The Moral Rot & Decay of Popular Music
**This is a work in progress that will continue to be updated over time as I comb through the most popular songs of the last 50 years.
This isn’t your grandma’s anecdotal complaint about rock and roll or rap music. This is spiritual warfare, mass manipulation and societal decay at the highest level. I’m going to list the #1 songs of every year from 1970 and see if I can’t establish a downward trend in the presence of genuine positivity, healthy interpersonal relationships, self accountability, poetic styling and concepts, compassion for self and others, philosophy and social justice in the USA’s most popular music. This is called valence. I won’t be measuring with math but with my heart and mind (perception of energy) based on lyrical content. However, if you want math…
I’m not the only one doing this kind of analysis. I know this by way of my cultural hero and virtual (yet not personal) mentor, Ted Gioia. He says “culture data analyst Daniel Parris, who often gets mentioned in The Honest Broker (Ted’s publication), recently analyzed how hit songs have changed in recent decades.” Daniel sums up with math what I sense and describe through energy and feeling.
This is a list of the #1 singles of the year from 1960 to 2023, according to the Billboard Hot 100 Year End Chart for each year. (ref. Wikipedia). Songs are labeled by color for their impact on the overall well-being of society, based on the affect it has on the psyche of the listener, which is based on the overall healthiness of the message being conveyed through the song.
“Sad” or difficult topics don’t necessarily have a negative impact and seemingly “happy” topics don’t always have a net positive impact. It’s how those topics are discussed, framed and processed that determine their impact and what they do to the listener’s state of mind. Just like seemingly happy topics may just be platitudes and blissful avoidance with no real depth to their message.
Green: Generally positive for society
Blue (Cyan): Generally neutral for society
Red (Peach): Generally negative for society
The 1960s
A fun-loving era fueled by the optimism from the civil rights movements and scientific & economic progress of the 50s, capped off by the start of the height of the hippie movement.
Not to say everything was fine IRL, in fact, it was this and the next few decades that all the dirty work was done behind the scenes to enslave the masses. But, solely in the context of this article, the music was positive.
1960: Theme from A Summer Place – Percy Faith
A song about life from a blatantly positive perspective that wraps up as a love song.
1961: Tossin’ and Turnin’ – Bobby Lewis
A light hearted yet descriptive song about yearning for someone you miss or want to be with.
1962: Stranger on the Shore – Acker Bilk
Another song about longing for love. Yet, back then, we still had the utmost respect for the person we’re longing for. We didn’t shame or belittle them because they were causing us pain. not to mention the poetic imagery vs. today’s sterile narratives.
1963: Surfin’ U.S.A. – The Beach Boys
A feel-good party song without the sex and substance abuse! Imagine that. Surfs up, dude!
1964: I Want to Hold Your Hand – The Beatles
A lighthearted love song that depicts a deep attraction without making it sexual.
1965: Wooly Bully – Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs
A tongue-in-cheek dance song with, from what I can tell, no under or overtones beyond the funny idea of a bison wanting to learn to dance.
1966: California Dreamin’ – The Mamas & the Papas
A generally happy song. Interesting that most songs nowadays critical rather than praiseful of LA.
1967: To Sir, With Love – Lulu
This one’s a bit shaky if you read into it, as I always do, but besides it being a grown man having sex with a young girl, it’s a heartfelt message. A truly loving, divine masculine man, is good for a woman, as long as it’s legally and morally appropriate. (Same if the gender roles were reversed.) That’s what I believe this song is about. It’s certainly not recounting sexual abuse or unwanted advances.
1968: Hey Jude – The Beatles
One of the most iconic, uplifting and uniting anthems in recorded music history. A song about loosening up the “tough guy” and letting love in.
1969: Sugar, Sugar – The Archies
Slightly sensual but still portraying the woman of your dreams with the utmost respect.
The 1970s
In the 70s the hippie movement was still in full swing and the music reflected that.
The war in Vietnam was going on and mainstream artists were unapologetically resisting it in popular, mainstream music. Where are the social justice themes and calls for peace in today’s mainstream songs?
