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May 14

What percentage of songs are love songs?

It seems to me that most songs have romantic love and/or romantic relationships as a theme, to the point where it would be no exaggeration to state that song lyrics fixate on romantic relationships.

I would like hard numbers. What percentage of songs (possibly broken down by genre) are about such themes? For pop music, I'm guessing it's 80%~90%, with most of the remainder being gangsta/ghetto-themed rap. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.210.135.237 (talk) 18:00, 14 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

For starters: Pop Froze the Easel: Decoding the Cultural Significance of Top Ten Pop Songs from Two Eras (Chad Swiatowicz, University of Florida, 2006) looked at annual top ten most popular songs listed in Billboard’s online archives for the "classic era" (1968 - 1971) and for the "modern era" (2002 - 2005). Results: 20 of the 40 top ten songs (or 50%) between 1968 and 1971 were about "relationships/love", while the corresponding number for the years 2002-2005 was 24 (60%). The other six (smaller) topical categories as defined by the author were "Global/Conscious/Commentary", "Fun/Party/Club/Sex", "Introspective", "Dance", "Instrumental", and "Miscellaneous". ---Sluzzelin talk 22:43, 14 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Even the "gangsta rap" is often about love. Usually self-love, but also for their gangs, their hoods, their hos, their fallen friends, their money and their cars. As for strictly "when a man loves a woman", Whistle isn't exactly Con te Partiro, but neither is Lay it Down. We all use the Love Shack differently, but it predates the recording studio.

What I'm mostly saying is, we can't have a hard number on something till we if we know what it is. Chad above has his ideas (as we all do), but "Fun/Party/Club/Sex" definitely sounds like "romantic relationships", too. Even something like Self Esteem is a about those, though unloving. I'd guess the number at 96%. Please forgive me for the lack of a source. InedibleHulk (talk) 04:44, 15 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"Chad" categorized 2 songs from the "classic era" as "Fun/Party/Club/Sex" ("Honky Tonk Women" and "Hot Fun in the Summertime"), and 9 from the "modern era" ("Hot in Herre", "Get the Party Started", "In da Club", "Rock Your Body", "Ignition", "Yeah!", "The Way You Move", "Candy Shop", and "Don't Cha"). If you add these to the "Relationships/Love" category, you get 55% for classic and 82.5% for modern (which would be within 207.210's range of estimate). You might be able to argue that some of these "Fun/Party/Club/Sex"-songs are also about romantic love, but ... well decide for yourself; as you wrote we all have our own ideas ---Sluzzelin talk 09:46, 15 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

On that note, I wonder if "Mr. Swiatowicz" has considered the post-relationship part of love as connected. Linkin Park pretty much built a demographic on that screaming emo teen stuff, and "Every Breath You Take" went big twice. To a lesser (but also greater) extent, so did "Die, Die My Darling. People love to hate. Cathartically, anyway. InedibleHulk (talk) 10:28, 15 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Having just actually read the paper (that part, anyway), I see he has, and calls it "relationship gone awry". InedibleHulk (talk) 10:32, 15 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I think the main problem with this question is the category "songs" is almost infinite. Pop singles are just the tip of the iceberg - you've also got b-sides and album tracks, folk songs, musical theatre songs, religious hymns, national anthems, arias from operas and oratorios, nursery rhymes, football chants, signature songs from TV shows... the list goes on. And then, as has been discussed above, you need to define what counts as a love song. For example, are "Perfect Day" or "There She Goes" love songs, or are they thinly disguised songs about drugs? --Nicknack009 (talk) 10:52, 15 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

And then there is the songs about loving an object - "I'm in love with my car" by Queen for starters. --TammyMoet (talk) 08:32, 16 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Songs with female rapper & male singer ?

From what I understand, duets with a male rapper and female singer are much more common than vice versa. However, there do exist songs with a female rapper and male singer. The song "Connected" by Kendi is one example. There was also "Do You Want Me" by Salt 'N' Pepa. Any more examples? Also, any ideas as to why this is not more common? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.210.135.237 (talk) 18:10, 14 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"Iz It Still All Good" by Yo-Yo features Gerald Levert. ---Sluzzelin talk 22:57, 14 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Salt-n-Pepa would have male singers sometimes while they rapped. I think their producer Hurby Azor did some vocals on some of their early stuff. --Jayron32 01:56, 15 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Serj Tankian and Lil' Kim want to know, Will They Die 4 You? Not a lot from Serj, but even Diddy and Mase sound more melodic with actual music behind them. InedibleHulk (talk) 04:50, 15 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Oh wait..."duet". Nope. InedibleHulk (talk) 04:55, 15 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Cindy Extasy dueted with Soft Cell on Torch.I think there are and certainly were fewer female rappers Hotclaws (talk) 00:59, 18 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

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Clarityfiend (talk) 02:24, 15 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Agree with JackofOz & Clarityfiend, however if you have yet to read over WP:WELCOME it is the area of the project best available to learn your way around, and yes welcome!^{Market St.⧏}_{⧐ Diamond Way} 07:40, 15 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]