The Boston song from
yesterday's post was "Peace of Mind." The lyric I used in the title of
the post was from the same band's "Hitch a Ride." Oddly, that group was
one of the more commercially oriented bands of the era, but its songs
had lyrics about "dropping out" of the typical American dream. (Frankly,
I was hooked on Joni Mitchell's Hejira at the time.)
To try and get the
hooks from both of the above Boston songs out of my head (completely
from memory, playing over and over like a loop), I'm listening to
something completely different: Frank Sinatra's Come Fly With Me album
from the 50s. Smooth as glass. The cut "It's Nice to Go Trav'ling" is
an unexpected gem.
I
learned what "hooks" were when I started selling records in the
mid-80s. A lot of the commerical music of that time was very "hooky" in
the sense that it had a lot of hooks in each and every song. I learned
that some hooks are musical. They are slightly off-key notes, slightly
offbeat rhythms, or other little gimmicks to keep the song playing in
your head, as if your mind is trying to "correct" the music. One of the
musicians who worked with us showed me one of the more interesting hooks
on a little Casio keyboard we were selling then. I don't want to
mention the band's name, but it was a huge heavy metal act at the time.
Their biggest song had a chorus with only two chords in it. The musician
showed me the chords on the keyboard: they were both two-note chords
right next to each other on the keyboard. He said to play it on the
guitar fretboard only required moving one finger. It was some minor-key
thing with a kind of head-drill effect that was unforgettable, in a bad
way. That's why all the kids I worked with (I was older than almost
every other employee then) all wanted to hear something completely
different once the store's doors closed for the night, or during the
afternoons, when the customer traffic was light. I was stuck on the more
melodic, easy-on-the ears stuff they all hated. But one time, during an
all-night inventory session, I brought one of my Charlie Haden records.
They couldn't believe it! (Haden was Ornette Coleman's bass player.)
The Boston hooks that
hang me up are more psychological: the lead singer is wailing with
emotion at portions of the lyrics that aren't all that compelling. It's
odd to hear it, especially in the involuntary-memory-loop-phase thing
(Sinatra is doing a good job of killing it with "April in Paris."). In
fact, none of the Boston lyrics are particularly compelling, at least to
me (I guess I'm comparing them to the likes of Sammy Cahn and Vernon
Duke now playing in my ears).
As far as I'm concerned, hooks are OK, if they're
not laid on too thick and actually mean something in the song. It's
part of the sincerity I like to feel in music. (Billy May's tasty brass
sounds are tickling my ears now on "Brazil.") In rock or pop or hip-hop,
if you can hook me with something that a) I like and b) fits the music
or lyrics thematically, you've got me. The handclaps in "London Bridge"
are irresistible, for instance. The entire number is built around them,
and it makes Fergie sound like she's in some kind of house party or club
romp. So the hook there is part of the overall theme. (The handclaps in
Fiona Apple's "Tymps {The Sick in the Head Song}" are even more
effective, partly because they're so unexpected.)
Anyway, something to
listen for the next time you click on the iPod. ("I Love Paris" -- oh,
man!)
LJ orig.: 12/16/06
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