Famous pop songs, 1975-2017: Lyrics became darker as emotional words became less positive and more negative; swear words and sexual words tended to remain rare and to increase slightly over the decades

Blais-Rochette, C., Miranda, D., Goulet, M.-A., & Gaudreau, P. (2020). Songs as a way of listening to cultures across generations? A comparison of Canada and the United States through their famous songs from 1975 to 2017. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, Oct 2020. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000347

Abstract: This study examined if there are cross-cultural and cross-generational similitudes and differences between Canada and the United States through their famous songs across 5 decades. We used the software Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC2015; Pennebaker, Boyd, Jordan, & Blackburn, 2015a) to analyze the evolution of lyrics for songs that were nominated at the Canadian Juno Awards and the American Grammy Awards from 1975 to 2017. We targeted songs that were nominated for “bestselling single/single of the year” at the Juno and “song of the year” at the Grammy as they represent some of the most popular and respected cultural products in their respective countries. We analyzed markers of self-focus, group-focus, social connectedness, emotions (positive and negative), religion, and explicit lyrics (swearing and sexuality). Results consistently revealed more cross-cultural similarities than differences between the lyrics of Juno’s and Grammy’s songs on all our markers. However, subtle generational variations unfolded over the years. Notably, self-focus words followed different patterns in the Juno’s songs compared to the Grammy’s songs, but reached similar levels in the 2010s. Group-focus words increased in Juno’s songs but decreased in Grammy’s songs. Social connectedness words were the most present in famous songs and remained relatively stable. Song lyrics became darker as emotional words became less positive and more negative. Religious words tended to remain rare in famous songs. Swear words and sexual words tended to remain rare and to increase slightly over the decades. Findings are discussed through a Cultural × Generational perspective.