Song lyrics are getting darker and simpler, research shows

Vienna (dpa) – Lyrics of successful songs in the United States have become simpler and more negative over recent decades, according to a University of Vienna study by psychologists Mauricio Martins and Markus Foramitti. "People tend to the music that matches their own mood," said Foramitti, whose analysis was published in the journal Scientific Reports in December. The researchers examined the lyrics of the 100 most popular English-language songs in the Billboard Hot 100 each year from 1973 to 2023, a total of 20,186 songs. To classify "stress-related" words, they used a recognised lexicon of 270 terms such as "abuse", "attack" and "pressure". Nouns such as "pain" and "anger" were counted as negative. A song was considered simpler the more words could be removed without reducing comprehensibility. Foramitti said that an example of a complex song was "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" (1973) by Elton John. The lyrics of US star Taylor Swift contained stress-laden words and dealt with heartbreak, as in "Bad Blood", which counted as negative in the study’s context. By contrast, "Special" by Lizzo from 2023 was associated with little stress and low complexity. While people usually like to listen to music in line with their mood, it was different in extreme situations such as the coronavirus pandemic, the authors said. Around those crisis years, the lyrics of successful songs became more cheerful. "This points to people escaping from an overwhelming everyday reality," said Foramitti. The authors also noted a new trend since 2016. Since then, lyric complexity has risen markedly again, they said. Looking at the political landscape, Donald Trump’s first presidency may have also played a role in songwriting, the authors posit. However Foramitti cautioned that closer investigation is still needed to determine whether the then and current US president is truly a major cause in the turnaround in lyric trends. The following information is not intended for publication dpa mrd xx n1 swe

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