A new study finds that over the course of the last 60 years, song lyrics are getting angrier and sadder, with a simultaneous rise in lyrics expressing disgust and fear. On the flip side, lyrics that express joy have declined.
The study examined more than 6,000 songs of the Billboard Hot 100 in each year from 1951 through 2016, and the study's results were recently published in the Detroit Free Press.
Personally, I've always been drawn to darker/sadder songs. It's just kind of my thing. And we can't talk about sad lyrics without mentioning this recent one from Marshmello & Bastille: