SongwritingHooks

"I Got a Feeling," Black Eyed Peas: One Massive Breakdown Hook

 The first time you heard “I Got a Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas, didn't you feel like you already knew it? Ah, simplicity and repetition – making a brand new song feel familiar. Though repetition is probably the meatiest device the Black Eyed Peas bring to this song, the hook I want to talk about is the breakdown and buildup. 

I've mentioned the breakdown hook before (and I keep meaning to do a full post about Neil Diamond's use of the breakdown): basically, after a song has a good bit of momentum, you bring it almost to a halt somehow. Usually, you drop out most instruments except the drums and bass, and then you build the musical elements back until you've regained your momentum, and then some. This is a great hook, and is really suited to anthemic songs. The interesting thing about the breakdown hook in “I Got a Feeling” is that the whole song is basically a breakdown, in a constant state of building, building, building. Listen to this:

Hear the hook: I Got a Feeling MP3, Black Eyed Peas -- break it down right at the start             Copyright info

This is the very first time the vocals appear, and the song is already dropping right into breakdown mode. There's only two percussive synth lines playing, plus the vocals. (Please don't get me started on the vocoder/autotuner.) A full 30 seconds of this before we start layering other instruments. And then for the next couple of minutes, with each pass through the progression, the song builds, builds, builds... That's how you build a feel-good song. And apparently in the worst recession in generations, that's what it takes for a record-breaking #1 song. 

"When the Stars Go Blue," Ryan Adams: Big leaps, small leaps, big hooks

Editor’s note: Finally some country music! David Kraut is our guest blogger today. Please check out his links, at the end of the post.
Songwritinghooks.com is looking for more people to join the conversation. Interested in being a guest blogger?

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One of the biggest challenges for a country songwriter is making every word and note count, knowing that not every word and note is going to count. Put differently, most listeners don’t have lyrics in front of them, so they don’t hear every aspect of the song the first time … or even the second, third or fourth time. This reality is one reason hooks are so important – they provide a Cliffnotes version of the song, giving the listener something to remember from those first few listens. You may not have realized that Garth Brooks was talking about crashing his ex-girlfriend’s party in front of her new boyfriend, but you did know that Garth was a drunk with “friends in low places”.

Ryan Adams is not your typical country songwriter, but his song “When the Stars Go Blue” became a huge hit when covered by Tim McGraw (as well as a big hit for other artists both here and abroad). The song grabbed people because it told a story through its hooks, and yet there was more beyond the hooks to sweeten the ride, once you came back to listen.

Let’s take a look at three types of hooks Adams used:

1. First Word of Line Repetition: Adams uses the same word to start each line of the first verse (and uses this same technique in the pre-chorus and second verse), painting the image of a woman “dancing” and “laughing” and then questioning her in the pre-chorus about where she goes to ease her loneliness. Combined with the melancholy melody, this approach leaves the first time listener with a sense of the story, even if he didn’t get to hear every word.

Hear the hooks:

Stars Go Blue MP3s, repetition             Copyright info

2. Melodic Jumps: For most of the verse, Adams keeps the melody squarely inside of a major third, giving the listener time to ease into the mood of the song. But on the final word of each verse stanza, Adams jumps a perfect fifth. This leap grabs the listener for several reasons. First, it’s surprising since the listener has expected to hear the melody within the confines of the major third. Second, it comes at the end of the verse, building a strong power position for the note and the word. And the third reason is a hook itself …

3. Falsetto Switch: Switching into falsetto in the middle of a line is a common device for some artists, like Sarah McLachlan. When done right, it can create an eerie, haunting sound, and it catches the ear more distinctly than jumping to the same note in full voice. By combining the melodic leap with the falsetto switch, Adams doesn’t just highlight the last word of each verse stanza, he practically nails it into your ear (but in a soothing way).

Hear the hook: Stars Go Blue MP3, falsetto

After hooking us in different ways throughout the verse and pre-chorus, Adams arrives at the chorus and brilliantly combines all three techniques, repeating the melodic line “When the stars go blue” four times, while hitting “blue” with an octave leap that switches into falsetto.