1970: Bridge Over Troubled Water – Simon & Garfunkel
A song about helping a friend or lover in need.
1971: Joy To the World – Three Dog Night
A song celebrating the world we live in/on and wishing joy upon all humans an animals.
1972: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face – Roberta Flack
A love song about a relationship whose “joy would fill the earth.”
1973: Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree – Tony Orlando and Dawn
A song about hoping for a sign of love and taking accountability to earn that love again.
1974: The Way We Were – Barbra Streisand
A warm and heartfelt breakup song.
1975: Love Will Keep Us Together – Captain & Tennille
A poetic and warm love song.
1976: Silly Love Songs – Wings
A “silly” love song about love being a nice thing to be in.
1977: Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright) – Rod Stewart
A song about love-based sex and losing one’s virginity to a loving and respectful partner.
1978: Shadow Dancing – Andy Gibb
A respectful, deeply passionate love song.
1979: My Sharona – The Knack
A lustful song. Heading into the 80s, we’re starting to lose the passion and focus on the sex, yet still not explicit in lyric like we are today.
The 1980s
It’s a bit up and down in the 80s as we indulge in materialism, casual sex and superficiality during the USA’s economic boom and time of peace, but we regain moral footing pretty quickly. However…
The songs here actually paint a slightly more positive tilt than I believe is true of the 80s. I’ll see what happens to the colors once I add in the top songs of each month.
1980: Call Me – Blondie
A song about casual sex, yet poetic and subtle.
1981: Bette Davis Eyes – Kim Carnes
Sexually charged with a foundation of female empowerment.
1982: Physical – Olivia Newton John
Attempts to be satirical but it’s a song blatantly about casual sex.
1983: Every Breath You Take – The Police
Despite it’s contemporary assignment of being stalker-y, a deeply passionate and introspective breakup song about wanting to protect one’s ex-lover.
1984: When Doves Cry – Prince
A song about a failing relationship. This one’s deeper than I expected – I had to do some research. As much as I want to label it neutral, it seems overwhelmingly positive in intention. Look up the meaning behind “doves crying,” separate from the song.
1985: Careless Whisper – Wham!
An introspective song about feeling guilty about cheating or somehow hurting a partner.
1986: That’s What Friends Are For – Dionne and Friends
A song about genuine, reliable, platonic friendship! Imagine that.
1987: Walk Like An Egyptian – The Bangles
A song about “something else” as I like to say. Just a fun, out-there topic.
1988: Faith – George Michael
A song about carefully discerning whether someone is good for you; not staying just because the sex is good; and having faith that the right person will come along.
1989: Look Away – Chicago
A solemn yet heartfelt and vulnerable breakup song. The singer even respects his ex’s happiness with someone else. Try and find that sentiment these days.
The 1990s
In the 90s, for the most part, we started to wake up again and realize what was happening behind the curtain for the last decade. We also see some foreshadowing of the trends to come as popular songs push the limits of what’s morally acceptable for public and collective consumption.
1990: Hold On – Wilson Philips
A self-empowerment anthem and one of my personal favorite songs of all time.
1991: (Everything I Do) I Do It for You – Bryan Adams
A passionate love song of faith and commitment.
1992: End of the Road – Boyz II Men
A gut wrenchingly poignant song about the hurts-to-accept ending of a relationship.
1993: I Will Always Love You – Whitney Houston
No explanation necessary.
1994: The Sign – Ace of Base
A song about overcoming and leaving a narcissistic relationship.
1995: Gangsta’s Paradise – Koolio
The first rap song on this list. A song expressing the oppression of the black community in the USA.
1995 – I think it’s worth mentioning that right behind it at #2 was Waterfalls by TLC, a social justice song.
1996: Macarena – Los del Río (The Bayside Boys Remix)
A song that’s straight up about sex and infidelity, but hidden in a foreign language dance song. Is this a turning point in accepting “dirty” lyrics and topics? I love everything about the famous remix version. The production, the vocals, the groove, everything. I even won a Macarena dance contest at my summer camp.
