Music History

Awesome Words-in-Songs Analysis

Let’s start with a Consequence of Sound report on the work of statistics nut Brian Chesley. He took a look at the lyrics of a bunch of rock bands to see which of them has the largest vocabulary. Put another way, he wanted to find out which of his chosen rock bands used the greatest variety of words, which is different than awarding a trophy from the Oxford English Dictionary.

Note where Metallica finished.

Rock band vocabularies

 

And even better report comes via the AV Club where someone has determined which words have been used most in song titles throughout the decades.

Take a look at where we stand with popular song title words in this decade.

640

 

You can find the whole list–which goes back to the 1890s–here.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

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One thought on “Awesome Words-in-Songs Analysis

  • I would like to see how Springsteen would chart.

    Reply

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