"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 A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

was written by Dan Wilson and produced by

Nick Launay Nicolas Launay (born 5 March 1960) is an English record producer, composer and recording engineer, currently residing in Los Angeles, CA. He is one of the most sought after record producers in the world due to his success with recent albums b ...

. The single reached number one on the US ''

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Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart and the top 50 in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. It is certified

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in the UK and was nominated for the

Grammy Award for Best Rock Song The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre. Honors in several ...

at the

41st Annual Grammy Awards The 41st Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 24, 1999, at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, recognizing musical achievements from the year 1998. Lauryn Hill led the ceremony with a record-breaking 10 nominations, becoming the first woman ...

in 1999. The song reappeared on the charts of three countries in 2011 after being featured in the movie '' Friends with Benefits'' and " Doomsday", an 8th season episode of the television

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''; 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".

Background and composition

Prior to composing "Closing Time", Semisonic usually ended their concerts with the song "If I Run". The band grew tired of playing this song every night and so Dan Wilson set out to write a new song that they could play at the end of their set. Wilson's girlfriend Diane Espaldon 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." Jacob Slichter, the drummer for Semisonic, said in 2006 that

payola Payola, in the music industry, is the name given to the illegal practice of paying a commercial radio station to play a song without the station disclosing the payment. Under U.S. law, a radio station must disclose songs they were paid to pla ...

was how they turned "Closing Time" into a hit. Slichter stated: "It cost something close to $700,000 to $800,000 to get 'Closing Time' on the air."

Critical reception

'' 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 Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

''s 2007 list of the "20 Most Annoying Songs".

Music video

The music video was directed by Chris Applebaum. It involves a split screen in which Wilson and the band performing the song together are on the right side while a woman working in a laundromat she is about to close down for the night is on the left. The woman tries to call Wilson, but he does not hear the phone ring or see the message she left due to his performing the song. Both she and Wilson then each leave their respective locations and make their way through the streets to the same club. The woman gets there first, looks around, and leaves. She walks just past Wilson as he comes in, with neither of them seeing the other. Wilson also then looks around for the woman too and then leaves. The video ends as Wilson meets the band outside by the car and shrugs.

Usage in other media

This song is frequently used by some radio stations as their last song before changing formats, mostly

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

stations. Most notably on November 16, 2016,

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and

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-based alternative station

KDGE KDGE () is a commercial radio, commercial radio station dually city of license, licensed to both Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas. Star 102.1 airs an adult contemporary radio format, switching to Christmas music for much of November and December, a ...

(102.1 FM) played a continuous loop of "Closing Time" while redirecting its listeners to its area sister

mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...

station

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(97.1 FM). This continued until 5 p.m. on November 17, 2016, when the station flipped to

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...

then full-time to a mainstream

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

format on December 26. On March 17, 2025, the official

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account posted a video of an undocumented immigrant getting arrested, featuring lines from the song. During that same day, White House press secretary

Karoline Leavitt Karoline Claire Leavitt ( ; born August 24, 1997) is an American spokesperson who, since 2025, has served as the 36th White House press secretary. She was the Republican Party (United States), Republican candidate for New Hampshire's 1st congr ...

used lyrics from the song to describe forcing undocumented immigrants out of the United States. The band reacted negatively to the post in a statement to the press, writing "We did not authorize or condone the White House’s use of our song in any way, and no, they didn’t ask. The song is about joy and possibilities and hope, and they have missed the point entirely.”

Track listings

Australian CD single # "Closing Time" ( Bob Clearmountain mix) – 3:50 # "F.N.T." (

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1962) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at Unique Recording in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground ...

mix) – 3:29 # "Made to Last" – 5:03 # "Closing Time" – 4:34 European CD single # "Closing Time" (radio edit) – 3:49 # "Delicious" – 3:58 European maxi-CD single # "Closing Time" (Clearmountain mix) – 3:49 # "Delicious" – 3:58 # "Gone to the Movies" – 3:52 # "Closing Time" (album version) – 4:35 UK CD1 # "Closing Time" (remix edit) – 3:49 # "Falling" (live) – 3:31 # "Long Way from Home" – 5:20 UK CD2 # "Closing Time" (album edit) – 3:52 # "F.N.T." (live acoustic) – 3:16 # " Air That I Breathe" – 4:21 # "Closing Time" (video) UK cassette single :A. "Closing Time" (remix edit) – 3:49 :B. "Air That I Breathe" – 4:21 Japanese CD single # "Closing Time" # "F.N.T." # "Made to Last" # "Closing Time" (album version video)

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the '' Feeling Strangely Fine'' liner notes. Studios * Recorded and produced at Seedy Underbelly (Minneapolis, Minnesota) * Mixed at

Ocean Way Recording Ocean Way Recording was a series of recording studios established by recording engineer and producer Allen Sides with locations in Los Angeles, Nashville, and Saint Barthélemy. Ocean Way Recording no longer operates recording facilities, but O ...

(Los Angeles) * Mastered at Gateway Mastering (

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, US) Personnel * Dan Wilson – writing, lead vocals, guitar, piano * John Munson – vocals, bass, Moog * Jacob Slichter – vocals, drums *

– production, recording * Brad Kern – additional recording * Alex Oana – assistant recording engineer * Richard Werbowenko – assistant recording engineer * Shane Washington – assistant recording engineer *

Jack Joseph Puig Jack Joseph Puig is an American audio engineer, record executive, and record producer. He has worked with Tonic, Hole, Jellyfish, The Black Crowes, John Mayer, Weezer, Fiona Apple, Roger Hodgson, Taxiride, Green Day, Counting Crows, No Dou ...

– mixing * Jim Champagne – assistant mixing engineer *

Bob Ludwig Robert Carl Ludwig (born December 11, 1944), is a retired American mastering engineer. He mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists, including Led Zeppeli ...

– mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

"Closing Time"
on '' Song Exploder'' {{Authority control 1998 songs 1998 singles 1990s ballads Semisonic songs MCA Records singles Music videos directed by Chris Applebaum Alternative rock ballads Song recordings produced by Nick Launay Songs about alcohol Songs written by Dan Wilson (musician)