Subject: Hook emphasis Following on from Dan's tip
Posted by: snabbu |
Further to Dan’s example of wind beneath my wings
It occurs to me thinking about talking to Rianna about technique yesterday that the chorus of this song demonstrates well, one of the techniques of hook emphasis
there are several of these. Some are.
(1) To have nothing in the chorus rhyme except the hook
(2) To have everything rhyme except the hook.
(3) To have nothing rhyme then insert an internal rhyme in the hook line.
(4) To Insert a double internal rhyme followed by a line that does not rhyme with anything that has gone before but rhymes with the hook.
An example of number four is Bernie Taupins lyric for the build up to the hook in the song “Yellow brick Road”
“Back to the howlin old owl in the woods
Hunting the horny back toad
Oh I’ve finally found my future lies
Beyond the yellow brick road.
The double internal in the first line of this stanza “howlin’/ owl in “
causes the word “toad” to really stand out and to create lyrical tension as the rhyme is unresolved so that when the next two lines are delivered and the whole thing resolves
therefor the hook is very satisfying to the ear. The emphasis / tension on the word “toad” would not be there without the double internal.
The “wind beneath my wings” uses basically technique 3
where the near rhyme of wind and wings is used internally in the hook line.
It is interesting to also note that even though there are no strict rhymes in the chorus there is syllable matching and first syllable rhyming techniques used to make this work.
Line one ends in a two syllable word
Line two in a one syllable word
Line three in a two
Line four in a one
The “e” sound is used in the first syllable of the two syllable lines creating a near rhyme
for both which are stressed in the melody “hEEEro EEEagle.”
Both examples display fantastic technique.
Any one have any examples of technique one and two?
Or examples of other hook emphasis techniques.
Cheers 
Gary
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Subject: Re:Hook emphasis Following on from Dan's tip
Posted by: jamesbmitchell |
Hi, Gary. You asked for examples of other techniques for hook emphasis. It feels funny using my own lyrics as an example -- they're not exactly classics  - but here's a chorus from a song I wrote for the 50-song challenge that shows a different technique for hook emphasis:
Quote:Lord, help me! I am a constantly falling man,
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Subject: Re:Hook emphasis Following on from Dan's tip
Posted by: snabbu |
Hi James
Interesting I think I see what is happening here and I think it is a combination of three things
(a) Tension and resolution because the rhyme scheme A X B B A takes four lines to resolve the opening rhyme.
(b) You have stated the hook in the first line so when you get to the end of the fourth line and leave it hanging in the air you are forcing the listener to predict the next line because they have already heard it in the first line when they hear it as the last line they think of course that is what comes next everything is then nicely resolved.
(c) Plus the fact as you say the hook is there as the extra line and there is the run on from the previous line.
It is natural to use your own lyrics for examples as they are the ones you are most familiar with the form of.
Here is an example of a similar hook emphasis technique to your example which uses techniques (B) and (C) above with a different rhyming technique. This is a variation of the second technique from my original post, (not to have the hook rhyme with anything) plus I have the second last line not rhyming with anything either.
This example is from My RMMS challenge song “Always never there”
In which I really concentrated on hammering the hook.
Always never there and I don’t know why
and I’m sorry if I ever made you cry
here and now Ill tell you I will try
Not to be
Always never there
This isn’t my invention either I believe everything has been done before..................twice.:-)
Actually this is fairly common Lennon technique.
For example the chorus of Help
Help me if you can I’m feeling down
and I do appreciate you being ‘round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won’t you please please .........
Help me
This multiple techniques happening at the same time makes me start wondering if one hook emphasis device is good two are better three are better still what if you could have say five happening at once would this be the ultimate:-)
Cheers
Gary
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