Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Politics and Religion
What Changes in Pop Music Tell About Us

What Changes in Pop Music Tell About Us

Last updated on: December 16, 2025 at 6:00 am by Gene Veith

0 Comments

What Changes in Pop Music Tell About Us 2025-12-12T18:54:45-05:00 Gene Veith

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

We baby boomers are always complaining that contemporary popular music can’t compare to the music we listened to when we were teenagers, to the great annoyance of our children and now our grandchildren. Of course, our parents said the same thing about their music being vastly superior to ours.

But there may be more to these comparisons than just different generational tastes. A study of the lyrics of the most popular songs over 50 years has uncovered some clear, objective facts: As time goes by, the language of the songs express fewer positive and more negative emotions; depicts ever-greater stress; becomes increasingly repetitive; and becomes simpler and simpler.

Researchers from the University of Vienna studied some 260,000 songs from the weekly Billboard Hot 100 charts from 1973 to 2023. They analyzed them with computer algorithms designed to assess the emotional content of language and to detect patterns and redundancy.

Here are some of the findings as reported by John Anderer in his article for StudyFinds entitled Pop Music Has Grown Darker And More Stressed Over 50 Years, Tracking With America’s Rising Distress:

Researchers at the University of Vienna examined five decades of chart-topping hits from 1973 to 2023 and found a stark transformation in what Americans listen to. Stress-related language (as measured by a standard dictionary tool) appeared with increasing frequency, while positive sentiment steadily declined. . . .

The researchers observed that stress-related language, negativity, and lyrical simplicity increased over the past five decades. The correlation was strong enough that stress-related language showed an 81% correlation with time, meaning the trend was consistent and pronounced across the entire period.

The researchers suggest a correlation between these negative emotions and the increase in depression, anxiety, and psychological distress that has been documented over this period, especially in teenagers and young adults. The study said it is unclear whether their music contributed to those mental problems or merely reflect it.

I would argue that the effects simply demonstrate the state of mind of the mostly young artists who create the music and, more importantly, the state of mind of the mostly young audiences that propels the music to the Hot 100 charts. They buy and listen to the music that speaks to how they feel. So I think this study of popular music is very telling about the state of young people over the last half century.

I was especially interested in the other set of findings in the study: “At the same time, songs became structurally less complex, featuring more repetition and simpler vocabulary.”

Structurally simpler songs with more repetition and less linguistic variety dominated charts increasingly over time. . . .

Researchers measured complexity using the LZ77 compression algorithm, which identifies redundant patterns in text. Songs with lower compression ratios contain more repetition and predictability, while higher ratios indicate greater structural complexity. The data showed a steady increase in compressibility over time, meaning lyrics became progressively simpler.

Why would this be? “The researchers noted that the decreasing complexity aligns with recent drops in IQ and PISA test scores, though they emphasized this represents correlation rather than proven causation.” And why would that be? I would suggest that the long decline in education, due to postmodern educational theories, have played a role in that.

The study did note some fascinating exceptions. Years of particular stress caused a temporary reversal of the trends. After 9/11, the emotion in the music actually became more positive. During the COVID shutdown, negative and stress-related language declined. “This pattern suggests that during extreme collective stress, people actively seek music for emotional relief rather than reflection of their distress.”

Between 1973 and 2023, the economy grew and Americans’ income shot up. And yet our mental state kept getting worse. The study found no relationship between the economic condition of the country and what the music reflected, with one exception: There was a strong correlation between rising median income and stress-related language.

Also, in years with lots of stress-related language, the music actually became more complex. “This counterintuitive relationship suggests that during particularly stressful periods, audiences may prefer more cognitively demanding music rather than simpler, more accessible content.”

When I read that music was becoming more simplistic and formulaic, my first thought was to wonder whether the researchers corrected for music written by AI, but then I realized that this was not really an issue between 1973 and 2023. But since recent music would be what AI has been trained on, it’s no wonder listeners sometimes have trouble distinguishing between AI music and human music.

If today’s music tends to be dark, depressing, and simplistic, I can report a counter-trend. My sister tells me that her 20-something son, my nephew–who is arguably the coolest and most in-touch member of our family–and his friends are listening to what’s called Yacht Rock. It’s the soft rock of the 1970s-1990s: Steely Dan, Kenny Loggins, Fleetwood Mac, etc., along with contemporary groups trying to sound like them.

Says Wikipedia quoting some experts:

In 2014, AllMusic‘s Matt Colier identified the “key defining rules of the genre:”

- “keep it smooth, even when it grooves, with more emphasis on the melody than on the beat”
- “keep the emotions light, even when the sentiment turns sad (as is so often the case in the world of the sensitive yacht-rocksman)”
- “always keep it catchy, no matter how modest or deeply buried in the tracklist the tune happens to be”

Orlofsky has argued that the genre’s resurgence is partly due to its function as an antidote to the negativity of the post-Obama era in the US just as in its original context, when yacht rock created “the perfect soundtrack for listeners trying to ignore Watergate and Vietnam” it now again represents “a defiant, fingers-planted-firmly-within-ears disregard of any and all political unrest”.

Sounds healthy to me, a reaction against the music and emotions uncovered in the Vienna study.

Illustration: Rock Band Logos by Superbrogio via Deviant Art, CC by ND 3.0

popular music and psychology

psychological problems

young adults

Previous Post

December 15, 2025

Monday Miscellany, 12/15/25

Next Post

December 17, 2025 Secular Protestantism

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"My favorite Veterans Day video ... "Pete Hegseth Group Yelled At By Sentinel For Laughing ..."

Tom Hering

What Human Beings Are For

"The period of non religion is rising. People who identify as Christian has dropped and ..."

Patrick Dennis

A Catholic Century or an Evangelical ..."

"“We might think that what you are here suggesting is that we minimize our contact ..."

1another

What Human Beings Are For

"But Paul is making clear that we shouldn’t give mere humans, particularly unbelievers, more power ..."

DakotaLutheran

What Human Beings Are For

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category America Apologetics Art baseball Bible Blog Christ Church crime Culture Economics Education Ethics Family Food Football Government History Holidays Holy Week Humor International Islam Language Law Life Issues Literature Media Medicine Movies Music Nature News Personal Philosophy Politics psychology Reformation Religions Sacraments Science sex Social Science Sports technology television terrorism Theology Uncategorized Vocation war

Select a Month November 2026 October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who found the Book of the Law in the Temple during Josiah's reign?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Shemaiah Hilkiah the priest Jehoiada Joab

Books by This Author Books by Gene Veith

See All Titles »