Cover art for The End by Nico

The End

Nico
Track 7 on The End... 

Producer

Nov. 19741 viewer

The End Lyrics

This is the end, beautiful friend
This is the end, my only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety, no surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes again

Can you picture what we'll be?
So limitless and free?
Desperately in need of some stranger's hand
In a desperate land?

Lost in a Roman wilderness of pain
And all the children are insane
All the children are insane
Waiting for the summer rain

There's danger on the edge of town
Ride the King's highway, baby
Weird scenes inside the gold mine
Ride the highway west
(West is the best)
(The west is the best)

Ride the snake
Ride the snake to the lake
The ancient lake
The snake is long
Seven miles
Ride the snake
He's old and his skin is cold
The west is the best
The west is the best
Get here and we'll do the rest
The blue bus is calling us
The blue bus is calling us
"Driver, where're you taking us?"
The killer awoke before dawn
He put his boots on
He took a face from the ancient gallery
And he walked on down the hall
He went to the room where his sister lived
And then he paid a visit to his brother
And then he...
He walked on down the hall
And he came to a door
And he looked inside
"Father?" "Yes, son?"
"I want to kill you
Mother, I want to..."
Ohh

Come on, baby, take a chance with us
Come on, baby, take a chance with us
Come on, baby, take a chance with us
And meet me at the back of the blue bus

This is the end, beautiful friend
This is the end, my only friend, the end
It hurts to set you free, but you'll never follow me
The end of laughter and soft lies
The end of nights we tried to die
This is the end

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About

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Genius Annotation

Nico decided that the new album was to be a memorial to her “soul-brother” Jim Morrison with whom she had a passionate affair. “He taught me to write songs. I never though that I could, because when you come out of the fashion business… He really inspired me a lot. It was like looking in a mirror then.” (…) To honour his passing she picked her favourite Doors song “The End” as the title track to the new album. Nico’s recording comfortably eclipses the darkness of the Doors' original version, and the song remained a mesmerizing highlight of her live set for the rest of her life.

— by Andrew Batt, as found in the liner notes of the 2012 reissue of The End…

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Credits
Producer
Harmonium
Backing Vocals
Acoustic Guitar
Percussion
Arranged By
Release Date
November 1974
The End Is A Cover Of
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