http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/05/the-lyrics-of-recent-no-1-singles-average-at-a-third-grade-reading-level/

No one would ever dare to compare the writing prowess of artists like Macklemore, Nicki Minaj, and Katy Perry to Chaucer and Ginsberg, but a new study from Andrew Powell-Morse reveals just how dumbed down the lyrics are for songs currently dominating the Billboard charts.

Powell-Morse analyzed the reading levels for 225 songs that spent three or more weeks atop Billboard’s Pop, Country, Rock, and Hip-Hop song charts.

Whereas chart-toppers in 2005 read between a third and fourth grade level, a decade later that average is declining, and fast. In 2014, the reading level of a Billboard No. 1 single averaged between a second and third grade reading level, with the bar trending downward in five of the last 10 years.



Of the four genres analyzed, country music came out with the highest average reading level (3.3), followed by pop (2.9), rock ‘n’ roll (2.9), and R&B/hip-hop (2.6).

At an individual level, the data is even more fascinating. The average reading level of Eminem is a grade-and-a-half higher than Beyoncé, while Nickelback (!) tops Foo Fighters by nearly a number letter grade. In the world of pop music, superstars like Mariah Carey and Adele rank a full number grade higher than the likes of Lady Gaga and Ke$ha.

Of all 225 songs analyzed in the studio, the highest-scoring rock song was Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Dani California” with a reading level of 5.5. Meanwhile, Three Days Grace’s “The Good Life” is the “dumbest” with a reading level of 0.8.

Below, you can find a few more infographics illustrating the data. The full report can be read at http://www.seatsmart.com/blog/lyric-intelligence

"If one forces the process, it comes out fake. And to me there's nothing worse than being fake." - Heavy D

I can really go through 100's of "Top Three" Billboard songs going back to the 60's, and I guarantee that most are anywhere in the Elementary grade range.

Hell, 3rd graders are the ones who sing these songs the most! No way they're rapping along to "I bomb atomically, Socrates philosophies and hypotheses"

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The majority of Pop music has had and does have elementary lyrics. I wish musicologists did studies like these instead of academic types who seem to listen to music on a surface level.

"If one forces the process, it comes out fake. And to me there's nothing worse than being fake." - Heavy D

help me (I didn't have a chance to read it all...just skimmed so far)

within the pretty narrow (spent at least a few weeks (3+) at #1 on the Billboard charts for Pop, Country, Rock, and R&B/Hip-Hop for any given year,) 10-year dataset they checked, they drew the conclusions

the points you make (compare other decades) are outside the bounds of what they were trying to show

also, because they are only looking at "hits" you can't randomly add music that would be "deep" just to skew the results

now it might be MORE interesting to get the lyrics of ALL music released but even that would be problematic because, at its core, assignment of genre is completely subjective

past all that commentary

beyond what you stated (the assumption that comparing other decades you would get similar raw results concerning the "average" grade level. with average not being a term neither of you or they used directly, but selected by me as a as a paraphrase), what biases are you seeing?

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And 'recent' is the word that struck you?

fuck you.

recent songs, and everyone knows how stupid I think songs like "U guessed it" are. But I'm always one who feels people are always biased against the present, and they do as much as they can to ignore the bullshit in previous decades, while acting as if bad, simple music is a recent thing.

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i can dig it.

fuck you.

Even intellectuals have never required their favorite music to be lyrically complex. Fans of Classical, Jazz, and other genres that are seen as more "sophisticated" may prefer complexity, but overall, most songs are always written at a low "grade" level.

>help me (I didn't have a chance to read it all...just skimmed
>so far)
>
>within the pretty narrow (spent at least a few weeks (3+) at
>#1 on the Billboard charts for Pop, Country, Rock, and
>R&B/Hip-Hop for any given year,) 10-year dataset they checked,
>they drew the conclusions
>
>the points you make (compare other decades) are outside the
>bounds of what they were trying to show

To me, the main issue is the whole "it's declining fast" and saying "recent hits." If they did this same going back to the 60's I'm sure it would fluctuate from 2nd to 4th grade reading level on average per year, looking at whatever specific "hits" they chose.

I mean, from Disco Duck, to Achy Breaky Heart, to Ice Ice Baby, and even regular songs such as Billie Jean and What's love got to do with it. I just feel like this "study" is pointless, and is trying to make folks judge Pop music by speaking on how intellectually parched it is.

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>I feel that in every era, most hits are at a low reading level

they aren't trying to make THAT point (which may or may not even be valid). they are saying within the data they selected there is a negative trend

>Even intellectuals have never required their favorite music
>to be lyrically complex. Fans of Classical, Jazz, and other
>genres that are seen as more "sophisticated" may prefer
>complexity, but overall, most songs are always written at a
>low "grade" level.

that's ANOTHER unproven assertion, and one which kinda says "folks don't want deep, they want dumb" which correlates to what they said. they just added that what folks want is getting progressively dumber

>To me, the main issue is the whole "it's declining fast"

"fast" is subjective, but it *IS* declining overall within the last decade - per the data

>and saying "recent hits."

they *have* to say that, or they would be lying. they only looked at 10 years worth of data. whether or not that is a valid sample size is a whole other thing

to a larger (cultural) lens though, what they are asserting isn't all that shocking

check out these

http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2012/05/21/153024432/sophomoric-members-of-congress-talk-like-10th-graders-analysis-shows (congress back in 2010 talked at a 10th grade level)

http://www.vocativ.com/interactive/usa/us-politics/presidential-readability/ (presidential speeches have gotten "dumber")

http://www.quantifiedcommunications.com/what-makes-a-ted-speaker-great-benchmarking-the-top-20-ted-speakers-of-all-time-against-the-average-communicator/ (top 20 ted speakers speak at at and 7th grade level)

not to mention that, according to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL), mostUS adults only read at a 7-8th grade level (if at all)

ultimately, the misc stuff is kinda *shrug* when if you consider the unknown factor of the age/grade-level of people who BUY music anyway (assuming that's what gets you on Billboard's lists these days)

The way they did the study, they didn't look at metaphors, they just looked at the reading level of the words used in choruses. It's the stupid "music is dumber" clickbait headlines that make it seem like it's something it's not.

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>The way they did the study, they didn't look at metaphors,
>they just looked at the reading level of the words used in
>choruses. It's the stupid "music is dumber" clickbait
>headlines that make it seem like it's something it's not.

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There's evidence of this all around you. It's the reason why Farmer Insurance's jingle is 'we are farmers bum dada bum bum bum bum bum'. People watch 'reality' shows that are completely scripted and are entertained. Then they go on facebook so they can read and share with their 'friends' propaganda deliberately put into their news feed by a variety of special interest groups. Dumb is now the norm and people widely accept it like sleeping sheep.

is the culture getting dumber because the people are getting dumber

or

are the people getting dumber because what is beign fed to them is dumber

identifying causation isn't an easy thing methinks

They're only giving the people what they want - dumb shit. The people don't like to be challenged because they're mentally lazy. Otherwise, they would demand better. Instead, they sit there while the radio is teaching sex to their kids.

are we:


getting *smarter* because we are learning to take advantage of the dumb?


getting *dumber* for not realizing that behavior is dumb (and knowing why it is)?

treading water because this pattern (the smart taking advantage...) isn't new?

and as usual, you just have to ask your self who benefits from people being idiots with low standards

obviously made to get clicks...so i guess it worked lol