Song That Never Ends Is Finally Over

Wyoming-88 year old Frank Mendelsberg, who holds the Guinness World Record for the longest rendition of “The Song That Never Ends” by writer/composer Norman Martin, died this morning.

The death occurred at 4:52 AM, when Mendelsberg choked on a cracker during his 26,298th hour of singing the song.

“He sang alternating gasps of air with crackers when he got hungry,” one fan during his 2007 concert in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania recounted. “And he would nap during the four part beats after the words ends and friends.”

The Guinness World Records board had placed Mendelsberg in their book in 2006, and presented the recorder-holder with a congratulatory plaque and cash prize at that year’s ceremony, drawing questions as to why the man was still singing the song 3 years later.

“Most people just take their cash prize and get on with their life.” a spokesperson for Guinness commented. “We never explicitly told him to stop, but it was assumed that he would.”

Mendelsberg began singing the song while entertaining his 4 year old niece on the evening of January 4, 2006. And, due to the infinetly recursive verse and head trauma caused during the Vietnam War, Mendelsberg was unable to locate a break or end to the song, thus singing it continuously.