"Hook" is a song by jam band

Jam band

-Ambiguity:By the late 1990s use of the term jam band also became ambiguous. An editorial at jamband.com suggested that any band of which a primary band such as Phish has done a cover of be included as jam band. The example was including New York post-punk band Talking Heads after Phish performed...

 Blues Traveler

Blues Traveler

Blues Traveler is a rock band, formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. The band has been influenced by a variety of genres, including blues-rock, psychedelic rock, folk rock, soul, and Southern rock...

, from their 1994 album Four. The song peaked at #23 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

.

The song's title refers to a hook

Hook (music)

A hook is a musical idea, often a short riff, passage, or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener". The term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music, hip hop, dance music, and pop. In these genres, the hook is often...

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

John Popper

John Popper is an American musician and songwriter.He is most famous for his role as frontman of rock band Blues Traveler performing harmonica, guitar and vocals...

 sings, "It doesn't matter what I say / So long as I sing with inflection

Inflection

In grammar, inflection or inflexion is the modification of a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, grammatical mood, grammatical voice, aspect, person, number, gender and case...

 / 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

Johann Pachelbel

Johann Pachelbel was a German Baroque composer, organist and teacher, who brought the south German organ tradition to its peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his contributions to the development of the chorale prelude and fugue have earned him a place among the most...

's Canon in D, which forms the basic chord progression of the song.

The song also references the story of Peter Pan

Peter Pan

Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...

 and his arch-nemesis Captain Hook

Captain Hook

Captain James Hook is the main antagonist of J. M. Barrie's play Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up and its various adaptations. The character is a villainous pirate captain of the Jolly Roger brig, and lord of the pirate village/harbour in Neverland, where he is widely feared. Most...

(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".

Peak positions

• 1995 Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 15
• 1995 Modern Rock Tracks No. 13
• 1995 Top 40 Mainstream No. 29
• 1996 Adult Contemporary No. 28
• 1996 The Billboard Hot 100 No. 23
• 1996 Adult Top 40 No. 22
• 1996 Top 40 Mainstream No. 8

End of year charts

End of year chart (1996)	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	60