Compare And Contrast: Variations On The Triple-Chord Ending

I've always called this the Stevie Wonder Ending (henceforth to be referred as 'SWE'), because I first became conscious of it through his 1984 single, "I Just Called To Say I Love You". Since I have a sneaking suspicion that posting the mp3 of the song will awake the Big Bad Copyright Wolf, we'll go the YouTube route with this one. Get ready to have this song stuck in your head for the rest of the day:



Those keyboards! Goddamn, the 1980's just about destroyed music, didn't it?

Anyway, the following 3 songs are all pretty different from each other, but they all incorporate the SWE, or the triple-chord ending, or the cha-cha-cha ending (take your pick) in some way.

M. Ward sticks closest to the Stevie Wonder template in 'Poison Cup', the lead-off track from his 2006 Post-War album:

M. Ward - Poison Cup

That same year, The Hidden Cameras continued their tendency to make highly-repetitive songs that somehow make you not realize how repetitive they are with Awoo. About halfway through that album lies this short little number, which adds an extra note into the SWE mix:

The Hidden Cameras - Learning The Lie

Wrapping up a week that's been saturated with Canadian bands, here's The Tragically Hip, who add yet-another note to their SWE in this number from their so-so 2004 album, In Between Evolution:

The Tragically Hip - It Can't Be Nashville Every Night

That's where I live! Like, OMG!! You know who else lives in Nashville? My buddies in the band Duraluxe, who pull out a true, triple-chord SWE on their song "Around The Bend". You can listen to it over on their Myspace page.

Can you think of any other songs that end in this manner? I know you can. Don't be shy - let me know in the comments.

Cha-cha-cha!