Scientists say they really don’t make music like they used to, revealing that song lyrics have become simpler and more repetitive over the past 40 years. Researchers analyzed 12,000 rap, country, pop, R&B, and rock songs released since 1980 and found that musicians have largely abandoned the lyrical poetry of Bob Dylan, Freddie Mercury, the Beatles, and other all-time greats. Instead, today’s stars aim for clear, catchy tunes that will grab people’s attention on streaming services like Spotify. Lyrics use poetic devices such as rhyme, repetition, metaphors and imagery, and can be considered similar to poems. Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2016 for creating “new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” Researchers found that modern music tends to be rather dumbed-down, with lyrics becoming more negative and personal. For further proof of what the researchers learned, take a look at the chart below.
