Analysis of Song Lyrics through Time: Examination of Emotional Tone and Vocabulary Richness using R
In the realm of popular music, the lyrics of the Billboard Top 100 songs have undergone a significant transformation over the years, reflecting broader cultural, musical, and industry changes. This evolution has been analysed in a recent study, revealing shifts in complexity and sentiment that mirror societal moods and economic trends.
**Complexity of Lyrics:**
The early days of popular music, particularly during the British Invasion in the 1960s, saw acts like The Beatles revolutionise songwriting by incorporating more sophisticated musical and lyrical structures. They broke away from established conventions with modal mixture, wider chord palettes, and extended song forms, moving beyond the simple AABA pop song format. This era marked a shift towards more experimental and complex songwriting, combining the roles of writer and performer to create more personalised and intricate lyrics [2].
Over subsequent decades, the approach to songwriting continued to diversify. Influential songwriters such as Diane Warren contributed numerous hits with emotional depth, showcasing a blend of commercial appeal and lyrical craftsmanship across various styles [4].
**Sentiment of Lyrics:**
Research analysing Billboard Hot 100 songs over extended periods has highlighted shifts in the emotional tone of popular music lyrics from a demographic and financial perspective. This suggests that sentiment in lyrics has multi-dimensional significance, potentially mirroring societal moods and economic trends [3].
Recent hits like Charli XCX's "360" remix demonstrate a mix of lyrical content that ranges from playful and whimsical to confident and introspective, reflecting a trend towards more varied and nuanced emotional expressions in popular music [1].
**Overall Trends:**
Lyrics in the Billboard Top 100 have moved from relatively straightforward love and dance themes to include a wider range of emotions and complexities. This includes increased introspection, social commentary, and experimental phrasing. The sentiment has become more diverse, with songs expressing not only happiness and love but also vulnerability, social issues, and nuanced emotional states [2][3][4][1].
The study, which used a free lyrics API to obtain lyrics for the Top 100 songs, found that the lexical diversity of songs has decreased over time, with both the Type-Token Ratio (TTR) and Maas measures showing a decline. This decrease in lexical diversity may be due in part to increasing numbers of words in songs [5].
However, the complexity of lyrics is less clear. While some contemporary music may be deemed less complex by some critics, other songs like Eminem's "Love the Way You Lie" still contain intricate and thought-provoking lyrics [6].
The analysis, which included approximately 16,000 songs, about 45% of all top 100 songs, also revealed that sentiment has become more angrier and less joyful over time [7]. This finding is further supported by IBM's Tone Analyzer, which was used to analyse the dominant emotions/sentiments present in the lyrics.
The dataset of Billboard Top 100 songs from 1958 to the present is available on Kaggle for further analysis. IBM Cloud offers new users $200 USD free credit for use in analysis [8].
References: [1] [Charli XCX's "360" Remix: A Study in Lyrical Diversity and Emotional Expression](URL) [2] [The Evolution of Songwriting: A Historical Perspective](URL) [3] [Sentiment Analysis in Popular Music Lyrics](URL) [4] [Diane Warren: A Study in Lyrical Craftsmanship and Commercial Success](URL) [5] [Lexical Diversity in Billboard Top 100 Songs: A Quantitative Analysis](URL) [6] [The Complexity of Eminem's Lyrics: A Critical Review](URL) [7] [Sentiment Analysis of Billboard Top 100 Songs: A Trend Towards Anger](URL) [8] [IBM Cloud: A Platform for Music Lyrics Analysis](URL)
In the technology-driven era, data-and-cloud-computing tools have been instrumental in facilitating projects that have delved into the analysis of Billboard Top 100 songs, as seen in the study referenced. The findings of this research suggest that the sentiment and complexity of lyrics in today's popular music reflect broader societal moods and economic trends, mirroring the broader use of technology in entertainment, music, and lifestyle.
Embracing the advent of the digital age, the study employed a free lyrics API to gather lyrics for the Top 100 songs, highlighting the role of technology in facilitating analysis and interpretation of music lyrics, thereby enhancing our understanding of cultural and industry shifts in the realm of pop music.
