What is "swan song"

n. (context idiomatic English) A final performance or accomplishment, especially one before retirement.

n. a final performance or effort (especially before retirement) [syn: last hurrah]

The swan song ( Ancient Greek: κύκνειον ᾆσμα; Latin: carmen cygni) is a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement. The phrase refers to an ancient belief that swans (Cygnus spp.) sing a beautiful song in the moment just before death, having been silent (or alternatively, not so musical) during most of their lifetime. This belief, whose basis in actuality is long-debated, had become proverbial in Ancient Greece by the 3rd century BC, and was reiterated many times in later Western poetry and art.

Swan song is a reference to an ancient, controversial belief that swans sing just before they die, and also an idiom for a final performance or accomplishment.

Swan Song(s), The Swan Song or Swansong may also refer to:

Swan Song is a 1987 horror novel by American novelist Robert R. McCammon. It is a work of post-apocalyptic fiction describing the aftermath of a nuclear war that provokes an evolution in humankind.

Swan Song'' (Spanish:El canto del cisne'') is a 1945 Argentine romantic drama film directed by Carlos Hugo Christensen and starring Mecha Ortiz, Roberto Escalada and Miguel Gómez Bao. The film portrays the ultimately tragic relationship between a young composer and a more mature woman. For her performance Ortiz was awarded the Argentine Film Academy's Silver Condor prize for Best Actress.

"Swan Song" is the fifth season finale of The CW television series Supernatural. It is the 22nd episode of the fifth season, and is the show's 104th episode overall. Steve Boyum directed the episode with teleplay written by series creator Eric Kripke and story written by Eric Gewirtz. The episode aired on Thursday, May 13, 2010, and concluded the series' originally slated storyline. The narrative follows the series' protagonists Sam ( Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester ( Jensen Ackles)—brothers who travel the continental United States hunting supernatural creatures—as they attempt to stop the Apocalypse.

Swan Song is a 1992 short film directed by Kenneth Branagh and adapted for the screen by Hugh Cruttwell from the one act play of the same name by Anton Chekhov. It stars John Gielgud as the aging actor Svetlovidov and Richard Briers as the prop-master Nikita.

"Swan Song" is the ninth episode of the fourth season of the American musical television series Glee, and the seventy-fifth episode overall. Written by Stacy Traub and directed by co-creator Brad Falchuk, it aired on Fox in the United States on December 6, 2012. The episode features the return of special guest stars Whoopi Goldberg as New York Academy of Dramatic Arts (NYADA) dean Carmen Tibideaux and Kate Hudson as NYADA dance instructor Cassandra July, on the eve of the school's Winter Showcase.

"Swan Song" is the eleventh episode and midseason finale of the fifth season of the American fantasy drama series Once Upon a Time, which aired on December 6, 2015.

In this episode, Hook and the Dark Ones try to take over Storybrooke, but in the end Hook redeems, and dies. Also in the end, Emma, her parents, Regina, Robin, Henry, and Mr. Gold go to the Underworld to bring back Hook. In flashbacks, Hook is reunited with his father.