I still disagree. I am sticking with my original definition of a hook. And that is a gimmick that disguises mediocre writing. A mediocre lyric needs a hook to propel the song. Anybody can come up with some repetitive cliché and build a hohum song around it. But it takes a real artist to come up with something the likes of Barbara Allen without it getting boring.

Now for those of you who support the notion of hooks, where's the hook in Barbara Allen? It's a straightforward story in meter.
Jim