swan song
A final performance or accomplishment, especially one before retirement.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“This concert is the band's swan song.”
“She treats this final project as her professional swan song.”
“The veteran athlete announced that this championship game will be his swan song before he retires.”
“The chef prepared a magnificent seven-course meal as a swan song on his last night before the restaurant closed forever.”
“After forty years of teaching, the professor gave a moving lecture that served as a perfect swan song for his students.”
“The aging novelist spent years crafting her final manuscript, intending it to be a brilliant swan song to her long and celebrated career.”
A calque of the German Schwanenlied, from Schwan and Lied, or the alternative Schwanengesang. The term entered English through the ancient belief that the mute swan, otherwise silent throughout its life, produces a final, beautiful melody immediately before its death. While the ornithological basis for the claim is nonexistent, the metaphor for a final performance remains established.
Last updated August 10, 2026