- Love isn't in the air or all you need in the modern pop
song: most contemporary songwriters ignore the classic subject.
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- The use of love is at an all-time low since it peppered
most of The Beatles' hits.
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- Lyrics about sex and selfishness are more popular, both
on the charts and the airwaves.
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- If you want to sing about relationships, croon about
hurt and pain and you'll have a hit -- just like Delta Goodrem with Not
Me, Not I and Lost Without You.
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- American researchers examined the lyrical content of
the 100 best-selling songs since 1958, and found a threefold drop in women
singing love lyrics.
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- The average number of love words per line in lyrics performed
by female artists has dropped from 0.74 to 0.19 since 1958.
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- Male singers, meanwhile, increased their use of sex words
sevenfold.
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- Only three singles on this week's ARIA top 50 feature
the word love in their titles.
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- The University of Colorado study points the finger at
the sexual revolution, greater affluence, and a rise in teenage pregnancy
and single parenthood for pop's lost innocence.
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- The rise of rap and hip hop songs, the lyrics of which
are more self-centred or violent, also reflect a cultural shift from the
traditional love song.
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- "Over time, the expression of love may have changed
as the culture has become more individualistic," the report states.
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- "The results of these processes have been later
age at marriage and partial economic dependence by young people on the
parents, sometimes until 30.
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- "Early women artists may have been expressing a
theme of finding a mate at a young age, but recently both men and women
have been starting careers and families later, and artists of both genders
have become more circumspect."
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- Festival Mushroom Publishing creative director Gary Seeger
believes most young music fans identify the use of sex in lyrics with love.
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- "I think kids think it means the same thing rather
than a physical expression -- the use of the word sex or sexy is just a
replacement for love," he said. "But modern writers like Nick
Cave and more recently, Amiel, are still writing popular love songs.
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- "And with Hollywood embracing romance again, you
will see a return of the big Celine Dion-style love theme."
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- Sony Publishing creative director Simon Moor, who deals
directly with songwriters, said composers were also finding new ways to
write about love.
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- "Quality songwriters will tailor their use of words
or metaphors to what suits the market they are writing for," he said.
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- "Those songwriters who are writing for a young female
pop act will still be creating a tune about love.
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- "They just don't reference the word love as much;
they are more clever about getting that message across."
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- © Herald and Weekly Times
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- http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,7842022%255E2902,00.html
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