A Study of 38,467 Songs Finds Lyrics Have Become Less Emotional

Popular music has slowly become less direct about emotions and relationships. That is the finding of researchers at Michigan State University, in a study published in the journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts. It is the largest study of its kind on song lyrics. The data covers 38,467 songs by 230 artists over nearly a century, from 1947 to 2024. About 30 research assistants checked the discographies by hand after the lyrics were collected.

Many earlier studies asked whether music changes from decade to decade. This one also asked whether the same artists change during their careers. Co-author Jan Brascamp said that looking at both at once helps separate changes within artists from bigger shifts in culture and the music industry.

The lyrics became less emotional and less focused on other people over time. During artists' careers, both positive and negative words became less common, and so did references to family and friends. Words about anxiety became more common, while words about sadness became less so. The same patterns appeared when comparing artists from different eras, and those differences between eras were generally larger than the changes within one artist's career.

Among the 230 artists, Willie Nelson had the most songs and Miles Davis the fewest with lyrics. Classic soul and early rock artists, such as Marvin Gaye and The Supremes, tended to rank high for positive emotion and social references. Artists in more countercultural styles, such as Nine Inch Nails, often ranked low. Older country and blues artists, such as Hank Williams and Patsy Cline, were over-represented in the negative and sadness categories.

The team was surprised that lyrics do not follow ordinary aging patterns. Lead author Logan Gibson said people often become better at managing emotions and focus more on close relationships as they age, so you might expect lyrics to become more positive or social. Instead they declined, which suggests that lyrics are strongly shaped by artistic, cultural or industry forces. The researchers hope the work shows how big collections of songs, books, social media posts and films can be used to study how people express feelings. Co-author William Chopik said people use songs to manage their emotions and to feel connected, so large drops in emotional language raise questions about whether the way we express feelings has changed.