Screw Hooks

[The Bear Jew]

Yeah. I said it... right here, in the songwriters' forum.

The hell with hooks and choruses. Screw 'em.

 

I decided about five months ago that I don't want to try to write a big, catchy, radio-friendly chorus/hook anymore. So I stopped.

 

And ya know what happened?

 

I can't stop. In fact, I've gotten better at it. Huh?

 

See, once I abandoned the idea of writing choruses/hooks, it forced me to make my verse lyrics more precious. Rather than using the verse lyrics as a build-up to the BIG point (the hook), I've started making my point in the verses in different ways. Sometimes this involves repetition of a lyrical theme... other times, it just means highlighting a certain lyric with minimized accompaniment or some such other technique.

 

Point is... I'm free from choruses. And it feels good.

 

My songs actually feel catchier and less... obvious... if that makes sense. And I don't feel like I have to slavishly craft that perfect "hook" every time.

 

Try it. See what you get.

[Eric VB]

Blasphemy! Prepare to be taint-punched!

 

Nah. I think if you focus too much on any single forumla it's going to cramp your writing.

 

You're free and it feels good. (Going commando today, are we? ) With fewer self-imposed limits I think you're able to be more creative. That's all.

 

So open up and tell us how you really feel. In your lyrics, I mean. Don't let conventions confine your creativity. (Nice alliteration there, no? )

[Gismo Recording]

In honor of the thread title:

http://img.alibaba.com/photo/50161045/Screw_Hooks.jpg

[The Bear Jew]

Haha.. right on...

I used to be so concerned with under-cutting the typical "metal" paradigm by using solid pop structures and catchy hooks... and I wound up getting burned out on it. I always tried to keep the topics really earthy and "real," and that was another trap for me.

 

Then... I wound up playing bass in a band that was pretty much pop/rock, and I really got the whole pop structure thing rammed down my throat with every song. Don't get me wrong--I enjoy writing and arranging stuff like that. It's an interesting challenge, and there are a ton of colors one can create without deviating from the structure.

 

But...

I started with a new band, this time on guitar. And, for an added twist, I'm also the vocalist. This band is heavy, but it's not metal. It's psychedelic riff-rock/stoner/doom rock, for lack of a real term... It's unconventional. When I joined the band, some of the songs had only rudimentary structures, but they had something... a spark. I got in there and started messing with the structures, trying to build something that made sense in my head. First, I learned the songs the way they originally wrote them... then, I looked at what they had and just tried to see if I could work with them...

 

What I found were a lot of really hooky riffs and grooves, but no identifiable "chorus" parts. Initially, I thought, "Oh great, now I gotta put choruses on these songs--here we go again." But then I thought, "Let's see if I can write to these things without adding a chorus--I'll just work with what's here."

 

So I did... and, like I said, it's unconventional. Some of the songs are eight minutes long with no repeated vocal lines at all... and yet, it feels to me like there are hooks. Not always vocal hooks, to be sure, but hooks, just the same. Other songs are three-minute ditties... with no choruses. And yet, folks tell me they can't stop humming the tunes. One song is six minutes long and has one line of lyrics... and people seem to love it.

 

The weirdest thing is that it all feels really natural, honest, unpretentious and authentic to me. I'm not writing weird shit for the sake of being weird--I'm writing this way because it seems like the songs are asking for it.

 

Lyrically, I'm examining some different things... One song that I like a lot is written from the perspective of a cannibal--imagine looking at other people as society as well as food. Imagine being able to have a real conversation with someone you're about to eat.

 

Anyway, that's one song...

 

Another is written totally from snippets of Sun Tzu's The Art of War, mainly because I thought it would be a fin exercise. As it happened, it wound up sounding really powerful and kinda bad-ass.

 

But.. yeah. I rambled. If you wanna know more, I'll elaborate...

[d halfnote]

Hmmm...

A hook is nothing more than whatever "hooks" a listener into remembering the song/tune so, since people are commenting that they "can't stop humming" these tunes, they clearly have hooks, which you already know, yerself.

 

This may seem OT but regarding the development of song structures outside of the usual territory, it can be problematic to pay too much attention to artists operating in a, perhaps, similar vein but are you familiar with either Captain Beefheart or The Hampton Grease Band ?

[SongCritic.com]

I agree with "d" above.

 

A song without a hook will most likely only be enjoyed by the writer.

 

[The Bear Jew]

D, I get what yer saying here.

I suppose I meant eschewing the usual "big chorus" hooks for other, less conventional song structures and hooks. It's a different sort of challenge, and it's definitely interesting to tie a whole song together without using the standard techniques.

 

Yeah, I know Beefheart, but not the other band. I actually don't spend that much time listening to stuff of that nature. I'm kind of all over the map--from German techno to American indie stuff to very mainstream country to whatever. I agree that too much exposure to any genre of music will certainly effect one's writing, though...

[d halfnote]

I also don't listen to much music other than what I study in a focused manner.

I think, without knowing exactly what you sound like, that you may be into a somewhat fresh area...& good on ya for that!

 

If you want to, however, you might check out the HGB, they were definitely out there in left field somewhere (first song, first record= a multi-part musical comp underlying a recitation of an encyclopedic entry on Halifax , NovaScotia)...if you can't find them PM me & I'll gove you some more specifics...

 

 

 

BTW, hows that sangin' thang goin' ?

[The Bear Jew]

That's basically it--I'm into a new world when it comes to songwriting, and it's a lot of fun to create music without worrying about making vocal hooks as the center of everything.

 

Singing, for me, is pretty crazy. I like it, but I'd never claim to be good at it. I've been getting positive reactions and reviews, so maybe I'm doing OK, but seriously, I have no illusions about my abilities. I know I am more of a bellower than a crooner, but I do seem to have some aptitude in the former, and, like I said, folks have been digging it. I actually dig it, too, but it's a little harrowing. Live and learn, I guess. It's weird to be the "frontman" more than anything. I don't actually know how I feel about that part. Luckily, in stoner rock, the bar's pretty low for frontmen... it's kinda like... bang your head, wander around, sing some words, wander around... rinse, lather, repeat.

 

I keep away from between-song banter and just work on playing a tight, cohesive set without much room for yammering, so I guess I'm doing OK. In all, I'm enjoying it.

[Randy Johnson]

Cool idea. Funny how the mind works.