“Why are pop songs getting sadder than they used to be?” Online Article

"Why are pop songs getting sadder than they used to be?"

Online article by Alberto Acerbi and Charlotte Brand. In Aeon. Easy short read, with a superficial answer based on Big Data.

Why are pop songs getting sadder than they used to be? | Aeon Ideas

 

There were sad songs in the very early Seventies. Weariness with war and exhaustion after the Sixties. Much more introspection. Young people today hear about a major catastrophic global climate crisis that is impending within a decade. The faux Armageddon peddlers have their selfish motives and could care less if young minds and souls are crushed by hearing this message over snd over.

 

ITS A CONSPIRACY!!

 

Well there is more cause for sadness today than there was 50 years ago.
If songs lack a sense of hope it is because the people writing them have lost that sense.

 

Limited melody = limited emotion. Humanity is somewhat depressed.

 

The human population is increasing while avian, marine and insect populations are decreasing, but if you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.

 

Pop songs are getting sadder because lyrics like “You Got That Yummy,” make me very sad.

 

That song is so damn bad, it's almost embarrassing!

 

If the likes of Billie Eiliish is the future of a tender ballad, we are all in trouble. BORING!!!!

 

There have been similar threads here before, though I don't know how to find them.

But off the cuff, are there more songs about young lust than about young love than in former times?

 

quicker access to bad news I guess

 

Academia has a lot of free time ?

 

Who knew it could be so complicated.

"It could be that a more centralised record industry had more control on the songs that were produced and sold. A similar effect could have been brought about by the diffusion of more personalised distribution channels (from blank cassette tapes to Spotify’s ‘Made For You’ algorithmic tailoring). And other, broader, societal changes could have contributed to make it more acceptable, or even rewarded, to explicitly express negative feelings. All these hypotheses could be tested using the data described here as a starting point. Realising that there’s more work to be done to better understand the pattern is always a good sign in science."

 

What article were you reading???!!??

 

I did.

It's people's Lower Self-Esteem, Media, Sarcasm that passing for knowledge. No one believing in forever (afraid to / we all want it, but, don't in believe it). It's all very Id driven. Trying to be happy, let people know it in a song, and still be cool to others, you have to acknowledge the down side of relationships, trying to not seem goofy or immature. Trying to "be real" is to reveal that your sacred, sad or that thing can go wrong.

Plus musically, all the "happy" "warm" or "major" chords, if you use too many of those together it "sound like a song you've heard before", and that scares the "music lawyers" (copyright suit). So people use minor chords and sad words, people are being "real" and not "too happy". These are the times we live, right now.

 

The word isn't sadder...it's badder.

 

Teenage tragedy song - Wikipedia

 

Because the writers know all the good songs have already been written.

 

A little humour, I like

 

love is passe

 

“...A straightforward way to measure the emotional content of a text is just to count how many emotion words are present. How many times are negative-emotion words – ‘pain’, ‘hate’ or ‘sorrow’ – used? How many times are words associated with positive emotions – ‘love’, ‘joy’ or ‘happy’ – used? ...”

Simple answer:
Song lyricists find it easier to use words which rhyme with “pain”, “hate”, or “sorrow”...
Such as “rain”, “wait”, or “tomorrow”...

 

Of course they have

 

I'm not so sure they are sadder now than before.

Anyone remembers Seasons in the sun?

 

offset by Joy to the World

 

Happy to hear this news. I've always preferred sad/depressing/angry music. Don't get me wrong, I do like a few upbeat tunes. But in general I find most happy clappy music to be insipid. When I hear a song like "Don't Worry Be Happy" it makes me want to crank up some Joy Division.

Liszt. Sabbath. Pistols. The Cure. Alice In Chains. Billie Eilish. That's the stuff that cheers me up when I'm down. But that's just me of course. As always ymmv.