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Pop music has occupied an important position in people's lives for a long time. However, as time has changed, this music type has also undergone many changes. According to the Guardian, a group of European researchers published an article in Science Magazine and analyzed 12,000 English songs in various genres including rap, country, pop, r&b and rock from 1980 to 2020. Later, I discovered that over the past 40 years, the lyrics had become simpler and more repetitive, and the emotions contained in them were full of anger and narcissism.
researchers pointed out that because poetic expressions such as metaphors and images can often be seen in lyrics, lyrics have been regarded as a form of literary works for a long time. In fact, the relationship between music and literature has always been subtle. To a certain extent, music is an expression of literature. In 2016, American folk singer Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize for Literature for "creating new poetic expressions in the American song tradition." He is also the first singer-songwriter to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
"When a master like La Fontaine appears, the hierarchy of literature - what is great and what is small, what is spring and what is snow - becomes invalid." Nobel Prize Judge Huo Huo Lars Engeldower wrote in his award speech to Dylan: "When the beauty of a work is of the highest order, what does it matter what grade the work belongs to?" And here, Dylan's songs are Possessing the highest level of beauty. However, with the development of the times, will this beauty be annihilated by other characteristics of pop music? This question is exactly what we need to think about.
With the rise of streaming media, increasingly shorter lyrics
Like many art forms, the length of songs and the way they are created are always fluctuating with changes in technology and culture. According to a report in the Washington Post, from 1990 to about 2020, the average length of the top 100 songs on the music chart dropped from more than four minutes to about three minutes. The
report sorted out the changes in song length from 1950 to 2020, and explained the causes behind the changes in different periods. In the early days of popular song creation, because the music needed to be recorded on vinyl records, songs that were too long would cause the sound quality of the record to deteriorate, and the song length was usually about 3 and a half minutes; at the same time, shorter songs were more convenient for music radio stations to play and play. publicity. From the 1960s to before the emergence of streaming media, the invention of tapes and CDs made songs no longer limited by length, and fans and fans were willing to spend longer listening to idols' songs, so at this stage, songs The average length peaked at 4 minutes and 21 seconds in 1992. However, with the rise of streaming media, social media, and the decline of listeners' attention span, more and more short-duration songs have begun to emerge. For example, the single "Super Shy" by the Korean pop music group Newjeans has become a TikTok trend. It sounds like the hottest song of the summer in 2023, and this song is only 2 minutes and 34 seconds long. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, streaming services surpassed paid downloads for the first time in 2015 to become the music industry's largest revenue source, accounting for 34.3%. On streaming platforms, the shorter a song is, the more likely it is to be played repeatedly, which means more revenue.
"Super Shy" single cover Source: Douban Music
Superstar Taylor Swift seems to understand this too. In the 2024 Grammy Awards, she received six nominations, including for the album "midnights" and the song "anti-hero". But the average length of her songs has shrunk significantly since 2010. In her 2010 album "Speak Now", the average length of each song is 4 minutes and 47 seconds, and the shortest track "Better than Revenge" is 3 minutes and 37 seconds. Nine years later, on Taylor's 2019 album "Lover," the average song length dropped to 3 minutes and 26 seconds.
As the social atmosphere changes, the emotionality in songs continues to intensify.
At the same time, as time goes by, the lyrics of pop music have become more personal and emotional. In the foreign media sky news report "How has pop music changed over the years, taking the Brit Awards as an example" (brits 2024: how the sound of pop music has changed over time), we can find that compared with the previous In the 1980s and 1990s, more and more songs with negative connotations were nominated for awards. A study from Lawrence Technological University also found that pop music is becoming increasingly angry and sad. Lior Shamir, one of the study's co-authors, said changes in lyrics' mood don't necessarily reflect what musicians and songwriters want to express, but have more to do with what music consumers want to hear.
In a BBC report, bandleader, record producer, singer and songwriter Mike Butt pointed out that the way music is consumed today has changed dramatically, and that the number of streams of a song now determines which song enters the charts. repertoire. He also believes that the more negative tone in today's popular music may also reflect social changes: "Whether it is intentional or not, songs are often a mirror of society, or at least influenced by what is going on in the world."
The report also mentioned that pop songs seem to capture the emotions of both artists and listeners. On the one hand, songs are the result of artists pouring their own emotions into them; on the other hand, listeners also resonate with the artists’ emotions through songs—whether negative or positive, listeners and artists will perceive the world emotionally. , and get spiritual solace in music.
A good example is Adele's fourth solo album "30". In November 2021, this album was released globally and scored a high score of 88 on the music review website metacritic, and many media including "Rolling Stone" gave it a perfect score of 100. Rolling Stone Calling it "Adele's toughest and most powerful album to date", "ABC News" believes that the release of "30" is one of the greatest pop culture moments of 2021.
Adele's "30" album cover. Picture source: Douban Music
"During the most turbulent period of my life, I worked hard to rebuild myself and my inner world. This album expresses the feeling of rediscovering myself." During the creation of "30", Adele She was going through divorce proceedings with her ex-husband and suffered from anxiety attacks. This pain and strange emotions also became the inspiration for the album. We can hear heartbreak and loneliness in it, as well as self-awakening and motherhood. Adele's example also shows that emotionally intense pop songs are not necessarily a bad thing.
However, when the Internet, a complex and ever-changing tool, becomes the main way for us to obtain music, can this so-called emotional resonance be sustained for a long time? An article in "The Guardian" stated that in today's crowded and confusing music market, music fans are not only listeners, but also their own curators. They need to select good music from a variety of sources. works; and for those big-name artists, maintaining a recognizable voice in a crowded market is more important than ever.
In short, pop music is like a mirror of the times, prompting musicians to constantly seek change. As Bob Dylan described in his masterpiece - the times are a-changin': "and the first one now/will later be last/for the times they are a-changin'" / will be last in the future / because this era is changing).
Reference:
pop songs are getting shorter in the era of streaming and tiktok | the washington post
（https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/interactive/2024/shorter-songs-again/）
music lyrics have gotten simpler, angrier and more repetitive since the 1980s, study finds | forbes
（https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/03/28/music-lyrics-have-gotten-simpler-angrier-and-more-repetitive -since-the-1980s-study-finds/?sh=2903b81441c1)
song lyrics getting simpler, more repetitive, angry and self-obsessed – study | the guardian
（https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/mar /29/song-lyrics-getting-simpler-more-repetitive-angry-and-self-obsessed-study)
pop songs have become angrier and sadder! scientists analyzed lyrics from 6,000 best-selling songs from the 1950s to 2016 to make the finding | daily mail online
（https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6632879/pop-songs-angrier-sadder-past-60-years.html）
is pop music really getting sadder and angrier? | bbc
（https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20190513-is-pop-music-really-getting-sadder-and-angrier）
bob dylan wins nobel prize, redefining boundaries of literature | the new york times
（ https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/arts/music/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-literature.html）
brits 2024: how the sound of pop music has changed over time | sky news
（https ://news.sky.com/story/brit-awards-2024-how-the-sound-of-pop-music-has-changed-over-the-years-13084357)
go easy on me: why pop has got so predictable | guardian
（https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/dec/16/go-easy-on-me-why-pop-has-got-so-predictable）
disc recommendation丨The world’s most popular album last year Hot album! Why did Adele's "30" become the first in the show? |Star Alien Music
（https://www.sohu.com/a/578948037_100215161）
