Themes of Lust and Love in Popular Music Lyrics From 1971 to 2011

We explored themes related to sexual desire (lust) and romanticdesire (love) in the lyrics of popular music over the past 40 years. We examined whetherthere have been changes in the prevalence of lust and love themes and changes in howthese themes inter-relate in music lyrics over time. The study sample consisted of thetop 40 songs of Billboard Year End Hot 100 single songs for every 5 years from 1971 to2011 (N = 360). There was a linear decrease over time in the proportion of songs with alove theme and in the proportion of songs with a combination of lust and love themes. Incontrast, there was a significant increase in the proportion of songs with a themefocusing on lust in the absence of love. Themes of lust in the absence of love wereespecially prevalent in hip-hop/rap music, although music genre did not account for thechanging themes over time. These shifts in themes found in popular music may bothinfluence cultural norms and reflect a cultural shift toward acceptance of sexualityoutside of love relationships