Language in song
Research Project Designed and conducted by Saher Prakash
Funded by the Gallatin Undergraduate Research Fund
“Language in Song” is a research project designed to empirically assess the composition of lyrics. The project compares and contrasts the lyricism of Billboard top 15 hit songs in America from 1985 and 2025 .
1985
Careless Whisper by George Michael
Like a Virgin by Madonna
Wake Me Up Before You Go Go by Wham!
I want to Know What Love Is by Foreigner
I Feel for You by Chaka Khan
Out of Touch by Daryl Hall and John Oats
Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears
Money for Nothing by Dire Straits
Crazy for You by Madonna
Take on Me by a-ha
Everytime you Go Away by Paul Young
Easy Lover by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins
Can’t Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon
We Built This City by Starship
The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News
2025
Die With a Smile by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars
Luther by Kendrick Lamar and SZA
A Bar Song (Tipsy) by Shaboozey
Lose Control by Teddy Swims
Birds of a Feather by Billie Eilish
Beautiful Things by Benson Boon
Ordinary by Alex Warren
I Had Some Help by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen
Pink Pony Club by Chappell Roan
Love Somebody by Morgan Wallen
Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter
I’m the Problem by Morgan Wallen
That’s so True by Gracie Abrams
TV off by Kendrick Lamar
Timeless by The Weeknd
Utilizing basic linguistic techniques, the project assesses certain semantic, syntactic and phonetic qualities of the lyricism.
Semantics
Semantics deals with meaning — the concepts and imagery associated with a word, sound, symbol, or sign in languages. For example, when I present you with the word “sheep” the fluffy grazing animal that comes to mind is the semantic content
Syntax
Syntax deals with descriptivist grammar — it focuses on the rules and contrast that we unconsciously follow as language user. Not to be confused with the prescriptivist rules of grammar class like “you can’t start a sentence with a preposition” Syntactic creativity often comes into play with wordplay or literary devices.
Phonemics
Phonetics deals with the individual sounds that make up spoken language. With phonology you can asses how sounds function systematically in a language to determine things like syllable density. All sounds from almost any language are represented in the International Phonetic Alphabet.