{"id":420973,"date":"2010-03-12T11:44:08","date_gmt":"2010-03-12T16:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"tag:www.economist.com,21005345"},"modified":"2010-03-12T11:44:08","modified_gmt":"2010-03-12T16:44:08","slug":"sing-a-song-of-sixpence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/420973","title":{"rendered":"Sing a song of sixpence"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE invaluable Eric Barker directs us<\/a> to new research on the lyrical content of pop songs during hard times:<\/p>\n

\n

The lyrical content of Billboard No. 1 songs for each year from 1955 to 2003 was investigated across changes in U.S. social and economic conditions. Consistent with the environmental security hypothesis, popular song lyrics were predicted to have more meaningful themes and content when social and economic conditions were threatening. Trends for more meaningful, comforting, and romantic lyric ratings were observed in more threatening social and economic times. Using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count software, songs with more words per sentence, a focus on the future, and greater mention of social processes and intergroup themes were popular during threatening social and economic conditions. Limitations and possible implications are discussed.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Fascinating! Currently at the top spot on the Billboard charts is “Break Your Heart” by Taio Cruz (featuring Ludacris). I’ve been searching the lyrics<\/a> for a focus on the future and greater mention of social processes and intergroup themes:<\/p>\n

\n

Now listen to me baby
Before I love and leave you
They call me heart breaker
I don’t wanna deceive you<\/p>\n

If you fall for me
I’m not easy to please
Imma tear you apart
Told you from the start, baby from the start.<\/p>\n

I’m only gonna break break ya break break ya heart.
I’m only gonna break break ya break break ya heart.
I’m only gonna break break ya break break ya heart.
I’m only gonna break break ya break break ya heart.<\/p>\n

Now listen to me baby
Before I love and leave you
They call me heart breaker
I don’t wanna deceive you<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And so on in that vein. I’m not sure what I think. I suppose some comparison is needed. Here are lyrics from the top song from the same week in 2005, a boom year. I give you Usher’s “Caught Up”:<\/p>\n

\n

I’m so
Caught up
Got me feelin’ it
Caught up
I don’t know what it is
But it seems she’s got me twisted
I’m so
Caught up
Got me feelin’ it
Caught up
I’m losin’ control
This girl got a hold on me<\/p>\n

Let me go baby
Now listen
My momma told me
Be careful who you do cuz karma comes back around
Same ol’ song
But I was so sure
That it wouldnt happen to me
Cuz I know how to put it down
But I was so wrong
This girl was mean
She really turned me out
Her body was so tight
I’m lookin’ for her in the daytime with a flashlight
My homies say this girl is crampin’ my style
And I can’t figure it out but<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I have to say, I think social processes and intergroup themes are more evident in the Usher song. But this is why a proper statistical analysis is so important.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE invaluable Eric Barker directs us to new research on the lyrical content of pop songs during hard times: The lyrical content of Billboard No. 1 songs for each year from 1955 to 2003 was investigated across changes in U.S. social and economic conditions. Consistent with the environmental security hypothesis, popular song lyrics were predicted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4534,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-420973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4534"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420973\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}