How Popular Music’s Lyrics Perpetuate American Idiocy Article

I truly hope this doesn't not degenerate into a new music versus old music thread. I received this thought provoking message in my Facebook feed today. Scientific studies are being performed on the lyrical content of pop music the last 10 years. There are many links included to the studies. Please, can we discuss this like adults?

I quit listening to radio in the mid-70's because generally speaking there were more dumb commercials than music. Commercialism is insidious, do I need to mention narwhals song? I hate it when commercialism attempts to control my mind. I hated the energizer bunny so much that I vowed that I would never purchase another Energizer battery in my life. I think I'm still good after 25+ years. If you insult my intelligence, I'll never purchase your product again in my life time. Sprint has achieved that status with the narwhals commercial.

Considering there are also multiple studies that show how positive studying music, i.e, learning to play an instrument, for developing minds, maybe it's a lowest common denominator kind of thing that lyrics are getting...dumber?

Claire Bernish
May 20, 2015


(ANTIMEDIA) A recent study served to confirm the patently obvious: song lyrics for the most popular genres of music are ridiculously obtuse — and getting worse over time. Though this might not be a revelation, the figures are distressing indicators of both an intellectually vapid societal and cultural future as well as its apparent inevitability.


If you’ve already moved away from Billboard music, congratulations, you refuse to be insulted. But if you haven’t, or if you’re concerned about pop culture trends acting as portents of systemic dysfunction, you should probably pay attention. Andrew Powell-Morse of SeatSmart studied the “Lyric Intelligence” of 225 Billboard songs in the Pop, Country, Hip-hop, and Rock genres that spent three or more weeks parked at the top of the charts to analyze any changes over the course of ten years. And change there was.


Ten years ago, the most popular songs read between a third and fourth grade level, but the inanity only increased with time, and after a five-year downward tumble ending in 2014 (the last year of the study), chart-topping hits had a reading level equivalent to second or third grade. Broken into genres, the levels measured just 2.6 for Hip-hop/R&B, a tie of 2.9 for Rock and Pop, and faring best was Country at 3.3 — though declaring a winner in this insipid race to the bottom seems somewhat defeatist. Even further to that point, the most intellectually stimulating song, Blake Shelton’s Country hit “All About Tonight”, measured just 5.8, while wading deeply into the ludicrous was Three Days Grace’s “The Good Life”, at a level equivalent to 0.8 — begging the question, did they have to try to craft lyrics a kindergartner could easily read?


So how did this happen and why is it getting even worse? For the sake of brevity, this is a systemic issue being reinforced across the board by pandemic anti-intellectualism. Some have argued there is no harm in a bit of mindless distraction, but this is incontrovertibly false. When just six corporations control 90% of the media, and 80% of radio stations have identical playlists, mindless content isn’t a choice — it’s a virtual mandate. In this self-propelled cycle of banality, the conglomerates dictate content to be promoted by radio, which in turn pushes it endlessly, creating a false perception that what is being played is due to listener demand. But this insidious marketing ploy is more akin to kidnapping and is every bit as dangerous.


There is a dearth in music options over the airwaves, so when vacuous lyrics are foisted on listeners, they become captives under duress. It is scientifically proven that flexing the intellect can slow cognitive decline, but there has been a cultural shift away from stimulating thought in favor of homogenization and living for the moment, and empty radio content is both symptom and reinforcement of that trend. Society is focused on entertainment, materialism, and self-promotion, and when coupled with a need for instant gratification, it’s really no wonder we’re in such a sorry state. Occasional forays into mindless distraction would be understandable and harmless if they were just forays, but the foundation is faulty due to a sharp decline in quality education at every level.


Education has become the highest form of indoctrination with teachers forced into regurgitating information so their students can pass tests rather than become innovators and original thinkers. And who could blame them? Currently, they’re held to the ridiculous system where their performance is ranked, and salary determined by how those students perform on standardized tests that are, themselves, flawed. As Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, put it, “This country has spent billions on accountability, not on the improvement of teaching and learning at the classroom level.”


