Overall: @Koopastar:ALT0 is okay, but not as interesting to me. ALT1 should be crossed out as it erroneously frames the hook in a way other than Wood intended. If you listen to the song and pay attention to the lyrics in context, Wood is sarcastically making fun of the idea that white noise cures cancer while also poking fun at the "white noise" of empty music criticism, etc. In other words, he's not actually saying it cures cancer, so the hook doesn't work for me, but I get if you were going for the quirky slot, and I think in some ways that could work. If you look at the source it says "I hired a 16-person classical choir in Bulgaria and conducted them over a Zoom call to get a recording of them erroneously claiming white noise cures cancer." Keep in mind, the song is not about the literal definition of white noise, "noise containing many frequencies with equal intensities", although it pays lip service to that definition in many different ways (white noise sound of a fluorescent light; white noise of holding a seashell to your ear, etc.) The song is about the metaphor of white noise, background noise that drowns out other sounds in a meaningless or distracting way. I think this is a really important song that deserves an important hook. I could pass ALT0 right now, but I'm not a big fan of it. Do you want to give it another go and submit a few more hooks? Viriditas (talk) 21:17, 29 September 2024 (UTC)
I initially opted for "claim" to encompass that it could be not true, especially given the rarity of something that could cure cancer, but I see the problem behind possibly leading readers to believe it's non-satirical. However, it still has some unusualness to it with the context, and a Bulgarian choir doesn't seem like a common thing to appear in pop music, so I believe this new version could work. I did attempt to think of a hook that encompasses the song's theme, but most interesting points would be sourced from the song's page on Genius, which is a primary source.
@Koopastar: Thanks for your work on this. I think there's a lot out there about the song, which means you don't have to use Genius. If you were to use the "cure cancer" bit, take a look at this source, which goes in the direction I was talking about. However, I really think it's best to avoid the "cure cancer" thing because it's so problematic and exists solely in the fictional universe of the song (he also says he was joking). My opinion is its best to focus on the facts. The idea that he conducted an 18-person Bulgarian choir over zoom is incredible! (Or is it 16? He says both; perhaps it's a typo? It looks like it really is 16, but your article has 30 listed, let's fix this, or at least figure out which is correct) Why not stick with something like that? You can also add other details to the hook. Did he do this through zoom due to COVID restrictions or for another reason? He says it was one of the "first songs I wrote when I picked up the ukulele", so you might be able to add this as well. All I'm saying is that there are an infinite number of choices that don't use "cure cancer", and we should stick with those. I'm also drawn to what Wood says about the meaning of the song in conversation with Suzanne Torrison in the Behind the Curtains Media interview.[1] That really resonates with me and encapsulates the entire song in one go. There's numerous good hook possibilities available in that interview. Viriditas (talk) 21:09, 30 September 2024 (UTC)
@Koopastar: ALT0 is okay, but not as interesting to me. ALT1 should be crossed out as it erroneously frames the hook in a way other than Wood intended. If you listen to the song and pay attention to the lyrics in context, Wood is sarcastically making fun of the idea that white noise cures cancer while also poking fun at the "white noise" of empty music criticism, etc. In other words, he's not actually saying it cures cancer, so the hook doesn't work for me, but I get if you were going for the quirky slot, and I think in some ways that could work. If you look at the source it says "I hired a 16-person classical choir in Bulgaria and conducted them over a Zoom call to get a recording of them erroneously claiming white noise cures cancer." Keep in mind, the song is not about the literal definition of white noise, "noise containing many frequencies with equal intensities", although it pays lip service to that definition in many different ways (white noise sound of a fluorescent light; white noise of holding a seashell to your ear, etc.) The song is about the metaphor of white noise, background noise that drowns out other sounds in a meaningless or distracting way. I think this is a really important song that deserves an important hook. I could pass ALT0 right now, but I'm not a big fan of it. Do you want to give it another go and submit a few more hooks? Viriditas (talk) 21:17, 29 September 2024 (UTC)