A new analysis of more than 20,000 Billboard hits from 1973–2023 finds U.S. pop lyrics have become simpler, more negative, and contain more stress-related words over the past 50 years. The Vienna–Lisbon research team measured stress-language, sentiment and lyrical complexity and found no link with changes in real median household income. Unexpectedly, during the COVID-19 pandemic lyrics became less negative and more complex, suggesting music may serve as escapism during crises. The study appears in Scientific Reports and frames music as a cultural thermometer of mood.
Pop Lyrics Turn Darker and Simpler Over 50 Years, Study Finds
Lead image: ATRANG / Shutterstock
Beneath the catchy choruses of many contemporary pop hits, a darker tone often lurks. Recent chart-toppers such as Billie Eilish's 'Bad Guy' (featuring a swaggering antihero), Eminem and Rihanna's 'Love the Way You Lie' (which depicts a toxic, violent relationship), and Taylor Swift's 'Bad Blood' (built around a vengeful feud) illustrate how mainstream songs can carry unsettling themes even as they top the charts.
What the Study Examined
Researchers based in Vienna and Lisbon analyzed weekly U.S. Billboard Top 100 English-language songs from 1973 through 2023 — more than 20,000 unique tracks. For each song they measured three linguistic dimensions: the frequency of words associated with worry, stress, and tension; overall sentiment (positive versus negative language); and lyrical complexity, operationalized as how simple or repetitive the lyrics were.
Key Findings
The study, published in Scientific Reports, identifies a clear long-term trend: over the past five decades, hit-song lyrics have become more negative and include more stress-related vocabulary, while also becoming lyrically simpler. The authors tested whether changes in real median household income in the U.S. explained these shifts but found no correlation, suggesting that rising financial wealth does not account for the emotional tone or complexity of hit lyrics.
Responses to Major Societal Shocks
To explore how crises affect lyrical trends, the researchers examined changes around the collapse of the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Surprisingly, during the pandemic the study found lyrics became less stressed and less negative while increasing in complexity. The authors interpret this as consistent with the idea that listeners and creators may turn to music for escapism or emotional regulation during periods of upheaval.
Previous research offers a nuanced picture: while some listeners seek darker or more contemplative music to process grief after trauma, others use music as a form of uplift or distraction.
Why It Matters
The authors argue that because music is widely consumed (with reported average listening times up to 21 hours per week) and has a relatively fast production cycle compared with books or films, lyrical trends can act as a timely cultural barometer — reflecting and shaping collective mood. While the study does not prove causation, it adds to a growing body of work that uses cultural consumption to infer psychological and social trends across populations.
Note: This story was originally featured on Nautilus.
