.listen.- Blues Traveler “Hook” August 27, 2008

.authored by something.of.substance.

.get "Hook"ed.

Who says subliminal messaging in media isn’t real? The jam band Blues Traveler explored this concept, tonally and satirically, in their 1994 song “Hook”. The hook mentioned throughout the nearly five minute song references both a musical “hook”- the catchy musical element, phrase, or riff of a song which makes it distinctive and keeps the listener’s attention – and Capt. Hook, the arch-nemesis of eternal boy Peter Pan. And, because this song is fourteen years old, it has faded to an accepted obscurity within pop-culture. We all recognize it without ever having realized what it was saying.

The most surprisingly element of this song most people would not recognize without it being pointed out. For a song whose words go on to sing about diversity in music and how this particular band doesn’t need a “hook” to draw-in listeners, they structured their song, musically, around one of the most popular hooks of all time! The entire song is based, tonally, around the chords of 17th Century classical composer Johann Pachelbel’s very famous Canon in D (song included below with “Hook” for comparison purposes). Without knowing it, listeners are attracted to the song because they faintly recognize the tune. The tonal hook is catchy and popular; it brings you back.

The verbal hook in this song announces itself with the repeated line: “the hook brings you back”. Adamantly against following the “formula” of a successful pop song, Blues Traveler admits it “could be financial suicide” to produce the types of songs they came together as a band to sing rather than those songs- the “hip three minute ditties”- which are reliable album sellers. And, in an attempt to educate listeners about really paying attention to the politically-correct tunes they are being force-fed on the radio and MTV, Popper “desperately” wants to “sing to thee of love sure but also rage and hate and pain and fear of self” but also acknowledges that he worries that if he does, he will lose his career. He is required to abide by the “hook” for financial gain and public notoriety. But, instead of exploiting their ideals, Blues Traveler satirically exploits us and our love of conformity instead.

The Peter Pan reference, while obvious, is more subversive. In the second stanza, John Popper sings:
“…To confuse the issue I refer/
To familiar heroes from long ago/
No matter how much Peter loved her/
What made the Pan refuse to grow…”

No matter how much Peter cared for Wendy, he didn’t want to permanently leave Neverland until he defeated Capt. Hook; his rivalry with Hook kept him returning to Neverland, therefore preventing him from ever moving on. This acknowledgment of what is “accepted” in pop-music could be Blues Traveler’s comparison of itself to Peter Pan. Jam bands are known for not following standard three-minute song formats complete with choruses and hooks and catchy pop-beats the kids want to bop to. However, by incorporating the structure of Canon in D (with only a minor variation in chord progression), the song’s hook, much like Capt. Hook, keeps you from moving on (to another tune).

Blues Traveler produced a song which, by subliminally-incorporating a hook, rallies against having to produce catchy popular music. What is both hypocritical and genius about Blues Traveler’s “Hook” is that it manages to be both accepted and insubordinate at the same time. The band readily admits they must amalgamate some of their ideals with those of pop culture in order to be successful. And, while they do this, they do so with a big middle finger in the face of the industry and the listeners. They managed to produce a song with a very satirical depiction of pop culture and a very successful hook, all without having to write one of their own. Blues Traveler subliminally catches your attention with their tonal “Hook” and keeps it long enough to feed you their very anti-“Hook” message. A band that creatively made the smallest of concessions to stay true to their form while gaining in popularity and success: it sounds like Blues Traveler found away to defeat the Hook after all.

Pachelbel’s “Canon in D” performed by Cherry Blossom Strings

Blues Traveler “Hook”