Psychology & Song Lyrics

Some songs make people feel good while other songs make people feel sad; some songs try to change people's opinions while others try to change people's actions, and some songs just tell it the way it is. Songs are also used to express people's feelings in a variety of different ways. No matter what the musical genre, there is much more psychology involved in song lyrics than most people realize. I will briefly discuss three songs and describe how their lyrics are related to psychological principles

            The first song I will discuss is "Pass it on Down" by Alabama. This song applies principles of psychology in order to encourage people to save the environment. The lyrics of this song illustrate the concepts of social dilemma and cognitive dissonance applied to environmental sustainability. A social dilemma is defined as a situation in which individuals acting in their own best interest have a negative collective consequence for the larger population. Cognitive dissonance is defined as an uncomfortable state of tension that arises when two or more cognitions are incompatible, or when a person's attitudes and actions are inconsistent with each other.

            "Pass It On Down" calls attention to many of the environmental problems that the world is facing today. This song addresses issues from water pollution to global warming, emphasizing that human behavior must change in order for future generations to survive on Earth and maintain an acceptable quality of life. The main chorus of the song illustrates the social dilemma theory. The lyrics encourage listeners to act for the good of the environment ("so let's leave some blue up above us, let's leave some green on the ground) instead of acting in self-interest so that we can pass the Earth down to future generations. The lyrics emphasize that the Earth is "only ours to borrow, let's leave some for tomorrow." Therefore, the song is encouraging ecological sustainability through the lyrics by promoting a change of behaviors among the population.

            Cognitive dissonance is also illustrated in the lyrics of this song in the last verse before the chorus repetition. The lyrics attempt to create tension by making people feel guilty of their behaviors because if they don't make an attempt to improve the environment ("if we take and don't put back"), it will be their own children who have to suffer the consequences of their actions ("they'll have to pay for all we did"). Thus, the song is implying that if an individual truly cares for their child, they will make choices that will benefit the child's future. If the person chooses not to give back to the environment, this may hinder the future of the child and as a result, could create tension in the parent due to the inconsistency of his/her behaviors and attitudes. Therefore, this song is applying cognitive dissonance in order to promote the quality of the environment.

I thought this song was very cleverly put together. It addresses many of the problems we are facing today while also applying psychological principles to encourage people to change their behaviors. The lyrics of this song are very powerful because it is relevant to everyone and emphasizes that even though we may not suffer much now, our kids and grandkids will be the ones paying for our actions if we don't take steps to improve our current environment. I think that this song presents the message in a way that hits home to a wide variety of people. What is interesting is that I had heard this song before, but not really paid attention to the lyrics. When looking for the psychology that is involved in the media, I actually listened to the lyrics, found out what the song was actually about, and understood the message it was trying to get across.

Another song that encourages people to change their behavior is "Take the Power Back" by Rage Against the Machine. This is an example of how a song can be used to express dissatisfaction, and applies psychology to culture and politics by encouraging people to change their government. According to the lyrics, the United States only values one culture. In this song, the lyrics question the ability of the social structure to provide equal opportunities to achieve cultural goals.

 The lyrics call for the people to "take the power back" because the system is one-sided and Eurocentric, explaining that the "circle of hatred" (eurocentrism) will continue unless the people react and take the power back. Thus, this demonstrates the concepts of conformity and obedience. Conformity is defined as a yielding to perceived group pressure by copying the behavior and beliefs of others. Obedience is the performance of an action in response to a direct order. The "circle of hatred" has continued because the population conforms to what is expected of them and obeys what people in authority say to them ("the complacent students sit and listen to some of that bullshit he learned in school"). Unless the population revolts in a revolution (nonconformity), the flawed social structure will remain the same. This song calls for the people to change the social structure because it is flawed and unfair.

This song also uses the two sided message persuasion technique. The lyrics provide many statements containing information explaining how the culture is Eurocentric and inadequate (i.e. "holes in our spirit causin' tears and fears, one-sided stories for years and years and years"). Then, the lyrics provide information on how to make a change for the better (i.e. "we need to check the interior of the system that cares about one culture... we gotta take the power back"). There are many more verses that could be used as examples. I found it interesting that even though this is a song, strategies are used in order to make the message more persuasive and appealing to the audience.

"Take the Power Back" is a good example of a song that demonstrates the concepts of conformity, nonconformity and obedience while also using a persuasion strategy. This shows how people can use the media (through songs) to announce and express their dissatisfaction with the government in an appropriate and effective way. This is another example of a song that I listened to for quite a while without actually understanding the message that it was trying to get across. After analyzing the lyrics, I understand that a lot more went into making this song than I once thought.

Other songs are used to express the artist's feelings in a different way. The song "I Run to You" by Lady Antebellum demonstrates the importance of relationships in our lives. Although we all try to avoid negative events in our lives, it is impossible to run away from all of them. Therefore, when life gets tough, having someone there to help us through our problems and keep our sanity will help immensely. The artists of this song use the lyrics to demonstrate the importance of that special person(s) in their lives.

One psychological concept demonstrated in the lyrics is the aspect of perceived control in our lives ("I run my life, or is it running me?"). This shows that although we have control over many aspects of our lives, there are some things that we simply cannot control. However, we can control the way we deal with our problems and hard times. For example, no matter how bad things get, you can always choose to "run to" someone for help ("When it all starts coming undone, baby you're the only one I run to"). This demonstrates the concept of social support. People who have social support are much more likely to have success dealing with and getting through problems than those who have no support at all.

This song may also demonstrate the concept of companionate love. Companionate love is defined as the affection felt towards those with whom our lives are deeply entwined. This type of love can be between people who are romantically involved, or between close friends. The lyrics suggest that two individuals are very involved with each other in a way that goes beyond romantic love. This one person serves as the safety valve for the other person to go to when everything else is going wrong ("our love's the only truth, that's why I run to you"). Therefore, these two people have a strong bond with one another, and what seems to be a mutual understanding of love and respect for each other. This song shows how important it can be to have a person to go to when life is getting you down.

I listen to all kinds of music, so I have noticed a number of different styles of psychology in the media. Though I am not a huge fan of rap music, I have noticed that many rap artists use the lyrics of their songs to let out their feelings regarding racism, stereotypes, and prejudice. A lot of songs tell a story of how hard it was for the artist growing up and/or the problems they have faced (or are facing now) because of their race. This may serve as a form of catharsis, but many of the songs also deliver a message about how life really is for many people growing up as a minority. Even though I don't listen to rap music a lot, the lyrics are sometimes very interesting because of the stories behind them.

From encouraging Earth-friendly behaviors, to venting about work, to expressing love, songs provide a wide variety of psychological concepts. The three songs that I used as examples display how psychology is used in song lyrics in a number of different ways. Though I only used three songs in this paper, I have noticed many others that have psychological messages in them or use psychological principles to make their lyrics stick out. Even though people may not realize it, we are exposed to many psychological concepts through song lyrics almost every day. This class has helped me become more aware of the lyrics and messages of the songs that I listen to rather than just the way the song sounds. Therefore, song lyrics serve as a good example of psychology in the media.