After taken a break from the usual format last week to look at the work of Clint Mansell (link at the bottom!), it's back to business as usual for this column.

Having looked at opening songs previously I thought closing songs would be a great follow up. A closing song for a movie really helps leave an impression and what's included below are my favorite examples.

As with previous columns, there will be some obvious choices below, but, hopefully, there will be one or two surprises as well. 

SOS, Abba - Together (Tillsammans)

This track bookends this movie but it's an incredibly uplifting moment when it plays out at the end of Lukas Moodysson's comedy. I'd highly recommend Together to anyone who hasn't seen it. It's an excellent film.

Freebird, Lynyrd Skynyrd - The Devil's Rejects

I'm not a huge fan of Lynyrd Skynyrd or this movie but thought the song works incredibly well as Rob Zombie's, hit and miss, 2005 horror reaches its finale.

Wake Up, Rage Against The Machine - The Matrix

When I saw this when I was 16 I thought it was amazing and the brilliant finale, accompanied by this great track, left me eager for more Matrix. Two poor sequels have made me lose some enthusiasm for The Matrix, but watching the first movie again recently made me realise how good it is. The soundtrack had a few highlights, but this closing track is my personal favorite.

Paint It Black, The Rolling Stones - Full Metal Jacket & The Devil's Advocate

One amazing song to accompany the close of one equally amazing film and one distinctly average film. In case you're wondering, Full Metal Jacket is the amazing one and Devil's Advocate is the average one. Versions of the song have been used in many movies over the years, but these are examples of where it has been used most effectively accompanying the close of a movie

Just Like Honey, Jesus And Mary Chain - Lost In Translation

Kevin Shields provided a number of original tracks for the soundtrack to accompany Sophia Coppola's 2003 film Lost In Translation. He received a BAFTA nomination for his work on the soundtrack, and quite rightly so. They're amazing songs. It's a track that was from his days in his old band, My Bloody Valentine, which plays out over the closing credits. Just Like Honey was originally released on their fantastic debut Psychocandy.

Exit Music (For A Film), Radiohead - Romeo + Juliet

This song was written specifically for the film by Radiohead, and is one that's possibly the finest song to play over the ending credits in any movie. Despite the fact that it was written specifically for the film, it doesn't feature on either of the soundtracks released. This was at the request of Radiohead and the song appeared on their critically acclaimed and hugely influential album, OK Computer in 1997.

Analyse, Thom Yorke - The Prestige

Another Thom York penned entry in the list, this time a solo effort taken from his 2006 solo album The Eraser. Put to great use in Christopher Nolan's The Prestige, a film that was made in between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, the film score used in The Prestige was slightly disappointing, even though it worked reasonable well. It's hard to distinguish at various points throughout the film, so it was a pleasant surprise to have this Thom York track accompany the closing credits.

Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes, Beck - Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

Beck's cover of The Korgis 1980 hit surpasses the original in terms of quality and is, without doubt, the finest version of the song recorded to date. The song is incredibly down beat and matches the tone of his 2002 album Sea Change and fits the mood of this fantastic film's finale.

Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, Spiritualized & Untitled 4, Sigur Rós - Vanilla Sky

Cameron Crowe's films are always packed full of excellent music and Vanilla Sky is no exception. In fact, I'd say that it has the best soundtrack out of any of his movies, but I can't believe this song isn't on the official soundtrack that was released to accompany the film.

This is the opening track of Spiritualized's 1997 album of the same name and one that I've listened to a considerable number of times over the years. This song accompanies the scene where Tom Cruise's David Aames encounters technical support. The gradual build up of the opening refrain of "All I want in life's a little bit of love to take the pain away" is perhaps the most affecting part of the song and the lyrics fit perfectly with the scene. Not content for one brilliant song for the scene, Ladies And Gentlemen... segues into Untitled IV by Sigur Rós, which is another great song and one that plays out until the film reaches its climax.

Where Is My Mind, The Pixies - Fight Club

One of the most iconic closing scenes in modern cinema is enhanced considerably by the choice of song to accompany it. I can't think of an occasion where the lyrics of a song have fitted a scene so perfectly. Potential spoiler for those who haven't seen Fight Club (can't imagine many people haven't) but the moment the drum beat coincides with the collapse of the buildings blew me away the first time I saw it and continued to do the same on the numerous times I re-watched the movie.

As always, I'm interested to hear your suggestions for closing songs. Suggestions provided in previous columns have made me listen to songs that I overlooked and songs that I hadn't heard before.

• Music in the movies: the best movie songs of 2009
• Music in the movies: opening songs
• Music in the movies: Spotlight on Clint Mansell