Closing Time (Semisonic song)

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"Closing Time"
Single by Semisonic
from the album Feeling Strangely Fine
Released	March 24, 1998
Format	Compact Disc
Recorded	Unknown
Genre	Modern Rock
Length	4:33
Label	MCA Records
Producer(s)	Nick Launay
Chart positions
• #1 (US Modern Rock)
Semisonic singles chronology
	"Closing Time"	"Singing in My Sleep"

"Closing Time" is a song by Semisonic from their album Feeling Strangely Fine. The band's most popular song, it was written by Dan Wilson and produced by Nick Launay. The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song in 1999 ^[1].

The place that closes seems to be a pickup bar, noted by the lines:

One last call for alcohol

So finish your whiskey or beer

...

You don't have to go home

But you can't stay here

...

So gather up your jackets

Move it to the exits

I hope you have found a friend

However, the book So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star (ISBN 0-7679-1470-8) by Semisonic's drummer Jacob Slichter indicates that it is, instead, about being born: the place that is closing is the womb, and the mention of alcohol is a reference to pregnant women not drinking. This can be seen in the lines:

Time for you to go out to the places you will be from

...

This room won't be open 'til your brothers or your sisters

come

An urban legend suggests that this song was intended to be Semisonic's final song; 'Closing Time' was, according to the legend, a farewell song for the group's fans.

[edit] References