A new report has found that song lyrics have become angrier and more self-obsessed over the last 40 years
The past few years have seen discourse surrounding TikTok and our ever-dwindling attention spans reach new heights. At the same time, content is getting shorter and more absurd, primed for overstimulated yet bored brains – think sludge content and the viral Skibidi Toilet. Now, a new study has shown that song lyrics are becoming simpler, angrier, self-obsessed and more repetitive – great!
The report, published last week, analysed the words in more than 12,000 English-language songs across the past 40 years across the genres of rap, country, pop, R&B and rock. There are no specific newer artists highlighted in the study, rather what’s emphasised are changes in music consumption, from vinyl records to CDs and, now, algorithmic streaming platforms. “What we have also been witnessing in the last 40 years is a drastic change in the music landscape – from how music is sold to how music is produced,” writes senior study author Eva Zangerle from Austria’s University of Innsbruck.
It’s true, the past decade has seen a huge shift in the ways we consume music, with algorithmic playlists encouraging ambient listening and people tuning into playlists in the background at school or work, not to mention TikTok’s role in boosting previously unknown artists into virality. “The first 10-15 seconds are highly decisive for whether we skip the song or not,” says Zangerle.
But it’s not just the platforms shaping our music tastes. The report points out that lyrics can be a “mirror of society”, reflecting changes in a culture’s values and emotions. The researchers analysed the emotions expressed in lyrics, how many different words were used, and how often they were repeated. “Across all genres, lyrics had a tendency to become more simple and more repetitive,” adds Zangerle. For example, words such as ‘me’ or ‘mine’ have risen in popularity, hinting at the ways in which lyrics are becoming more self-obsessed over time. There’s been an increase in lyrics that express anger, disgust or sadness, but that isn’t too surprising when you consider everything going on in the world right now.
Of all the genres, rap came out on top for angriest lyrics; it’s also the genre with the most repeated lines, though this could be down to the songs having the most lines to begin with. Another finding details how rock fans are most likely to search for lyrics from older songs, which reflects its declining popularity among current music trends.
That said, the report admits the results might not be indicative of music consumption everywhere since they’re highly US-centric, based on results from the Billboard charts. The report follows on from an announcement last month Universal Music Group (UMG), the world’s biggest record label, has removed their artists’ music from the video-sharing app TikTok after their licensing agreement expired in January, which marks a major shift in how music will spread across the platform.