We hope this doesn’t depress you: According to a study published last year by Glenn Schellenberg of the University of Toronto, songs have become increasingly sadder in the past fifty years. The study analyzed over a thousand Top 40 songs and found that not only are songs using more minor keys, they are also longer and slower. Songs written in a major key tend to sound more upbeat, while minor-key songs sound darker and more melancholic. For comparison, in the sixties, 85% of songs were composed in a major key, while today that number hovers around 40%. Today’s songs are also more “emotionally ambiguous,” with an increase in fast songs with sad lyrics and slow/happy ones. Schellenberg explains that “people have come to appreciate sadness and ambiguity more…[people] want the things that they consume as pleasure to be complex similarly.”
The study also proposed some theories as to why there’s so much more melancholy: an increase in both cultural individualism and consumerism. Consumerism drives a higher demand for choice, while individualism makes consumers want to show off “sophistication in their taste.” Acts that are sadder and emotionally ambiguous provide their fans with a sense of depth and maturity — qualities every (honest) music connoisseur craves. Read more about pop’s emotional evolution here.
