Older generations often complain that they don’t make songs like they used to.
Now, a study confirms that this really is the case, as song lyrics have shifted from moral virtues to vices over the past 60 years.
In the 60s and 70s, songs like Bill Withers’ ‘Lean On Me’ and Ben E. King’s ‘Stand by Me’ were hugely popular.
These focused on themes of friendship, mutual support, loyalty and devotion.
But more recently, the charts have been dominated by songs like Taylor Swift‘s ‘Bad Blood’ and Eminem‘s ‘Love the Way You Lie’.
Their lyrics focus more on betrayal, conflict and toxic relationships, as well as anger and hurt.
The researchers said song lyrics can act as a powerful ‘cultural barometer’, offering insights into how societies express emotions, values and moral concerns across generations.
And they warned declining references to moral virtues could provide an important indicator of a change of culture in society.
Over the last 60 years, there has been a shift away from themes of care towards those that reflect harm, cheating and degradation
For their study, researchers from Queen Mary University of London analysed more than 380,000 songs released between 1960 and 2023.
They used artificial intelligence and language analysis techniques to track how different moral themes appeared in the music over time.
‘The findings indicate that expressions of moral vices such as harm, cheating, subversion and degradation have generally increased, while moral virtues like care and purity have declined,’ they wrote in the journal Scientific Reports.
‘This shift, which extends into the 2020s and varies across artist genders, highlights that vice–oriented and emotionally charged expressions have become increasingly prominent in mainstream lyrics.’
They found that female artists are more frequently associated with virtues like care and themes reflecting relationship conflicts such as loyalty and betrayal.
On the other hand, male and mixed–gender groups more frequently featured negative themes such as harm, subversion and degradation.
Further analysis revealed that lyrics expressing harm and degradation were best predicted within metal music, which thrives on being controversial.
R&B and soul music, meanwhile, were most likely to contain themes of care, while purity was best predicted by religious music.
Songs like Bill Withers’ (pictured) ‘Lean On Me’ focused on themes of friendship, mutual support, loyalty and devotion
However songs by Eminem (pictured) are more likely to feature betrayal, conflict and toxic relationships, as well as anger and hurt
Lead author Dr Vjosa Preniqi said: ‘Music is much more than entertainment. It is one of the ways societies tell stories about themselves.
‘By analysing song lyrics across several decades, we can begin to see how emotional expression and moral narratives evolve over time.
‘What we found was a gradual shift away from language associated with virtues such as care and decency, towards themes that reflect conflict, harm and other moral concerns.
‘These patterns are dependent on various factors, such as genre and shock–factor, but they provide a fascinating window into changing cultural values and emotional expression.’
The researchers said they believe music offers a valuable record of how societies communicate their emotions, meaning and values.
Senior author Dr Charalampos Saitis said: ‘Popular music provides a unique lens through which to explore cultural change.
‘Because music is such a widespread and influential form of expression, analysing lyrics at scale allows us to identify patterns that would otherwise remain invisible.
‘Music both reflects and shapes the world around us. Understanding how moral narratives evolve in lyrics can help us better understand wider changes in culture, identity and collective values around important social issues.’
The news comes shortly after research revealed that song lyrics have become simpler and more repetitive over the last 40 years
A separate study also recently found that songs lyrics have become simpler and more negative over the last 50 years.
Researchers from the University of Vienna said since the 1970s, songs contain more stress–related words such as ‘bad’, ‘wrong’ and ‘pain’.
This coincides with the changing sentiments of the general population, the authors said.
It could explain shifts from more upbeat music of the 70s and 80s – such as ‘Walking On Sunshine’ by Katrina and the Waves – to more recent negative songs like Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back to Black’.
