The lyrics of songs reflect the experiences of the songwriters, but also social trends. An analysis now shows that the lyrics of popular chart songs since 1973 have increasingly dealt with negative topics and contain more stress-related words. At the same time, the song lyrics have become less linguistically complex over the past 50 years – although with a possible trend reversal in the past ten years. After particularly shocking events, music preferences also deviate from the long-term trend – people then sometimes prefer happy songs and avoid negativity. What is psychologically behind it?
Many songs are about love, but other emotional aspects of our lives are also often discussed in song lyrics, including grief, loss, friendship and freedom. These lyrics initially reflect what the artist or songwriter felt while writing. Which of the songs become hits and end up in the charts also reveals which of the topics covered affect the population in general. This doesn’t necessarily mean that people feel and have had the same feelings as the artists, but it shows what they want to hear about.
Researchers led by Maurício Martins from the University of Vienna have now investigated what is behind it and what trends are emerging. Using language software, they analyzed the lyrics of the most popular English-language songs in the United States that have charted weekly on the Billboard Hot 100 for the past 50 years. Between 1973 and 2023 there were 20,186 songs.
Lyrics increasingly express stress
The comparison showed: Over time, the lyrics of the most popular songs have become linguistically simpler, but also more negative. In addition, the lyrics contained more and more stress-related words. At the same time, news in media and fiction books became increasingly negative and more people suffered from diagnosed depression and anxiety, as known from previous studies. Martins’ team therefore believes that the observed development of song lyrics over the past 50 years reflects people’s moods and mental health. In her opinion, the evaluation shows that people process their emotions and stress through music.
But what factors influence which song lyrics we prefer? Martin and his colleagues were unable to determine a connection with income and personal wealth using the data set from the USA. The economic situation therefore does not seem to play a direct role in the choice of music. Indirectly, however: “Factors such as job security, cost of living or perception of media reports can significantly influence the perception of one’s own financial stability, even in times of general economic upswing,” write the psychologists. “For example, during periods of economic growth, rising inequality or local economic difficulties may still lead to widespread feelings of dissatisfaction or stress.”
Shocks are followed by more complex and happier songs
The psychologists also found that the most popular songs since 2016 have increasingly included more complex lyrics, although they continue to contain increasingly stress-related words. The most defining event for Americans this year was the election of Donald Trump as president. However, why the lyrics trend has changed since then and whether political developments in the USA were directly or indirectly involved is still unclear and needs to be further researched.
However, the researchers identified two other events that increased stress levels in the American population – the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Surprisingly, instead of becoming more negative and simple, the song lyrics became more complex and positive and contained fewer stress-related words. This suggests that people in stressful times use happier music with positive and complex lyrics as a form of escapism, as the team explains. A study on lyrics from Japan came to a similar conclusion. However, these avoidance phases only lasted a few weeks or months while the shock lingered. The long-standing trend of dealing with problematic topics through music then continued, as the analyzes show.
Overall, the study shows that the basic mood of a country can be tracked over time using song lyrics. “Our results support the notion that music plays a dual role in collective mood control, serving both mood control and mood regulation depending on the context and intensity of social emotions,” the team writes. However, the psychologists also emphasized that their study only included mainstream music, not subcultures and genres such as hip-hop, punk rock or heavy metal, which enjoyed early success in clubs and concerts off the charts.
Source: Markus Foramitti (University of Vienna) et al.; scientific reports, doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-28327-5