louder than the one before, regardless of the inevitable fatigue.
** Also from the same play, "I Am The Very Model of a Modern Major General" frequently gets this treatment. Then ''inverted'' to all hell if an encore is called for (which is likely). It's fairly common for a Major-General Stanley who can handle it to say to the conductor "''Presto agitato, sil vous plais, Maestro''" ("''Very'' quick, if you please, Master").
* In ''Theatre/{{Pippin}}'', "Glory" does this in the section when the full ensemble starts singing "The gates of heaven await" to a slow rock beat, with a big "you ain't seen nothin' yet" flourish.
* Music/TheStoneRoses' "I Wanna Be Adored".
* "Raise This Barn" from the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Apple Family Reunion".
* Music/{{Weezer}} does this arguably twice on their Pinkerton album, once in "Pink Triangle" and a lesser example in the interlude of "The Good Life".
* Willie Nelson's version of "Blue Skies" (originally composed in 1926 by Irving Berlin) does this not once, but ''twice''. Towards the end of the song, the chorus reappears at half tempo - that is, what notes normally would have been crotchets (quarter notes) are now minims (half notes); and then it happens again: the notes are now four times as long as they were originally, and the original crotchets are now semibreves (whole notes).

* "Sweet Soul Brother" from ''VideoGame/JetSetRadio'' does this.

* "You and Me" by Lifehouse
* Music/{{Genesis|Band}} does this with 'Home By the Sea' ... in the second part, 'Second Home By the Sea'.
* "Do You Want To Build a Snowman?" in ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' has its last verse get sung at a slower tempo than the first two verses.
* "For the First Time in Forever" from ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' ends with Elsa's solo, then Anna's and Elsa's CounterpointDuet, which are done at a slower tempo than the opening two verses that compose Anna's solo.
* Inverted by "Amtrax" by Music/PrettyBalanced. The last chorus is significantly faster than the previous ones.
* ''Theatre/{{Matilda}}'' does this in "Miracle" (solo), "Telly", "When I Grow Up" (CounterpointDuet), and "The Smell of Rebellion".
* "I Won't Give Up" by Jason Mraz.
* Music/Starflyer59's "Your Company", the last track from ''Leave Here a Stranger''.
* Music/DanielAmos's "Sudden Heaven", from ''Music/FearfulSymmetry''.
* "Beyond My Wildest Dreams" from the stage adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'' slows down in the first phrase of the last chorus, before returning to normal tempo. "One Step Closer" and "If Only" also feature this trope.
* Music/JethroTull's "With You There to Help Me" from ''Benefit''. The flashy finish actually continues on [[EndingFatigue for about two minutes.]]
* Music/VampireWeekend's "Sunflower".

* One song in the RhythmGame ''[=O2Jam=]'', "Identity part II," does this, and, if you're playing it on Hard difficulty, you are then suddenly greeted by rapid scales and [[DifficultySpike a charlie foxtrot of notes]] arranged to form a word in Korean hangul. The latter is humanly impossible to clear without missing any notes.

* ''Theatre/HelloDolly'' does this with its title song... [[UpToEleven TWICE!]]

* Music/{{Genesis}} does this with 'Home By the Sea' ... in the second part, 'Second Home By the Sea'.

* "SpringtimeForHitler" from ''Film/TheProducers''. [[RefugeInAudacity F**KING TWICE!!]]

* Right at the end of "[[Music/{{Queen}} Bohemian Rhapsody]]."
** As if those last two weren't long enough already.

* The [[https://youtu.be/La4Dcd1aUcE?t=192 last verse]] of "99 Luftballons" (99 Red Balloons).

Often used to lead into a BigRockEnding. Compare TruckDriversGearChange.

* "What Would We Do Without You?" from ''Theatre/{{Company}}'': "Okay now, ev-'ry-bo-dy..."

* "Be Our Guest" from ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast''.

* "Prince Ali" from ''{{Disney/Aladdin}}''.

* "Do You Want To Build a Snowman?" in ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'' has its last verse get sung at a slower tempo than the first two verses.
* "For the First Time in Forever" from ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'' ends with Elsa's solo, then Anna's and Elsa's CounterpointDuet, which are done at a slower tempo than the opening two verses that compose Anna's solo.

* "Beyond My Wildest Dreams" from the stage adaptation of ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'' slows down in the first phrase of the last chorus, before returning to normal tempo. "One Step Closer" and "If Only" also feature this trope.

* Parodied in some productions of ''Theatre/ThePiratesOfPenzance'' during the number "With Catlike Tread" starting with the Joseph Papp NYC revival. Some productions take this to further extremes by performing as many as [[OverlyLongGag SEVERAL encores]] to this particular moment, each slower and louder than the one before, regardless of the inevitable fatigue.

* "American Pie," by DonMcLean.

* JethroTull's "With You There to Help Me" from ''Benefit''. The flashy finish actually continues on [[EndingFatigue for about two minutes.]]

* The title song of ''VictorVictoria'', at least in the ScreenToStageAdaptation.

* ''Theatre/HelloDolly!'' does this with its title song... [[UpToEleven TWICE!]]

* "Powerslave" by Music/IronMaiden.
** "Run to the Hills" also.

* "House of the Rising Sun" played by The Animals. Only in the instrumental portion at the ''very'' end, after the lyrics are done.
* "Your Cover's Blown" by [[Music/BelleAndSebastian Belle & Sebastian]].

* RufusWainwright ''loves'' this trope.

* "Hate Me" by Blue October.

* 99 Luftballoons/Red Balloons.

* Music/TheRollingStones' "Ruby Tuesday".

* "Beyond My Wildest Dreams" from the stage adaptation of ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'' slows down in the first phrase of the last chorus, before returning to normal tempo.