Saturday, February 16, 2008

Traveling Wilburys End of the Line

"End of the Line" is the last track from Traveling Wilburys' first album, Volume 1, released in 1988. It is the last entry on the album, and its riding-on-the-rails rhythm suggests its theme and the on-the-move nature of the group. It features all the Wilburys, except Bob Dylan, as lead singers; Harrison, Lynne, and Orbison sing the chorus in turn, while Petty sings the verses.

George Harrison's opening guitar chords might be heard as reminiscent of his opening chords in The Beatles' song "I'm Looking Through You". The song then expands into a "freight train" rhythm to underscore its theme.

It was released as the second single from the album. The sleeve cover of the 45 rpm single, photographed four days after the death of Roy Orbison in December 1988, features a guitar in a rocking chair. The same image appeared in the music video for the single, with the camera focusing on the guitar during Orbison's solo vocal parts.

The song was used over the end credits of the final episode of the British sitcom One Foot in the Grave. A version sung by Dennis Waterman was used as the theme tune for the pilot of another BBC production, New Tricks, although this was soon replaced by a similar-sounding song, "It's All Right", by Mike Moran, which is easily mistaken for End of the Line.

Tom Petty has been noted to play this song live in his most recent US tour.

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