Alas, it’s disappointing that the message in the lyrics is so raunchy and promiscuous. And to think, I and millions of others were ignorantly singing along to the lyrics. Little did we know… I’m not even saying to “cancel” the song – it’s not that bad because it was an outlier in its time. It just may have set precedent for future songs that are much more lyrically depraved (see 1998).
1997: Candle in the Wind – Elton John
The world pays tribute to the loss of a global icon of peace and hope. If we hadn’t lost Diana, the #1 would still have been a genuine, heartfelt song.
1998: Too Close – Next
The first lyric is “I wonder if she could tell I’m hard right now.” What did I tell you about Macarena setting precedent for explicitly sexual references in popular music? The descent begins again.
1999: Believe – Cher
A beautiful anthem about triumph after an unwanted breakup. Not to mention the groundbreaking and most iconic use of autotune in a pop song.
The 2000s
In the 2000s we started out great but by the end of the decade we had slipped, probably due to the onset of the internet and the economic crash.
2000: Breathe – Faith Hill
An uplifting and heavenly love ballad.
2001: Hanging by a Moment – Lifehouse
A head-over-heels deep-in-love “will you love me too” song.
2002: How You Remind Me – Nickelback
Maybe the first song with nihilistic and sarcasm-infused lyrics that simply laments and complains with no resolution or respect for either party involved. Also, mentions of alcohol as a way to cope.
2003: In Da Club – 50 Cent
A dramatic dip into the hedonistic normalcy to come. A song about partying in the club, possibly the first song on this list to blatantly objectify women and glorify casual sex. “I’m into havin’ sex, I ain’t into makin’ love.” Sets the tone for the future – to this day. How did we let this happen?
2004: Yeah! – Usher, Lil John, Ludacris
Another ego-trip song about finding a one night stand at the club.
2005: We Belong Together – Mariah Carey
We have a brief reprieve from the indulgence with a warm, sensual breakup song.
2006: Bad Day – Daniel Powter
This one’s a bit hard to classify at face value, but I’ll go with an overall positive because the song is about making it through a bad day.
2007: Irreplaceable – Beyonce
A clear dip into what has become the dominant attitude in today’s music, incorporating sarcasm with belittling an opposing party. This is sometimes called “bad bitch” attitude. Here we’re also taking the compassion out of breaking up and igniting the “me vs. you” and “I have value and you’re worthless” trend that’s thriving today.
2008: Low – Flo Rida and T-Pain
A song about materialism, objectifying women and sexual dancing.
2008 – Also the year of Lil Wayne’s Lollipop, another sexually explicit song. I have a tough time with this because I love this era of Wayne. The Carter III is my favorite rap album ever, and it’s objectively one of the greatest post-classic rap era albums ever. But, the pop-single is not lyrically healthy for society.
2009: Boom Boom Pow – Black Eyed Peas
An ego-trip disguised by cutting edge production.
The 2010s
The 2010s is the first decade in which we have not taken stock and called out our current culture through music. We descend further into ego, sexually explicit and materialistic themes.
Instead we’ve doubled down on indulgence and avoidance, aka blissful ignorance. No peace anthems, no dreamers, no positive thinking at the top of the charts, generally speaking. The majority of popular music is only skin deep, nihilistic, anxious, numb and narcissistic.
2010: Tik Tok – Kesha
A song about partying, casual sex and getting blackout drunk.
2011: Rolling in the Deep – Adele
While not sexual (thankfully), it’s a breakup song filled with disdain for the opposing party, something becoming more common now than ever before in popular music.
2011 – Right behind it at #2 was “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO, need I say more?
2011 – And at #7 in the disturbingly famous “F*** You” by Cee Lo Green. Again, need I say anything about how this song is unhealthy for a whole society to be singing over and over? When this song came out, I was astonished, and not in a good way.
2012: Somebody That I Used To Know – Gotye
A deeply honest but harsh breakup song that become so popular it forced the artist to quit popular music. If one of his more positive songs had gotten famous, would he still be around? It’s a shame because besides this one hit, he’s written some of the most positive and emotionally productive songs I’ve come across.
2013: Thrift Shop – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
A song about buying clothes and glorifying/normalizing being broke. (Likely due to an oppressive economic system, but the song doesn’t discuss that.) I want to label this negative but it’s a neutral.
