Tracking the evolution of song lyrics: from Bob Dylan to Drake, study finds music has become more basic
- Our graphic shows the wordings of hit tunes over the last 40 years to get a sense of how songwriting has changed
- Researchers have analysed over 12,000 English-language songs from 1980 to 2020, finding that lyrics are becoming more repetitive and simple
US singer-songwriting legend Bob Dylan – who rose to fame in the 1960s – has won a Nobel Prize in literature. Photo: Getty Images/TNSSong lyrics are becoming simpler and more repetitive, according to a study published last month. It also found that lyrics have become angrier and more self-obsessed in the previous 40 years.
A team of European researchers analysed the words in more than 12,000 English-language songs across the genres of rap, country, pop, R&B and rock from 1980 to 2020.
Before detailing how lyrics have become more basic, the study pointed out that US singer-songwriting legend Bob Dylan – who rose to fame in the 1960s – has won a Nobel Prize in literature (see graphic).
Senior study author Eva Zangerle, an expert on recommendation systems at Austria’s University of Innsbruck, declined to single out an individual newer artist for having simple lyrics. But she emphasised that lyrics can be a “mirror of society”, which reflects how a culture’s values, emotions and preoccupations change over time.
“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,” said Zangerle.
Over the 40 years studied, there was repeated upheaval in how people listened to music. The vinyl records and cassette tapes of the 1980s gave way to the CDs of the 1990s; then the arrival of the internet led to streaming.
For the study published in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers examined the emotions expressed in lyrics, the number of different and complicated words used, and the frequency with which they were repeated.
“Across all genres, lyrics had a tendency to become more simple and more repetitive,” Zangerle summarised.
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The results also confirmed previous research, which had shown a decrease in positive, joyful lyrics over time and a rise in those that express anger, disgust or sadness. Lyrics have also become more self-obsessed, with words such as “me” or “mine” becoming more popular.
The number of repeated lines rose most in rap over the decades, Zangerle said – adding that it obviously had the most lines to begin with. “Rap music has become more angry than the other genres,” she said.
Another way that music has changed is that “the first 10 to 15 seconds are highly decisive for whether we skip the song or not,” Zangerle said. Previous research has also suggested that people tend to listen to music more in the background these days, she added.
Simply put, songs with more choruses that repeat basic lyrics appear to be more popular. “Lyrics should stick easier nowadays, simply because they are easier to memorise,” Zangerle said.
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How has music influenced the English language?
New words popularised in songs have even been recognised by the Oxford English Dictionary.
The title of American rapper BG’s song “Bling-Bling” was added to the dictionary in 2003 after the song went viral. The term is used to describe flashy jewellery.
Another example is the acronym YOLO which is short for “you only live once”. It became popular after Canadian rapper Drake used it in his hit song The Motto in 2011. YOLO became such a common saying that it was added to the Oxford dictionary in 2016.