The Hook

In all likelihood, you already know what hooks are, you’ve probably been singing them since you were wee high. But, as a songwriter, the hook is something that is not necessarily obvious.A hook is what sells a song. It’s what makes people sing it and like it. Again, as usual, not always. Whatever topic we’ll be discussing, there will always be exceptions. Unless the topic is specific to an exceptional area, we won’t always note the exceptions.

The hook is: “my heart will go on”, “Welcome to the Hotel California”, “Video killed the radio star”, “I am human and I need to be loved”, “heat of the moment”, “We are the champions”, “Tonight, tonight, tonight”, etc.

Notice anything? The hook, or part of it, usually becomes the title of the song. In our first example, the song is “My Heart Will Go On”.

In our second example, part of it is the title: Hotel California. What about: “I am human and I need to be loved”? The song is The Smiths’ How Soon Is Now?. Which makes for a much better title.

Emphasis is placed on the hook, sometimes to help sales, therefore, as a good marketing strategy, but sometimes because the songwriter just likes it.

The hook consists of two things. One is a catchy, short melody. The other is lyrics that are easy to understand and repeat. This section is often repeated in the song. In most cases this is because the songwriter simply likes it. In some cases, like My Heart Will Go On, it’s because it is a strong selling point. There it is again: Selling Point. Whether we like it or not, most people are in this business to make money.

But that’s not as bad a thing as we may think!

Using proven recipes

If a hook sells and using it, or part of it in your title helps, why not use it? Whether you like it or not, if you don’t bring in money to the record companies, you won’t go far. You bring in money by selling. Of course, some do it by selling out. But that’s for another time…

Odds are you already have hooks in some, if not most, of your songs. Maybe you’re aware of these hooks, perhaps not.

In 1988, during a class on Film History, we were studying the life of Georges Méliès. Méliès was the guy who invented special effects and made the first Science-Fiction movies. His Le voyage dans la lune (The Voyage in the Moon) of 1902 is still very famous today. You can see parts of it in the Smashing Pumpkins’ Tonight, Tonight video. And in many other places.

Anyhow, I felt his story was fascinating, so I wrote a song about it. I always liked it, but never felt it would have any appeal to others. Last year, for some reason, I played it to a few people who loved it. Then someone made me realize there was a hook in it. After twelve years, I still hadn’t realized it. The French version of it is on my site in case you’re interested, and the English lyrics (courtesy of David Hodge), are also there at the bottom of the song page.

Once someone pointed out to me that there was a hook in there, it became obvious. So I did a rewrite of the song. One way or another, the song would not have been presentable to an audience without a rewrite, so I just rewrote around the hook. This paragraph is very important. Read it again and keep it in mind, for we shall refer to it in two weeks time.

The point is that if you have accidentally written a hook, you should use it. Money aside, and popularity aside, the song will be better.

Dropping a few words

To illustrate rewriting around the hook, I will again refer to my song Méliès. We’ll use the English lyrics for obvious reasons, but also because it works anyway

chorus 1:
Ooh Méliès
You showed us strange new worlds
Ooh Méliès
All magical and new
Ooh Méliès
We have forgotten you

chorus 2:
Ooh Méliès
Old forgotten friend
Come and show us how to see
The magic once again
(Notes: in the French version, the choruses are reversed
The italicized interline of Chorus 1 is a backing vocal)

Originally the song had only one chorus, repeated four times throughout the song, and it corresponded to chorus 2.

However, the hook being “Ooh Méliès”, it became a good idea to rebuild the chorus around it. But, at the same time, the lyrics in chorus 2 are important to the song and I didn’t want to drop them altogether. Which is why I made two different choruses. And it also bring a bit of variety to the whole thing. David told me that when he translated it he was driving the people around him crazy by constantly singing “Ooh Méliès”. So the hook did work.

Versatility

The hook can give you some writing space, depending on the song. In Hotel California, for example, the hook is “Welcome to the Hotel California”. That’s what people sing (usually very badly…) when they sing the song. But if you listen carefully, the lyrics are:

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face

Plenty of room at the Hotel California
…

(later)

Living it up at the Hotel California

etc.

But, as the chorus always begins with “Welcome to the Hotel California”, that’s what people usually retain. The important words “Hotel California” are still there all the time.

The Hook and the Chorus

The hook always belongs in the chorus. End of discussion. A hook just does not work in a verse. You may say that in Yes’ Roundabout, the hook is “In and around the Lake/Mountains come out of the sky”, and that that is not a chorus. Well, technically, it is. It’s a part of the song that comes back with essentially the same lyrics. Technically, it is a chorus.

Sometimes a Cigar Is Just a Cigar

A few minutes ago I was listening to A Foot In Coldwater’s old hit: Make Me Do Anything You Want (also recorded in the 80s by Helix). Great ballad with an obvious hook corresponding to the title. In this particular case, the whole of the chorus’ lyrics consists of “Make me do anything you want”.

I don’t think that this particular chorus was written this way to emphasize the hook. It’s just that once you’ve said that, what else needs to be said? Any lyrics added to that would have been redundant.

Recap

Don’t try to write a hook. Some people are specialists at this, but that’s all they do. Just write as you normally do. But if something stands out, or if someone tells you that something stands out, see if you can emphasize it. Make it more obvious. See if what’s written around it is really important. But make it stand out.

By all means, though, don’t try to have a hook in every song you write. Unless your objective is selling your songs… to Celine Dion.