An education system based almost solely on taking tests is not only intellectually dimming, it’s stressful — instructors doling out the tests are given a set of instructions for what to do when students vomit on their test booklets. All of this is designed to send students to college where the situation is perpetuated. According to Catherine Liu, a film and media studies professor at the University of California, “We don’t educate people anymore. We train them to get jobs.”


Listen: ‘Reagan’ by Killer Mike on Anti-Media


From a political standpoint, all this ‘dumbing down’ makes sense: indoctrination creates obedience. If music and culture focus on mindless diversion, and education lacks, well, education, then people lack the acuity necessary to question the absurdity of the system. Those who manage to liberate themselves from this mold and have the gumption to question official authority will find a cozy spot on the government’s watch list. So while we bemoan our country’s lack of intellectual prowess, it isn’t by a failure of design.


The author of aptly titled Idiot America, journalist Charles Pierce, thoroughly summed up the issue this way: “The rise of idiot America today represents–for profit mainly, but also and more cynically, for political advantage in the pursuit of power–the breakdown of a consensus that the pursuit of knowledge is a good.”


Unfortunately, if the lyrics study is a prognostic omen, the epidemic of idiocy will only get worse.


This article (How Popular Music’s Lyrics Perpetuate American Idiocy) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and TheAntiMedia.org. Tune in! The Anti-Media radio show airs Monday through Friday @ 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. Help us fix our typos: [email protected].

http://theantimedia.org/how-popular-musics-lyrics-perpetuate-american-idiocy/

 

They don't write 'em like that anymore.

 

Frank Zappa said as much in his book and in several interviews. He claimed modern relationships had become dysfunctional because people got their information about that from love songs, which are unrealistic and infantile.

That said, compared to reality television, all popular music is Beethoven and Bach.

 

Great modern music exists; most people just don't look for it. Most of it is certainly not found in the Top 40, but it's absolutely there.

The dumbing down of language isn't just in music, though. While some newspaper articles are written at a more sophisticated level, many are at a middle school level or below. This is not a new occurrence, so decrying the culture of today is probably little more than a rhetorical appeal to nostalgia.

All that said, keep in mind that reading level doesn't necessarily correlate with intellectual stimulation.

 

This is a good topic. Thanks for posting that article. Since I was listening to Kansas "Point of Know Return" yesterday, I'm guessing album rock, esp prog, has not only a higher reading level, but a higher thought provoking level. Both the music and the lyrics are more thought provoking than music designed to make you move.

 

huh?

 

Obviously!

 

I'd guess that movies/TV do much more harm to romantic expectations than love songs ever could. I don't think people base what to expect from love on songs at all, but movies/TV? I think those have a big impact...

 

This from the guy who wrote "Don't Eat Yellow Snow"?

 

Some choice Yes lyrics...

"Mountains come out of the sky; they stand there"
"Hear is my heart, waiting for you; here is my soul; I eat at Chez Neu"

 

People who think prog rock is smarter than other rock: prog fans.
People who don't think prog rock is smarter than other rock: everyone else.

 

the above Zappa quote is highly appropriate for this thread since he was one of the first opponents of the culture machine dumbing down the youth.

go listen to the song I COME FROM NOWHERE ...the most insulting lyrics he ever wrote I'd say... LOL

If Dylan is the greatest lyricist ever
then why does rap and hip/hop outsell him?
It uses the simplest rhyming scheme (alliteration) and the "ghetto grammar" is just lazy and cheap writing.
Where's the craft in the lyric writing of today? Rappers should go read the lyrics of THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY. Maybe some of it's imagery will inspire them to work harder.

 

Well, being a progressive rock fan, I'm hopelessly biased, but can you really argue that the lyrics of progressive rock are not generally a higher reading level than most any other popular music?

Choice as in you chose them. Of course you can find many seemingly nonsensical, fantastical lyrics in progressive music; imagery and fantasy are part of the modus operandi. Actually, I think you could have found some much worse examples- flying purple wolfhounds anyone? BTW- it's Chez Nous, which I actually see as a clever pun on the name of a restaurant and also meaning eat at you, a more literal interpretation of the French. Here's my everything- you are what feeds me. Makes sense to me. Does require a little thought though. And mountains coming out of the sky and standing there is considered by some, myself included, to be rather descriptive imagery.

