Honestly, we wanted to ignore this Valentine's Day but decided not to when we stumbled upon this marvellous data essay by The Pudding on whether love songs are...dying.
The Pudding divided love songs into seven categories to answer the question:
- Serenade — songs that tell a story of you loving someone and they loving you back (think Ed Sheeran's Perfect, Alicia Keys' No One, or The Turtles' Happy Together).
- Heartache — when you love someone and they... well, don't (like Someone Like You by Adele or Blinding Lights by The Weeknd).
- Pursuit — when you love someone, and it's not yet proper relationship but might become something more (Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen or Shape of You by Ed Sheeran).
- It's Complicated — songs that sing about a relationship that isn’t clearly good or bad but you still try to make it work, because... it's complicated! (In My Feelings by Drake or Circles by Post Malone).
- Good Riddance — songs where the relationship is long gone, but heartbreak has risen from the ashes as "righteous power" (P!nk's So What or iconic I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor).
- Sexual Confidence — songs that turn up the heat: a little seductive, a little bold. Think Nicki Minaj and Drake, artists who own this lane where the music is all about getting closer, fast.
- Love Song for the Self — songs that are often written in reaction to romantic rejection (Big Girls Don't Cry by Fergie or Flowers by Miley Cyrus).
By taking a closer look, The Pudding uncovers a story that will change how you see love in pop music. At some point, it really may seem that love songs are dying, especially if we consider only one or a couple of these categories as 'love songs.'
Their verdict is..? Are love songs really dying?
💗 Not at all! On the contrary, they're a lot more popular than they used to be. The love song didn’t fade away or die. Rather, it transformed. As people find, lose, and reconnect with love in new ways, so does the music that tells their stories.
"So, modern pop is just as love-struck as ever, just maybe in ways that Boomer Bob doesn’t recognise?"
Check out their essay for more and beautiful data visualisation.
