from Hacker News

Song lyrics have become simpler and more repetitive over the last five decades

by jonifico on 4/1/24, 12:00 AM with 11 comments

  • by squigz on 4/1/24, 2:13 AM

    This has been posted several times lately; discussion here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39862404

  • by latexr on 4/1/24, 1:39 PM

    Bo Burnham, on the subject, 10 years ago.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCVGpvzcHko

  • by cafard on 4/1/24, 1:23 PM

    A cousin, a very good guitarist, once said, People complain about punk rock, but the Beatles weren't exactly Stravinsky. He was talking about the tunes ("This is the third three-chord song in a row."). But he could have said, Lennon and McCarthy weren't exactly Da Ponte.

  • by winternett on 4/1/24, 3:32 PM

    The songs that algorithms push on social media and that Major record labels are promoting are more simple... There are plenty of independent works out there that have great complexity and depth to them, but now that the Internet is firewalled, most people don't see the deeper and more talented works out there.

    Independent artists are working furiously just to be heard, but now that payola is the ruling model for music, it's become really hard to find better music.

    Until the dominance of large companies controlling visibility of what the public sees changes, we'll be stuck in the dark ages for good music. It's a shame.

  • by costco on 4/1/24, 4:10 PM

    It's because the singer and songwriter are no longer distinct. Pop used to mean a beautiful new rendition of an Irving Berlin or Cole Porter song. Or a hitherto underappreciated song like "Mack the Knife." Now everyone's writing their own songs and it's a disaster. Few realize this.

  • by MikeDelta on 4/1/24, 4:34 PM

    Rick Beato also made a video about this, using some examples.

    https://youtu.be/mQoWUtsVFV0?si=Ndr7sjqSQjkdcD2o