Do Song Lyrics Fit the Times?
While browsing through the October 2009 issue of Psychology Today magazine, I came across an interesting blurb titled "Pop Goes the Bubble: Song Lyrics Fit the Times," by Sophie Chen. According to the blurb, Kanye West's "Love Lockdown" was popular this year not just because it's catchy, but also because we happened to be going through an economic recession when it hit the airwaves.
The blurb goes on to reference the soon-to-be-published work of professors Terry Pettijohn II of Coastal Carolina University and Donald Sacco Jr. of Miami University of Ohio. Pettijohn II and Sacco Jr. looked at the correlation between hit songs and socioeconomic conditions from 1955 to 2003. The results of their study showed that "popular songs dealt with more meaningful themes at times when socioeconomic conditions were threatening. Lyrics also focused more on friendships and romances; in hard times, people feel a stronger need for close relationships." The blurb goes on to provide an interesting snapshot of the #1 Billboard singles during a few key years:
- 1997 (Asian financial crisis): Elton John: "Candle in the Wind"
- 2000 (Stock market peak): Destiny's Child: "Independent Woman, Part I"
- 2006 (Slowdown in housing market): Daniel Powter: "Bad Day"
There may be some truth to this data, but I'm not sure if I fully buy the research team's conclusion. If "Independent Woman, Part I" were released today, I'm inclined to think it would still be a hit single. After all, Beyoncé's similarly-themed "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)" was released this year (in the deepest throes of the economic downturn, coincidentally), and not only did it peak at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, it also became Beyoncé's highest-selling song in the U.S. to date.
So what do you think--are song lyrics really a true reflection of economic times? Or is this Psychology Today report just a load of pseudo-scientific twaddle?
--Bri Nguyen
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Courtney Powell on September 25, 2009 at 09:35 AM
This is really interesting! I agree with some of the other commenters that if you just look at one song at a time, it seems easy to manipulate the data to fit any theory you like. But I'd love to see what would happen if someone rated the content of all the top few songs of every week of the year on a scale of joyful to depressing, then analyzed whether tough years did indeed bring us more depressing music overall. Great post, Bri - it definitely gives us something to wonder about.
Ally on September 25, 2009 at 04:39 AM
I think this is nonsense tbh (not your blog Bri, the "research"). There's no causality here at all. You could pick and choose hit pop songs and interpret themes to match pretty much any major coincidental news event. What does Candle In The Wind have to do with the Asian stock market crash? Nothing! As said before, it was a massive hit because it was a re-release related to the death of Princess Diana. These researchers are crediting more awareness of larger socio-economic trends to the general public than is realistic. People bought Independent Women because it's a great pop song on a major label sung by three very sexy ladies, not because it connected with their unconscious contentment at stock market levels.
internal hard drive on September 24, 2009 at 09:49 PM
One Christmas, my uncle walked into the room with a few family members singing, "Feliz Madidad". I said "What did you just say?" He looked at my as if to say" oh youngun', this song must be before your time" and he boldly declared "Feliz Madidad. It means Merry Christmas in Spanish!" Needless to say we all laughed hysterically, none able to share why due to preoccupations with laughter.
Cookie the Dog's Owner on September 24, 2009 at 03:12 PM
They can be, but not necessarily. There are too many other factors influencing the success or failure of a pop song to single out the economy and consumer confidence as decisive. For instance, "Candle in the Wind" was riding high in '97 due to its prominence in the Princess Diana funeral and subsequent glurge-fest, not because of any deep psychological connection to Asian stock market trends.
To take another example that's near and dear to my heart, the lyrics to Tom Petty's "Refugee" have eerie parallels to the Iranian hostage crisis ("Who knows, maybe you were kidnapped, tied up, taken away, and held for ransom.") and the general mood of "national malaise" prevalent in 1980 when it hit the charts. The song was written and recorded and first released on LP in 1979, well before the Iran crisis broke out, so it's not a direct reference to the embassy hostages. It's also one of the ten best rock songs ever written, and it would have been a hit no matter what.