The findings of a study conducted by Andrew Powell-Morse, a specialist in media and marketing data analysis, revealed that most of the US hits from the 2005-2015 period could have be written by pupils aged eight.
Powell-Morse analyzed the lyrics of 225 songs which occupied the first place in the American Billboard from 2005 to May 2015, applying scientific standards to determine their lexical level.
The results showed that these hits had the lexical level corresponding to pupils of 2nd grade, at most third reading level. Moreover, the yearly average Billboard chart of lexical level highlighted a downward trajectory in these last ten years!
It is very possible that the lexical level to which the youth and the adults expose today themselves reflects to some extent the level of intelligence to which they adhere to and which is sought and “rewarded” by the society.
„Popular music lyrics are dumb” said Powell-Morse.
The highest degree of lexical complexity was found at country style hits (where the level corresponds to the lexical standards of 3rd grade level of pupils) while the lowest level of vocabulary complexity is the one of R&B and Hip Hop style hits.
The hit that failed to achieve even the minimum score of lexical level available for a first grade pupil was the song entitled “The Good Life” of the metal Three Days Grace band (0.8 reading level).
Andrew Powell-Morse drew these alarming conclusions using the Flesch-Kincaid test that determines how difficult is to read and understand a passage.
Pro Jesus’ sources:
– Powell-Morse A., “Lyric Intelligence In Popular Music: A Ten Year Analysis”, SeatSmart.com, May 18, 2015
– ***, “The Flesch Grade Level Readability Formula”, ReadabilityFormulas.com, accessed on October 6, 2015
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