Personally, I don't see how anyone could argue that progressive rock is not more stimulating than Pop. In both the lyrical content, musicianship and even intent. Progressive is meant to be serious (thus the claims of pretension), while Pop is more about just having fun.

Does this mean Progressive rock is the bestest? Of course not- at least not necessarily. Some of us prefer it's intent and execution, but that is a subjective choice, not an objective measure. And some of us enjoy it's stimulation and more serious bent when that's what we're in the mood for, while choosing something else when we're in a different mood.

But I find it hard to imagine that someone could state that Progressive is not more stimulating, just as is Jazz and Classical. It just takes more attention and effort to follow along w/ more complicated rhythms, more complex melodies, more literary lyrics. Again, this is descriptive, not any kind of value judgment.

If you agree w/ the premise of the article- that higher reading levels in lyrics equates to more stimulation which aids developing cognitive abilities, then I'd think Progressive rock would be seen as one of the more mind-healthy genres. But then some people could see it differently, whereas some people have a definite bias against Progressive Rock.

 

Too true!: http://www.theonion.com/article/romantic-comedy-behavior-gets-real-life-man-arrest-757

 

While I personally love the poetic/literary nature of much of Progressive rock- and you chose one of the pinnacles, for sure, I think you're a little off-base in down-playing the writing abilities of other genres' artists. Rappers have no pretensions towards literary expression. Their intent is different and thus so is their execution. I'm sure many/most rappers work hard at their craft and they'd laugh at your pretensions that they should express themselves in the way you find appropriate/attractive/whatever. Actually, I feel pretty confident that seeing your attitude would actually validate that their method of expression was achieving their goal.

 

Totally agree. But the point is, all the media is bombarding us w/ unrealistic expectations. And when they're not met, the media also has many forms of diversion for sale to appease your woes.

Amused to Death, anyone? Though as mentioned above, FZ did beat RW to that punch.

 

I had this in mind when I mentioned Kansas:
Portrait (He Knew)
He had a thousand ideas
You might have heard his name
He lived alone with his vision
Not looking for fortune or fame
Never said too much to speak of
He was off on another plane
The words that he said were a mystery
Nobody's sure he was sane
But he knew more than me or you
No one could see his view
Oh, where was he going to
He was in search of an answer
The nature of what we are
He was trying to do it a new way
He was bright as a star
But nobody understood him
His numbers are not the way
He's lost in the deepest enigma
Which no one's unraveled today

We can all look up lyrics to support our view, but I think the interesting part of this discussion is that there is something to the dumbing down of the masses through mass media such as music. I don't think that a 10 year span is the best way to measure it though. I'd rather have seen them do it by musical style and eras. Take a look a Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Van Morrison, or Yes, and compare those lyrics to Pop and Rock hits of the same era from many American artists and you see a difference in the lyrical depth. Deeper thoughts about the meaning of life, the nature of man vs. partying/rocking and rolling all night.

 

I tend to agree w/ the article, though as OatsDad said it's just a small part of the picture. In general, I think our culture has been dumbing down for a while now. But it's rather hard to discuss this fully w/o breaking forum rules about discussing politics. We are living in a type of matrix- metaphorically- but it's not virtual reality that enslaves us, but our acceptance of the illusions that are perpetrated by those in power- who do control the media- that keeps us in the dark. I love my technology as much as anyone here, but I can't deny that for all it has given us, we've lost a whole lot more. Conversing via cyberspace or through telephonics, sitting in the sweet spot listening/watching an imitation of life, most of us working at un-fulfilling jobs we dislike to improve our material existence while our spiritual side is ignored, just passing time until our next pleasurable diversion; we are indeed being amused to death.

Maybe I'm just cynical, but I've always had an aversion to rose-colored glasses. Not that I don't possess many illusions myself, I'm sure.

