According to the research, song lyrics are becoming increasingly simple and self-referential

Simpler, more memorable, more self-centered: According to research, song lyrics have changed drastically over the past forty years. A European research team discovered this after analyzing more than 12,000 English songs.

The lyrics of the songs from different music genres mainly lost their complexity. In addition, cheerful lyrics increasingly made way for lines about anger and sadness, according to the study published on Thursday in the journal ‘Scientific Reports’. According to the survey results, the words ‘I’ and ‘mine’ were also used more often – an expression of the artists’ increasing egocentrism.

For the study, the researchers looked at what feelings are expressed in the song lyrics, how many different and complicated words are used and how often they are repeated. “Across all genres, the lyrics tended to become simpler and repetitive,” said study author Eva Zangerle from the University of Innsbruck. The number of lines repeated has increased most significantly in rap music.

“What we have seen over the last forty years is a dramatic change in the music landscape – from the way music is sold to the way music is produced,” the researchers emphasized. Music is a ‘mirror of society’ and expresses how cultural values, feelings and concerns change over time.

Previous studies have also shown that people these days tend to listen to music in the background, Zangerle said. This is also why songs with repetitive lyrics are more popular. (saw/sda/afp)