Make Your Hook a Mini-Version of Your Song

Robin Frederick

By Robin Frederick, author of Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting

The most memorable line in your song is the hook. This is the line listeners take away with them, the one that runs through their heads long after your song has finished playing. Try making your hook a line that sums up the essence of your song, one that reminds listeners of what they experienced when they listened. A line like that will make them want to re-experience the whole song and draw them back to listen again. Here are a few examples of hit song hooks that offer listeners a quick and effective reminder of the whole song experience.

=> Emphasize the message of the song – The title/hook line of Beyoncé’s “If I Were A Boy” is the heart and soul of this song’s message. The song is a list of the way in which life and love would be different if the singer could trade places with the man she is singing to. The hook line embodies many emotions — anger, regret, even humor — and the message of the song is always implicit: “If I were a boy, I’d be a better one than you!”

=> Give listeners the heart of the emotional situation – The chorus of David Cook’s “Light On” opens with the hook line, “Try to leave a light on when I’m gone.” A powerhouse melody underscores a sense of urgency and anxiety — the singer urges the other person to “try to…” as if they might not be able to. It makes listeners wonder just what’s going on here.  The image of leaving the light on has strong associations with both hope and loss that add to the emotionally charged situation in the hook.

=> Focus on the song’s central theme – In Trace Adkins’ “You’re Gonna Miss This” the song lyric describes three situations in detail and shows how we fail to appreciate the fleeting beauty in life if we don’t stop to savor it. That one hook line sums up the essence of this song’s powerful message in a simple way, pulling the listener back to hear the beautifully detailed verses.

Know what your song is really about!

To write a powerful hook, you need to know what your song is really about at its core. This may sound obvious. Of course you know what your song is about… don’t you? It takes discipline and rewriting to keep your message on target. Go through your song and make sure that every line leads back to your hook, even those inspired lines you’re in love with! As you move from your verse into your chorus, imagine saying, “What I really mean is…” “What I need to tell you is…” If the last line of your chorus is the hook, try doing the same thing at that point.

If there are lines in your chorus, that are off-message, be sure to replace them. Every line in the chorus needs to give the listener a deeper experience and understanding of your hook/title. Take a look at the lyrics to any of the hit songs listed above to see how good writers handle that technique.

It’s good for film and TV placements, too!

Having a strong, focused hook/title line is also a big help in getting your song placed in film and television. The title is the first thing a music supervisor or music library sees, even before they hear the song. Sorting by title is also one of the primary ways that music users categorize songs in their database of songs, which may contain thousands of tracks. If your title expresses an idea or emotion that sounds like it would work in a range of scenes, then it’s likely to attract favorable attention. Then be sure the rest of your song builds on that idea and doesn’t drift off in another direction. If you’ve got a solid, central hook and your song pays off by evoking the mood or situation suggested by your title, you’ll make some music supervisor somewhere very happy.

Copyright 2009. Used by permission. Based on the book Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting: 126 Proven Techniques for Writing Songs That Sell.

Robin Frederick has written over 500 songs for television, records, theater, and audio products. She is a former Director of A&R for Rhino Records and Executive Producer of more than 60 albums. Robin is the author of “Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting: 126 Proven Techniques for Writing Songs That Sell,” the top selling songwriting book at Amazon.com.

For a free daily songwriting tip, follow Robin on Twitter: http://twitter.com/RobinFrederick.

Find out more at Robin’s web site: http://www.robinfrederick.com

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