Die US-Popmusik ist im Laufe der 50 Jahre immer düsterer und gestresster geworden: Wörter, die sich auf Stress, Angst und Druck beziehen, haben von 1973 bis 2023 um 81 % zugenommen, was der zunehmenden Depression und Angst entspricht. Die Texte wiederholten sich immer mehr und wurden weniger komplex, was Rückgänge bei den Ergebnissen von Bildungstests und kognitiven Maßstäben widerspiegelte.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-28327-5
9 Kommentare
I’ve linked to the primary source, the journal article, in the post above.
The post title is from this secondary source:
https://studyfinds.org/pop-music-darker-over-50-years/
**Pop Music Has Grown Darker And More Stressed Over 50 Years**, Tracking With America’s Rising Distress
In A Nutshell
Stress language surged: **Words related to stress, anxiety, and pressure increased 81% from 1973 to 2023, tracking alongside rising depression and anxiety** rates in clinical data.
Songs got simpler: **Lyrics became more repetitive and structurally less complex over five decades, paralleling declines in educational test scores and cognitive measures.**
Crises reversed trends: During COVID-19 and after 9/11, Americans unexpectedly chose less stressful, more positive music—suggesting people use songs as emotional relief rather than mirrors of distress.
Economy didn’t matter: Income fluctuations showed no relationship with lyrical mood once time trends were removed, indicating subjective experiences may matter more than economic data.
Going to depend a lot what you count as ‚pop‘ music. Things like ‚doom stoner metal‘, for instance, have always been dark, but it’s down to where you draw the boundary between such genres and ‚pop‘.
Finally, a generation can say „Our music was better‘ and have receipts.
Modern country certainly checks the decline in education test scores and cognitive measures piece
That Anxiety song that reused the „Somebody I used to know“ track must have shot this through the roof.
No wonder I start to overthink when I hear some genre of pop music from my iPod.
Under pressure is the oldest pop song I can think of that directly addresses how stressful it is to be alive
So there is a scientific basis I prefer older music. I wonder if modern music is also less melodic
is it me or did I miss the section in the article where they talk about education? The only mention about education is by the person who posted this. I see no mention of education in the linked article, only economic status.