Hear the hook: Stars Go Blue MP3, three hooks in one

By the time Adams is finished with the first chorus, the listener may not remember every note and word, but he will definitely remember the dancing woman in a wedding gown, laughing and yet tinged with sadness, as the stars around her reflect her pain.

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About David Kraut:
David is a songwriter and classically trained pianist living in New York. His songs have appeared on a variety of independent artists' albums, including two cuts on Shiela Harrison's new album. Follow him at:
www.davidkraut.com
www.myspace.com/dkraut

When September Ends, Green Day: lyrics and intervals

From quasi-punk pop band Green Day came "Wake Me Up When September Ends" in 2005.

The first thing I love here is the lyric. I don't know any of the other lyrics in the song, but I know that one line from the title, which is repeated (hookishly) at the end of every verse. Such a vivid emotion, phrased in a new way: "wake me up when September ends."  Awesome.

Intervals as Hooks

Most pop melodies move within a narrow range of notes, and when the interval between consecutive notes gets bigger, the passage gets more memorable.

Hear the hook: When September Ends MP3, intervals             Copyright info

Here, most of the notes in the verse go from the note A to the note B -- two half-steps (in this clip, the first two words, "like my"). But then there's a big leap, the G to the E (nine steps) in "has gone." The big interval, and the contrast between the small one and the big one, make this a memorable phrase, and a good hook once it's repeated over and over again.

[Editor's note: you can look forward to more about intervals from guest blogger David Kraut, coming up next Friday.]

Descending Bass Line

As I just mentioned in the Lauren Hill/"Can't Take My Eyes Off You" post, descending bass lines are a hook-y arranging device. This clip is from the very start of the song.

Hear the hook: When September Ends MP3, bass line             Copyright info

The bass line (implied, mostly, since it's all played on the acoustic guitar) starts on the G, and goes down the scale do-ti-la-so-fa. Very catchy.

"Suddenly I See," KT Tunstall: sweet groove, nice build

KT Tunstall's breakout song is much more than the "Ugly Betty" theme, right? This is a solid pop song with some real infectiousness.

It starts with the beat:

Hear the hook: Suddenly I See MP3, almost Bo Diddley (and nice bass line, too)             Copyright info

Anyone remember the 1982 cover of "I Want Candy," by Bow Wow Wow? The drums here in "Suddenly I See" are totally catchy in the same way. A little like a classic Bo Diddley beat, which I hope to get to in a post sometime soon (though I'll put in another plug here for guest contributors, in case anyone is in the mood to do the talking).

What is it about this beat that works so well? Feels a little primal, maybe. And it's unrelenting -- start to finish, the same beat drives through the song, and it catches you up and takes you with it. The only place it drops out is the bridge/breakdown the only exception. Which leads me to:

Hear the hook: Suddenly I See MP3, bridge/breakdown/buildup 

So much going on in this passage. First the drums drop out (not really evident in this clip -- sorry), and then it's a slow build, repeating "She's got the power to be the power to give the power to see yeah yeah" over and over, coming up from a slow simmer to a full boil. Right when the build starts up, the beat comes back in again, adding to the momentum. And I'd say you've got a bit of call-and-response too, with the backup vocals adding "Suddenly I see" after each "yeah yeah."

Repetition: the key to songwriting hook-y-ness

If I weren't already sold, I am by now: note how every hook we cover has repetition as a common point. Do something once and it's a lick. Do it more than once and it's a bit hook-y. Repeat something over and over in a song and you've got the basis for an effective hook.

In "Suddenly I See," there's repetition in the drum beat, in the bridge, and also within the verse structure:

Her face is a map of the world, map of the world
You can see she's a beautiful girl, she's a beautiful girl

Makes the lyric easier to sing when the song is new to you, easier to remember down the road, gives the listener cues on when/how to participate. 

You may have noticed that among the tags for each post is "repetition." I'm retiring this tag now, because I expect it to be applicable to virtually every post, which will make the tag kinda useless from an organizational perspective.