Overview
- Researchers analyzed weekly top-100 Billboard Hot 100 English-language songs from 1973 to 2023, totaling 20,186 tracks.
- Over time, lyrics featured simpler language, more negativity, and more stress-related terms.
- During major crises such as 9/11 and the start of COVID-19, lyrics briefly skewed more complex and positive or showed no change.
- The share of hits with more complex wording began climbing from about 2016, with no link found to shifts in median household income.
- The findings, published in Scientific Reports (DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-28327-5), highlight correlations and call for further research into causes.