It’s probably because they’re singing about more than just wanting to hold your hand…
Tyler Cowen on the word count of pop songs:
Average word count of top-ten songs during the 1960s: 176
Average last year: 436
That is from Harper’s Index, August issue. I don’t think it can be a pure length of song effect.
I would also argue that the music itself has become more complex (different synthesizer modes and track sampling mean that there are more “instruments” to keep track of). We could be finding a musical Flynn effect much like we’ve seen in television.
on July 15th, 2008 at 6:57 am
I wonder, though, if we can attribute additional factors to this beyond it being “complex.” Increased repetition of lyrics; reciting lyrics faster to increase space for words; more words, fewer musical solos; longer songs (a lot of early Beatles songs are less than three minutes!); and so forth.
I would be interested to see the number of UNIQUE words in a song (with each “the,” for instance, counting as “unique” if a part of a “unique” line).
on July 15th, 2008 at 7:12 am
Most of the commentators at MR attributed the higher word count to the rise of rap. Looking at the current top ten list I think they’re on to something. Sure the average rap chorus is fairly repetitive, but any given verse is definitely unique and far more verbose than your standard 1960s pop song.
on November 8th, 2008 at 7:43 am
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