United Kingdom: A recent study found that song lyrics have become furious and more repetitious over the past forty years. The research also discovered that lyrics in various genres such as R and B rock, country, pop, and rap songs become simpler and more personal. The study was issued in the journal Scientific Reports.
According to Eva Zangerle, an assistant professor at the University of Innsbruck’s Department of Computer Science in Austria, anger-related phrases may evolve more commonly because music ‘reflects more general changes in society and culture.’
Professor Zangerle and her associates explored the lyrics of 12,000 English-language music released between 1980 and 2020. They also studied the page views of the lyrics on the online outlet Genius.
As per the analysis, lyrics in songs became more passionate and personal over time, while also becoming more straightforward to understand. The study discovered that the number of unique phrases used in songs decreased, especially in rap and rock music. The investigators consider this could be due to modifications in how music is consumed, such as an upsurge in the use of songs as background music.
“In the last 40 years, we have witnessed a change from buying records in the store to being able to choose from hundreds of millions of songs on streaming platforms on the phone. This has also changed the way music is consumed,” Professor Zangerle said.
In their conclusions from analysing Genius, the group cited that older rock songs get more page views than more recent ones, while the opposite is true for country songs. This may show that rock listeners choose lyrics from older songs, while country listeners prefer lyrics from newer songs.
Professor Eva Zangerle quoted Bruce Springsteen’s 1973 classic ‘Spirit In The Night’ as a model of complex songwriting, while mentioning that Miley Cyrus’ 2019 hit ‘Slide Away’ simpler, repetitive lyrics.
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