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Examples I can think of is "Do the Creep" in The Creep by the Lonely Island, "You're in a loop" in the theme song of the show Looped, those notes after the first line of American Idiot by Green Day (and similarly, those notes after the first line of the Johnny Test theme song).

A weaker form would be in hymns like He is my Portion Forever (in this case, it would be, predictably, "He is my Portion Forever"). I say weaker, because in a given verse of this particular hymn, this line is sung differently the first and second times it appears.

From what I can find online, the closest matches seem to be the "hook", or a "motif", but none of them sound right.

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  • In the context of the songs you named, a "repetitive hook" would certainly be appropriate. Songwriters will often use what teachers call "meaningful repetition" as a clever device to draw the listener into the desired groove or mood. In the case of John Mayer's song, Say What You Need To Say, most would agree that John over-did it. To an annoying degree.
    – Sparquelito
    Commented Nov 21 at 19:07
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    How about "tag line"?
    – paul garrett
    Commented Nov 21 at 19:37

2 Answers 2

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When it comes to lyrics, the term is epistrophe. Synonyms are anistrophe and epiphora.

The repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses or sentences.

I haven't found any solid evidence of the term's use in a melodic or harmonic context (though Thelonius Monk's "Epistrophy" might offer a clue).

When the repetition occurs at the beginning of a phrase, it's called Anaphora.

The repetition of a phrase at the beginning of phrases, sentences, or verses, used for emphasis.

Also note (as suggested in Michael's comment) that when the repetition comes after an entire stanza (or verse), it's called a refrain.

The chorus or burden of a song repeated at the end of each verse or stanza.

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    Seems worth mentioning and contrasting "refrain" a repeated ending complete line or stanza. Epistrophe is like a short phase or single word refrain.
    – Michael Curtis
    Commented Nov 21 at 20:54
  • @MichaelCurtis Done. Thanks for the suggestion.
    – Theodore
    Commented Nov 21 at 21:20
  • Epistrophe seems to be the closest, but the term seems to be specific to prose, not songs (I haven't found any reference to this being used in songwriting, barring being used as a reference in Epistrophy).
    – DrownedSuccess
    Commented Nov 22 at 14:40
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    @DrownedSuccess, you could say effects like epistrophe can elevate words beyond mere prose. Anyhow, this site litcharts.com/literary-devices-and-terms/epistrophe gives examples from speeches, poetry, and song lyrics. Literary terms are used to describe song lyrics and I've never hear they are some how mutually exclusive.
    – Michael Curtis
    Commented Nov 22 at 15:10
  • I wonder if "aniphon" would be appropriate? In some liturgical settings, a cantor would sing a line of a prayer, then the congregation would sing something like "Lord, hear our prayer", then the cantor would sing the next line, "Lord, hear our prayer", etc. The congregation's part could be seen as a refrain, but the term "refrain" is usually used for longer sections.
    – supercat
    Commented Nov 23 at 0:11
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I think its called a 'chorus'. According to meriam webster, a chorus is a part of a song or hymn that is repeated every so often.

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    A chorus doesn't seem to fit here, as it it is usually after a verse, while this (phrase?) is within a verse.
    – DrownedSuccess
    Commented Nov 22 at 14:38

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