Hook

"Hook" is a song by jam band Blues Traveler, from their 1994 album Four. The song peaked at #23 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song's title refers to a hook in music terminology: the catchy element or phrase of a song which makes it distinctive and memorable. The song's lyrics assert that whatever the singer sings about is effectively meaningless, since the song's musical hook will keep listeners coming back, even if they are unaware of the reason. In the introduction, John Popper sings, "It doesn't matter what I say / So long as I sing with inflection / That makes you feel that I'll convey / Some inner truth of vast reflection." The song's own hook is the familiar harmonic structure of Pachelbel's Canon in D, which forms the basic chord progression of the song. The song also references the story of Peter Pan and his arch-nemesis Captain Hook (a second meaning to the title). In the song Popper also sings "no matter how much Peter loved her, what made the Pan refuse to grow, was that the Hook brings you back".

[Verse 1] It doesn't matter what I say So long as I sing with inflection That makes you feel I'll convey Some inner truth or vast reflection But I've said nothing so far And I can keep it up for as long as it takes And it don't matter who you are If I'm doing my job, it's your resolve that breaks [Hook] Because the Hook brings you back I ain't tellin' you no lie The Hook brings you back On that you can rely [Verse 2] There is something amiss I am being insincere In fact I don't mean any of this Still my confession draws you near To confuse the issue I'll refer To familiar heroes from long ago No matter how much Peter loved her What made the Pan refuse to grow [Hook] Was that the hook that brings you back I ain't telling you no lie The hook brings you back On that you can rely [Instrumental] [Verse 3] Suck it in, suck it in, suck it in If you're Rin Tin Tin or Anne Boleyn Make a desperate move or else you'll win And then begin to see what you're doing to me This MTV is not for free It's so PC it's killing me So, desperately, I sing to thee of love Sure, but also of rage and hate and pain and fear of self And I can't keep these feelings on the shelf I've tried -- well, no, in fact, I lied Could be financial suicide but I've got too much pride inside To hide or slide I'll do as I'll decide And let it ride until I've died And only then shall I abide this tide Of catchy little tunes Of hip three minute ditties I wanna bust all your balloons I wanna burn all of your cities to the ground I've found I will not mess around Unless I play, then hey, I will go on all day Hear what I say, I have a prayer to pray That's really all this was And when I'm feeling stuck and need a buck I don't rely on luck because [Hook] The hook brings you back I ain't telling you no lie The hook On that you can rely