Study Finds - Popular music has become progressively darker, more stressed, and linguistically simpler over the past 50 years, tracking alongside America’s growing mental health crisis, according to research that analyzed over 20,000 Billboard Hot 100 song lyrics..
- Stress language surged: Words related to stress, anxiety, and pressure increased 81% from 1973 to 2023, tracking alongside rising depression and anxiety rates in clinical data.
- Songs got simpler: Lyrics became more repetitive and structurally less complex over five decades, paralleling declines in educational test scores and cognitive measures.
- Crises reversed trends: During COVID-19 and after 9/11, Americans unexpectedly chose less stressful, more positive music—suggesting people use songs as emotional relief rather than mirrors of distress.
- Economy didn’t matter: Income fluctuations showed no relationship with lyrical mood once time trends were removed, indicating subjective experiences may matter more than economic data.
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