"Hook" is a song by American rock band

Blues Traveler Blues Traveler is an American rock band that formed in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1987. They are known for their extensive use of segues in live performances, and could be considered a key part of the re-emerging jam band scene of the 1990s, sp ...

, from their fourth studio album, '' Four'' (1994). The title of the song is a reference to the term

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

, a short musical riff that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener". The lyrics are a commentary on the banality and vacuousness of successful pop songs, making "Hook" both a hit song and a

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...

of a hit song. Commercially, "Hook" peaked at number 23 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 40 on the Canadian ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' 100 Hit Tracks chart.

Structure

The chord progression of "Hook" is very similar to the basic structure of

Pachelbel Johann Pachelbel (also Bachelbel; baptised – buried 9 March 1706) was a German composer, organist, and teacher who brought the south German organ schools to their peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his contrib ...

's ''

Canon in D Pachelbel's Canon (also known as Canon in D, P 37) is an accompanied canon by the German Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel Johann Pachelbel (also Bachelbel; baptised – buried 9 March 1706) was a German composer, organist, and teacher ...

'', (D-A-Bm-Fm-G-D-G-A, or I-V-vi-iii-IV-I-IV-V), but transposed to the key of

A major A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The A major scale is: Changes needed for the ...

. This chord progression is widely used in popular music, often as the hook, leading to other satirical takes on the use of this chord structure. There are several

allusions Allusion, or alluding, is a figure of speech that makes a reference to someone or something by name (a person, object, location, etc.) without explaining how it relates to the given context, so that the audience must realize the connection in the ...

in the song, one to the story of

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

and his nemesis

Captain Hook Captain James Hook is the main antagonist of J. M. Barrie's 1904 play ''Peter and Wendy, Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'' and its various adaptations, in which he is Peter Pan's archenemy. The character is a pirate captain of the br ...

"no matter how much Peter loved her, what made the Pan refuse to grow, was that the Hook brings you back".

Satire

The first chorus of the song's lyrics, aimed directly at the listener, assert that the lyrical content of any song is effectively meaningless, as the song's musical hook will keep listeners coming back, even if they are unaware of the reason. In the introduction,

John Popper John Popper (born March 29, 1967) is an American musician and songwriter, known as the co-founder, lead vocalist, and frontman of the rock band Blues Traveler. Early life Popper was born on March 29, 1967, in Cleveland, Ohio. His father was a ...

sings: :"It doesn't matter what I say / So long as I sing with

inflection In linguistic Morphology (linguistics), morphology, inflection (less commonly, inflexion) is a process of word formation in which a word is modified to express different grammatical category, grammatical categories such as grammatical tense, ...

/ That makes you feel that I'll convey / Some inner truth or vast reflection." The second verse admits the singer is "being insincere" and describes how the lyrics are intended to manipulate the listener. These lyrics are a satirical take on the formulaic way much popular music is generated. Further on during the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

, the lyrics become even more blatant by criticizing

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

and claiming formulaic music is an easy way to make money: "When I’m feeling stuck and need a buck/ I don’t rely on luck, because/ the hook brings you back..." The musically "lazy" chord structure viewed in combination with the

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-lyrics reveal the true extent of what a critic for

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

describes as song's "genius": "the commentary is a big joke about how listeners will like just about anything laid on top of the chords of the infinitely clichéd Pachelbel canon, even lyrics that openly mock them for liking it."

Music video

The music video was directed by Frank W. Ockenfels and depicts a man, played by game show host

Ken Ober Ken Ober (July 3, 1957 – November 15, 2009) was an American game show host, comedian, and actor. Early life and education Born Kenneth Oberding in Brookline, Massachusetts, he was raised in a suburb of Hartford, Connecticut, where his f ...

channel surfing Channel surfing (also known as channel hopping or zapping) is the practice of quickly scanning through different television channels or radio frequencies to find something interesting to watch or listen to. Modern viewers, who may have cable o ...

through late-night television. He first watches a beauty pageant whose contestants

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the Hard and soft C, spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a Speech, speaking or singin ...

the song as the host (erroneously credited as

Milton Berle Milton Berle (born Mendel Berlinger; ; July 12, 1908 – March 27, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. His career as an entertainer spanned over eight decades, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and ...

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) interviews them. For the second verse, a character modeled after

Charles Foster Kane Charles Foster Kane is a fictional character who is the subject of Orson Welles' 1941 film ''Citizen Kane''. Welles played Kane (receiving an Academy Award nomination), with Buddy Swan playing Kane as a child. Welles also produced, co-wrote and ...

lip syncs at a campaign rally. The band appears in each of these segments, then plays the bridge of the song in the man's apartment, with

taking his place on the couch. During the final portion of the song, the man starts changing channels quickly, often returning to see

Paul Shaffer Paul Allen Wood Shaffer (born November 28, 1949) is a Canadian musician, actor, and comedian who served as David Letterman's musical director, bandleader, and sidekick on ''Late Night with David Letterman'' (1982–1993) and ''Late Show with D ...

lip sync the lyrics and play keyboard with the band. Finally the man turns off his TV set and starts to read a book about the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. Shaffer was bandleader for ''

Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the first installment of the '' Late Night''. Hosted by David Letterman, it aired from February1, 1982 to June 25, 1993, and was replaced by ...

'', which gave Blues Traveler critical early exposure. Shaffer contributed backing keyboards to "Stand," another track on ''Four''. During the final sequence of channel changes, several split-second clips from the video for the previous single " Run-Around" are seen.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1994 songs 1995 singles A&M Records singles Blues Traveler songs Patter songs Popular songs based on classical music Songs about music Songs about Peter Pan