 

Totally agree, though we're both just biased Prog-heads. Good choice of lyrics, but I can think of many others, including one of my faves from that band:

The Wall

I'm woven in a fantasy
I can't believe the things I see
The path that I have chosen now
Has led me to a wall
And with each passing day
I feel a little more like something dear was lost

It rises now before me
A dark and silent barrier between
All I am, and all that I would ever want be
It's just a travesty
Towering, marking off the boundaries
My spirit would erase

To pass beyond is what I seek
I fear that I may be too weak
And those are few who've seen it through
To glimpse the other side
The promised land is waiting
Like a maiden that is soon to be a bride

The moment is a masterpiece
The weight of indecision's in the air
Standing there, the symbol and the sum of all that's me
It's just a travesty
Towering, blocking out the light and blinding me
I want to see

Gold and diamonds cast a spell
It's not for me I know it well
The riches that I seek
Are waiting on the other side
There's more than I can measure
In the treasures of the love that I can find

And though it's always been with me
I must tear down the wall and let it be
All I am and all that I was ever meant to be
In harmony
Shining true and smiling back at all who wait to cross
There is no loss

 

Link to the actual report: http://www.seatsmart.com/blog/lyric-intelligence/

Their final words? "More than anything, these findings are a reminder of just how fun dumb can be. In the end, there’s nothing wrong with that." Now take that and then see what theantimedia.org did with it, in their article.

Can anyone say "agenda"?

 

Surfin' Bird peaked at #4 so would not have been included in this study.

Andrew Powell-Morse of SeatSmart studied the “Lyric Intelligence” of 225 Billboard songs in the Pop, Country, Hip-hop, and Rock genres that spent three or more weeks parked at the top of the charts to analyze any changes over the course of ten years.

Criteria:
1) Genres: Pop, Country, Hip-Hop & Rock
2) 3 weeks @ #1 on Billboard​

Certainly, we can all pull out songs from 10, 20, 30, 40, even 50 years ago where the lyrical content is of a low intelligence nature. One of my favorite songs in Grand Funk's Foot Stompin' music, which doesn't require a lot of thought. Again, the point of the article is not old music versus new music, it's about whether or not we are being psychologically controlled by commercialism...

Come on everybody, we're gonna' have a good time, yeah,
Gimmie' all the love that's in ya', I'm gonna' give ya' mine.
I wanna' hear some had clappin', I want you to get in the groove,
We're gonna' play the footstonpin' music, everybody get up an groove, yeah.

Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo
Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo
Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo
Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo
Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo
Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo
Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo

Does everybody want to?
Does everybody want to?
Does everybody want to?
Does everybody want to?
Does everybody want to?
Does everybody want to?

Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo
Come on right now
Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo
Everybody.
Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo, Ooo.
Oh, yeah.
Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo, Ooo.
Yeah.
Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo, Ooo.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo, Ooo.
Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo, Ooo.
Ooooooooooooo-ooo.
Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo, Ooo.
Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo, Oooo-Oooo, Ooo.

Ohhh...Yeahhhh...

 

Another quote from the actual study: "While the results are certainly enlightening, it’s important to note that this data doesn’t touch on the meaning of a song, the metaphors, how the words connect with the artist’s personal story, etc. to create deeper meaning. These numbers are fun and interesting, so just enjoy them."

Yep, I agree with that completely. I actually enjoyed reading the study - was interesting. But I'm not quite ready to put on the tin-foil hat yet.

Does that make me....dumb?

 

Did you read this paragraph?

So how did this happen and why is it getting even worse? For the sake of brevity, this is a systemic issue being reinforced across the board by pandemic anti-intellectualism. Some have argued there is no harm in a bit of mindless distraction, but this is incontrovertibly false. When just six corporations control 90% of the media, and 80% of radio stations have identical playlists, mindless content isn’t a choice — it’s a virtual mandate. In this self-propelled cycle of banality, the conglomerates dictate content to be promoted by radio, which in turn pushes it endlessly, creating a false perception that what is being played is due to listener demand. But this insidious marketing ploy is more akin to kidnapping and is every bit as dangerous.​