Why the Hook is Vital in the Writing of Hit Songs

Hooks give listeners something that’s hummable, and something easy to remember.

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Rock SingerSometimes a song will become a hit to the surprise of the writers, performers and producers. But so-called “sleeper hits” – songs that rise to hit status unexpectedly – are actually not all that common. Suffice it to say, songs are usually greater than the sum of their parts, and so it can be a little bit unpredictable to determine which songs will become hits. But producers usually know which songs are going to grab listener attention. And it usually has to do with the hook.

But it’s not so simple, or else the instruction would be: just write a good hook and you’ve got a good song. The problem is that a catchy hook has a way of dumbing a song down, and so you need to be careful.

So in what way does a hook dumb a song down? It’s probably a poor choice of words, because it doesn’t have much to do with the song being poorly written. But a great hook has a way of making other aspects of a song fade into the background a bit, while the hook stands out and grabs all the attention. It can appear that songs with good hooks don’t have a lot else going for it – sometimes an unfair judgment.

A hook will tend to grab attention whether the rest of the song is great or not. And in fact, a catchy hook can come across as being inappropriate for that reason. Many songs are really fine works on their own, without the need for an attention-seeking hook.

But hooks do tend to be a requirement of most songs that become Billboard hits. And there’s a clear reason for that. Hits are all about sales first, songwriting quality second. That’s not to say that a hit song can’t be both, and often is. But making sales (or getting online clicks) requires people coming back. And people won’t come back if there isn’t something that pulls them back.

That something is usually the hook. It can be the song title, (“Born in the USA”, “Moves Like Jagger”), a background instrumental lick (“Smoke on the Water”), or anything else that grabs attention. For that reason a hook needs to be short, easy to remember, and catchy.

And it’s a vital part of hit song writing.

If your aim is to write and ultimately market your music as something with hit potential, the hook serves that need by being immediately attractive and memorable. It’s like trying to improve a boring house that you’re trying to sell. One way to do it is to simply make improvements to the house, which people may or may not notice right away. The other way is to put a 20-foot-high fountain in the front yard. Instant gratification that helps you ignore (at least temporarily) the quality of the house.

Remember the two most important aspects of any hook: keep it short, and make it catchy. And if you can weave the hook into the title of your song, so much the better.

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Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website.
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2 Comments

  1. History is replete with non-hook songs that sold well. Without even thinking, I can name four: The Girl From Ipanema, Mas Que Nada, Sukiyaki, the Christmas Song. These songs sold because the entire song were memorable. I say Let a song dictate what the song needs, and not some arbritrary rule.

    • Hi Patrick:

      Point well taken, but I would point out that the songs that you mention are all 40-70 years old, and I think the whole hook-aspect of hit song writing has definitely changed in recent years. I’ve mentioned in many postings on this blog that many to most of the Beatles great hits were not really based on hooks. But certainly for hits of more recent times the hook has been an important, I would say vital, feature.

      Thanks very much for your thoughts, I appreciate it.
      -Gary

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