The purpose of leaving ‘Unlucky for Some’ open-ended is to invite more verse. The post about song endings has a capsule, germ, essence of what that song contains but there are several treatments that suggest themselves. You could be adding in at different spots, repeating, emphasising; there’s so many ways to forge beginnings, mechanise middles, and craft finit.

But there are fledgling writers who will focus on that final line ‘Four leaf clover consumed‘ which looks like it has more to say for itself, and requires explanation.

Can you work backwards? Would an ending generate everything leading up to that moment and thereby produce a song? Certainly it’s possible. It wouldn’t be everyone’s working methodology.

There are two ways I can think of approaching (or retreating, if you prefer) the task:

• Have a theme and/or title and generate a final line from that consideration then work back
• Create some random last line and work from that

Universal Application

‘to prod and poke in places private to the touch’

You can go two ways again: retain the original thought about universal applications and songs entitled Universal Application when using this line OR work solely from a now singularly intriguing snatch.

‘To liberally baste you/To hardly waste you/To touch and taste you’ That’s one line that I thought of that bears both in mind. Whether you could find a way of reaching from there to a universal application or the ‘prod and poke’ line is another matter. But even if you now just have more crackerjack lines and snippets, it’s worthwile.

I propose a last line ‘Carbon sequestration’ and, really, I’m dooming it be the title or to have some repeating to do. Probably both.

‘The singed, unhinged can’t penetrate/The hour is late/How sour the fate’

That’s an earlier line for the song that ends with the line ‘Carbon sequestration’ or, perhaps after even more such efforts, it’s the germ of another song. Or it’s still this song but now you’ve lost the end and none the wiser.

Of course there’s nothing to say that your ending has to comprise of only one line and so you might start (as in end) with a toughie
‘It was you at the hold-up
Now we’ve found where you’re holed up’

Not for beginners.