Line Without A Hook by Ricky Montgomery

Album: Montgomery Ricky (2016)

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This song finds Los Angeles singer-songwriter Ricky Montgomery singing about not being able to function without his lover by his side. He suffers from self-esteem issues and struggles when he's on his own.

Oh, baby, I am a wreck when I'm without you
I need you here to stay
I broke all my bones that day I found you
Crying at the lake

Montgomery cares deeply for his girlfriend but worries that she's losing her feelings for him.

Was it something I said to make you feel like you're a burden?
Oh, and if I could take it all back
I swear that I would pull you from the tide
The song title doesn't appear in the lyrics but alludes to Montgomery's insecurities about the relationship. In the same way that a fishing line without a hook won't work, the singer perceives himself out of his lover's league and their romance is doomed to failure.
Ricky Montgomery recorded "Line Without A Hook" for his 2016 Montgomery Ricky album. The song purposely contradicts the major themes of the record, which are rebirth, re-growth and self-acceptance.
Ricky Montgomery wrote "Line Without A Hook" with the song's producer Jon Heisserer. The pair also collaborated on another Montgomery Ricky track, "Mr. Loverman."
On the face of it, this is about a failing relationship, but Montgomery told Billboard there is a second underlying meaning. "The song presents itself as a love song," he explained, "but it's really me using the space of that song to capture the emotion of finally feeling like I was the one in control of my own life."
After "Line Without a Hook" blew up on TikTok during the summer of 2020, it generated a huge buzz of interest from the major labels. Montgomery signed with Warner Records in December 2020 and released a new version of the song with Oakland, California singer-songwriter Mxmtoon.

Comments: 4

AnonymousIs this about a relationship, pregnancy, life, death, and realizations? About a boy, girl, and an unplanned baby in the womb?
NobodyI always thought the title may have come from My Chemical Romance's song, "Im Not Okay (I Promise)" which is also about a failing relationship and has a lot of the same themes. There's a line in the song, "another line without a hook/I held you close as we both shook/for the last time take a good, hard look". But idk I might be wrong.
Sup from SomewhereIt doesn’t say Line without a hook it only says “She’s a she’s a lady and I am just a line without a (hook)
AnonymousThe title appears once in the song. He goes “She’s a—She’s a lady and I am just a line without a hook.” :)

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