What about the Hook?
For the professional songwriter, the hook is perhaps the single most important part of the song. Usually the title, or contained within the title, the hook is the essence and embodiment of the song's central theme or message. Sometimes the hook is a common phrase; other times a phrase is twisted into a play on words, like “Not on Your
Hooks cannot be copyrighted. Any songwriter can take any hook and use it. Still, using a recent hit for your hook is usually a bad idea: It's unoriginal and may confuse listeners. A hook from thirty years ago might be a great start for a new song, especially in a different genre. Some hit songs that share the same hook are “I'm Sorry” (Brenda Lee, 1960; John Denver, 1975), “My Love” (Petula Clark, 1966; Paul McCartney, 1973), and “Venus” (Frankie Avalon, 1959; The Shocking Blue, 1970; and Bananarama, 1986).
A scan through the charts will reveal that there are dozens of different kinds of hooks. However, some kinds seem to have better luck than others. Here's a list of some of the types of hooks that reappear in hit songs decade after decade. Included are a few examples of each kind and the years they charted:
Common phrases: It's Now or Never (1960), Tossin' and Turnin' (1961), I Heard It Through the Grapevine (1968), That's What Friends Are For (1986), Miss You Much (1989).
Names: Tammy (1957), Big Bad John (1962), Hey Jude (1968), My Sharona (1979), Jack and Diane (1982).
One-word hooks: Don't (1958), Yesterday (1965), Escape (1979), Jump (1984), Faith (1987).
Dances: The Twist (1960), The Hustle (1975), The Safety Dance (1982), The Electric Slide (1991), Watermelon Crawl (1995).
Mini-trends like “the” songs (“The Letter,” “The Chair,” and “The Ride”) and “un” songs (“Unforgettable,” “Unbreakable,” and “Unbelievable”) pop up often enough to make them potential hook-hunting ground.
A quick look at the fifty all-time top singles in
Keeping your hook short and sweet makes it easy to remember, talk about, and ask for, not just for listeners and people who buy music, but also for DJs, program directors, publishers, artists, reviewers, and other music business professionals. Over half of all hit songs have a hook/title of three words or less.
