"Cross My Heart and Hope to Die," Marianas Trench: Hook-y Summer Jam

If I were younger, I could see "Cross My Heart and Hope to Die" being a favorite summer jam. Wicked fun tune, with some beautiful hooks.

(Image swiped from MuchMusic; I hope they don't mind too much.)

The hook device used most dominantly, and it's used a lot, is the breakdown, by which I mean: the song is clicking along until a particular spot where some or most of the instruments drop out (except drums, which usually stick around in a breakdown).There are a lot of breakdowns in "Cross My Heart," though somehow it doesn't feel over used. Here's a selection:

This comes up before each chorus:
Hear the hook: Cross My Heart MP3, breakdown 1             Copyright info

This one comes in after the chorus and into the second verse:
Hear the hook: Cross My Heart MP3, breakdown 2            

And this breakdown at the end of the song is the big one -- the one that makes this song an anthem:
Hear the hook: Cross My Heart MP3, the big daddy breakdown

It's got all the anthemic qualities: foot-stomping/hand-clapping, repetition, sing-it-at-the-top-of-your-lungs, all building up in a massive crescendo.

There's more, of course. The songwriters start strong with some memorable riffs:

Hear the hook: Cross My Heart MP3, intro riffs

They work in some patter, too:
Hear the hook: Cross My Heart MP3, patter

You may recall my earlier statements that because of its complexity, patter works best when there's someplace else in the song where things are straightforward and easy to sing along with. Hello? Like a breakdown or sixteen, maybe? So it's a good pairing, the fast patter bits and the many breakdowns throughout the song.

I don't think these little clips have done a good job of illustrating the song, so here are some links: pick it up at iTunes, or check out the video below. One last hook: note the falsetto intervals in the chorus, too, which are hooky (see David Kraut's guest blog posting for more on that).

Comments

[Aidan M-J]

awesome song, great hook.