What Is A Song Hook?
A song hook is in essence something that grabs you and makes you want more. You can have good hooks, bad hooks, weak hooks and strong hooks. You can also have no hooks! A good, strong hook for example is something that gets your attention, something that is memorable and something that makes you want more.
Hooks can compliment each other, the sum of parts being less than the whole, and hooks can compete with each other and so dilute their strength.
Most individuals only have a vague understanding drawn from their life experience of liking and not liking but there are formulae that govern hooks (although some are more like loose guidelines). By "vague" I mean that they don't have a formal understnding of hooks. They have not been taught about them, and perhaps have not thought about them.
Genre
Genre has a large effect on the relative importance of lyrics, but the same is true for all aspects of a song. All have to be at least of a good standard and deliver on some level. What you are looking for in essence is something that supports or compliments the emotional mood the song sets, be that happy, sad, joyous or mournful.
Many writers and bands think of hooks as being the main melody but listeners factor in all kinds of things and each of these attributes and associations can be honed. Each of them can have a hook.
Lots Of Song Hook Types
Lyrics can be thought of on a multitude of levels, roughly divided into:
- story / meaning
- deeper meaning
- evocation of emotion
- rhythmic
- imagery
Each of these aspects of lyrics has the possibility of being a hook. Each hook has the chance to grab a listener.
the same is true of melody:
- rhythm
- evocation of emotion
- repetition
- range / tone
- variation
or a specific singer and their voice
- evocation of emotion
- tone
- quality
- image
Not a complete list by far (even for those listed) but you get the idea. All have their hooks.
The same is true for each instrument, for the arrangement and the production.
That's a lot of potential hooks.
Make The Most Of Your Song Hooks
As mentioned before, hooks are in part genre dependent and so is the emphasis that is placed upon them. Not so much that an individual types of hook stops working altogether, more that according to genre the emphasis that appears to be placed on them in that context is less. When writing songs it's the writer's job to create appropriate hooks, in the appropriate place. Some hooks work out better when used only once, most however benefit from multiple repetition. Think of chorus hooks. Melodies and key lyrical phrases are repeated to emphasise and reinforce the strength of the hook. Repetition of course helps the hook to be remembered.
A completed song may contain many types of hooks. Ideally you want those hooks to combine in a way that they compliment each other strengthening the link between the song and the listener.
Hooky Songs
Songs are sometimes decribed as "hooky" or "catchy". In the pop market hooky tends to equate to instantly catchy, whereas in other genres there is more of a leaning toward more subtle, longer acting hooks. While changing taste does account for begining to like songs that previously you didn't get, but not always. Sometime the hooks themselves are slower acting, but sometimes just as powerful as the more instantly catchy.
More instantly catchy songs also tend to age faster. Their popularity declines faster. The opposite is also true with songs that take a while to get into tending to keep their popularity longer. There is absolutely nothing stopping songwriters and arrangers from using a mix of hooks to achieve a song with more balance to it.
Lyrical Hooks
In lyrical terms more instantly catchy hooks tend to use common phrases that reflect very common ideas and aspirations. Slower acting hooks tend to be hooks with multiple levels of meaning where the levels of meaning are slowly revealed. Similarly hooks that are more abstract fit into this category. For example, one line that always stays with me is from David Bowie's "Life On Mars":
"It's on America's tortured brow
That Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow"
It might not seem like a hook, but it is. It is memorable. It provides something you think about and chew over the meaning, yet at the same time it is an abstract and silly image. It is a strong hook yet not the main hook of the song (arguably). It isn't repeated and it is in the middle of the verse. This is because a hook can be pushed on the user by repetition or by placement or both, as in choruses, but abstract hooks don't often work as well like this because the act of pushing them cheapens them. In keeping this hook buried and not repeating it David Bowie left the listener with a long burning thing that could be chewed over and smirked at for a long time. Had it been a main line in the chorus it's appeal would have dissipated far more quickly. Luckily he was full of ideas so the song has hooks of most kinds.
In looking at many new songs across a broader range of genres there is undoubtedly a trend towards shorter term hooks, the more instantly appealing. Many songwriters on songwriting forums regularly state that lyrics are not important and point to this hit or that hit as an example, but they are simply wrong. The lyrics, either by intention or accident, in those hits were appropriate to the market they were selling to. The same is true where lyricists sometimes believe that the lyrics are the be all and end all. Breaking news, they are not.
The Whole Is Greater Than The Sum Of The Parts
Songs are a unique combination of music and words. Their strength and appeal lies completely in the phrase I used earlier "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts." At least a song has the potential to be greater than the sum of the parts! Combine the wrong parts in the wrong way and exactly the opposite can be true.
Take Control Of Your Song Hooks!
Due diligence. The songwriter's craft is in part to do exactly this. So the next time you are writing a song take some time to review the hooks in your songs. Don't rely on accidents happening.
The first step is to become aware of song hooks. Take alook over a range of hit songs from across the years. Look for the hooks. Look for how they have been used to attract attention and to keep it, and how they can create in the listener an appetite for that song. Look back over your material and see where you have used them and where you have abused them. Observation and analysis is a big part of more rapid improvement.
You will only understand song hooks and how they work together if you take some time to look at them and understand them. If you do you can place them with intention, understanding their effect. This makes for muc more effective songwriting and songs that, for the right reasons, are more memorable, more attention grabbing, that make the listeners want more.
Simple huh?
Useful Links
If you would like to discuss this or other songwriting and music related issue, please visit Songstuff, an essential resource for songwriters and musicians. Take part in the songwriting and music community and exchange ideas and views with you r fellow writers!
More next time, until then, take care!
