6 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
The Hook Lyrics
AT Age 19 I was kidnapped by Turkish pirates
Mediterranean thugs
After some torture they considered me their mascot
Cypriotic Good Luck
I had to taste the deck and many other things
I had to pay the piper with my wedding ring
And I would never see my family again
By 25 I was respected as an equal
My art was a knife
On countless raids I was the first one up the lanyard
Yeah I was seeking a fight
There is no time to pray
And there's no time to beg
And then it's off with an arm
Or it's off with a leg
And if I spare your life
It's because the tide is leaving
Oh yeah
By 31 I was the captain of a galleon
I was Poseidon's new son
The coast of Montenegro was my favorite target
It was ever so fun
We had no wooden legs
Or steel hooks
We had no black eye patches
Or a starving cook
We were just killers with the cold eyes of a sailor
Yeah we were killers with the cold eyes of a sailor
Mediterranean thugs
After some torture they considered me their mascot
Cypriotic Good Luck
I had to taste the deck and many other things
I had to pay the piper with my wedding ring
And I would never see my family again
My art was a knife
On countless raids I was the first one up the lanyard
Yeah I was seeking a fight
There is no time to pray
And there's no time to beg
And then it's off with an arm
Or it's off with a leg
And if I spare your life
It's because the tide is leaving
I was Poseidon's new son
The coast of Montenegro was my favorite target
It was ever so fun
We had no wooden legs
Or steel hooks
We had no black eye patches
Or a starving cook
We were just killers with the cold eyes of a sailor
Yeah we were killers with the cold eyes of a sailor
Song Info
Submitted by
kez On Jul 02, 2002
More Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
Cold Son
Jenny and the Ess-Dog
Post-Paint Boy
Jo-Jo's Jacket
Senator
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
i always thought of these lyrics as a valediction for malkmus's time in pavement. and i thought of "the hook" as having double-meaning as a pirate's hook and a musical hook. and of this song being one of the first times that malkmus goes verse-chorus-verse with a hook instead of trying to deconstruct/destroy it. important song, imo.
The Hook: a hook.... and a hook! Great observation!!
The Hook: a hook.... and a hook! Great observation!!
@townsie I first considered it just a catchy song with a cool story, but this actually makes a lot of sense. Especially considering the line "my art was a knife" which is a really weird way to phrase his fighting skills, unless Malkmus is talking in metaphors. During his stint in Pavement he really did move up the music hierarchy, and I reckon he discovered that a lot of the rock&roll myths were wrong. Just as the historical use of hooks, wooden legs and eyepatches are somewhat exhaggerated. Also; "The Hook" can have a tripple meaning. How he got hooked on the rock&roll...
@townsie I first considered it just a catchy song with a cool story, but this actually makes a lot of sense. Especially considering the line "my art was a knife" which is a really weird way to phrase his fighting skills, unless Malkmus is talking in metaphors. During his stint in Pavement he really did move up the music hierarchy, and I reckon he discovered that a lot of the rock&roll myths were wrong. Just as the historical use of hooks, wooden legs and eyepatches are somewhat exhaggerated. Also; "The Hook" can have a tripple meaning. How he got hooked on the rock&roll / pirate lifestyle, seeing as how the protagonist never returns to his old life.
The best pirate song ever
I think it's abou the difficulty of time travel nowadays, with the rising prices of oil barrels and, you know, the extinction of raptors.
ARRRRRRRRR
I wondered if it might be about someone who grows up and eventually falls in line with the status quo after starting being a bit rebellious/idealistic, with the buoyant nature of the song being typically (for Malkmus) at odds with this rather sad reading. You never can tell with this chap though, it could just be a cool story. Incidentally, there's an ace live version of this which was a B-Side to Discretion Grove (I think).
I reckon it's just about Steve's playful imagination. He probably wanted to be a parate when he was a kid, or something. We can read too much into lyric meanings sometimes.
I reckon it's just about Steve's playful imagination. He probably wanted to be a parate when he was a kid, or something. We can read too much into lyric meanings sometimes.
With his child-like, playful, explorative and vivid imagination, Steve Malkmus describes an alter-world in where he's a pirate. I concur with Spaceman Spiff – this is the greatest ever written. It doesn't fail to put a smile on my face when I hear it.
A quick edit though, I believe it should be 'stubborn' cook, not 'starving'.