2013: Blurred Lines – Robin Thicke
Right behind it at #2 is one of the most controversial songs and music videos of our time.
2014: Happy – Pharrell
Objectively this gets a positive but personally I think it’s neutral. It’s always felt like the ultimate “ignorance is bliss” ditty. This is the best we can do, lyrically, for a positive, uplifting song?
2015: Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson / Bruno Mars
An egotistical, materialistic party song.
2016: Love Yourself – Justin Bieber
A song that says “you should go and f*** yourself.” (Everyone knows this is the real lyric.) Well done, society.
2016 – Not far behind at #4 is the trendy hit “Work” by Rihanna and Drake. A sign of what’s to become mainstream?
2017: Shape of You – Ed Sheeran
It’s nice to think this song is innocent but the story is driven by alcohol and sexual attraction.
2018: God’s Plan – Drake
Sorry, there’s no redeeming value in this song’s lyrics. If anything it’s an ego-trip pity party for a rap superstar.
2018: Perfect – Ed Sheeran
It’s only fair that I mention that thankfully #2 was a true love song with no sexual over or undertones. I have to point out though, the punchline is based on physical beauty. A simple tweaking of the word “look perfect” to “are perfect” perfect may have lifted the song to the highest realm. Still, kudos.
2019: Old Town Road – Lil Nas X
A song that mentions cheating, substance use, materialism and an “I’m better than you” ego trip all in the span of less than two minutes.
Is the bigger picture coming together now?
The 2020s
So far, the 2020s are a painfully clear continuation of the slipping and descent into nihilism and societal instability. But could this be a decade that turns around by the end? We’ll see.
The top 40 has lost virtually all moral compass and higher consciousness. If it’s not negative, it’s neutral.
2020: Blinding Lights – The Weeknd
A song about being so messed up mentally that you need someone to have sex with to feel better. (Whether that’s due to the state of the world or your own struggles, it doesn’t change the core message.)
2021: Levitating – Dua Lipa
A dance song that could easily be distilled into being about casual sex. Objectively I don’t think I can mark this negative but it teeters on the brink of mindless hypnotism.
2022: Heat Waves – Glass Animals
A creative and alternative song about a breakup. I love this song and much of this album. I even called that it would be a hit long before it was. No harm here, but nothing progressive or helpful to society. It was more of a distraction from the pandemic. However, kudos to the band for their mainstream success.
2023: Last Night – Morgan Wallen
A song about drinking hard liquor which unveiled a toxic relationship but deciding to stay anyway.
2024 – So far, it’s looking like “I Had Some Help” by Morgan Wallen & Post Malone is on the way to being #1 this year. Excuse me while I barf. And not because I don’t care for the song, but because of the damage it’s doing to society and the youth.
Seems like Morgan Wallen (like many contemporaries) loves the theme of “this relationship is toxic, let’s hate each other for that, but let’s drink enough to stay together because the sex is good, baby.” Not to mention the patronizing sarcasm littered throughout. In the truest sense of the word: toxic.
Update 8/26/28 – Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is now number one for the year. Not only does this song glorify drinking culture, Shaboozey brought a child fan on stage to dance around while the song was being performed. But everything’s fine, right?
These are just the #1 songs of the entire year. If we broke this out to the top 10 or top 40 songs of the year, my point would be made even further. Anyone who’s critically analyzing this can see the decay of society happening through music, which has become a vicious cycle of a snake eating its own tail. We must throw a wrench in the spokes of popular music and change course or humanity and society will continue to suffer.
Most of the world does not want to face this. In fact, most of the world will villainize me for calling out their favorite song or artist. Most of the world doesn’t know how most of the world really works. 90% of the world we live in is a fabricated yet delicate lie. All it takes is for someone to wake up. Once you wake up, it’s game over for the machine running the show. Take back control of your life on Earth. Stop feeding the machine through your blissful ignorance or conscious hate. Take responsibility for what you and your family consume and watch the curtains fall and expose the world as it really is.
For some music that always has a positive valence and leaves you higher than were before you listened, check out mine here.
– Chad
