Seeing a carol through to the end

I almost never turn the radio off in the middle of a phrase when listening to a song or piece that I like.  If it's a selection I like pretty well, I usually wait for a logical break in the song before turning it off.  If it's a selection I like even more, it's not unusual for me to wait in a parking lot, circle the block a couple of times, or drive down various side streets looking at Christmas lights until the song reaches its conclusion.  Once, as I listened to a strong choral rendition of "The First Noel," my instinct for knowing when a song ends was put to the test, unexpectedly.  I was about to park, thinking my pulling into a space would coincide perfectly with the carol's last verse.  It didn't work out that way, however.  Normally, I would expect "The First Noel" to end with the lyric, "Born is the king of Israel!"  This version, however, threw me for a loop by elongating that lyric, and tacking on the first of several false endings.  I thought it was about to end, when suddenly, I heard, "Nooooooellllllll!"  "OK," I thought.  "That must be the end."  I was wrong.  After a breath, I heard, "NOOOOELLLL!"  "There.  That's a logical place to conclude," I thought.  I started to turn the ignition off, only to hear the choir come roaring back in with "NOOOOELLLLLLLLLLLLL!"  "Surely, that must be the end," I figured.  Nope.  The choir, in an attempt to shatter the windshield glass of anyone listening in a car, belted out, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOELLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!" even louder.  For good measure, there was a brassy instrumental finish on top of that.  About three years later, after I'd used the ATM, gone through the car wash, mailed a few Christmas cards, visited the recycling center, and helped utility crews restore power to three neighboring towns, the carol ended.  Or, at least, I think it did.  For all I know, as soon as I turned the radio off, the choir might have started singing a seldom-heard follow-up verse, "The second noooooellllll is the one that's not first..."