Posted on 02/19/2020 12:27:56 PM PST by C19fan
Are popular songs today happier or sadder than they were 50 years ago? In recent years, the availability of large digital datasets online and the relative ease of processing them means that we can now give precise and informed answers to questions such as this. A straightforward way to measure the emotional content of a text is just to count how many emotion words are present. How many times are negative-emotion words – ‘pain’, ‘hate’ or ‘sorrow’ – used? How many times are words associated with positive emotions – ‘love’, ‘joy’ or ‘happy’ – used? As simple as it sounds, this method works pretty well, given certain conditions (eg, the longer the available text is, the better the estimate of mood). This is a possible technique for what is called ‘sentiment analysis’. Sentiment analysis is often applied to social media posts, or contemporary political messages, but it can also be applied to longer timescales, such as decades of newspaper articles or centuries of literary works.
(Excerpt) Read more at aeon.co ...
You should look into a CD called “Time Warp”, on the Telarc label, I think Eric Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops orchestra. Some simply amazing renditions (crystal clear) of favorite sci-fi show tunes.
Couldn’t be any worse than those depressing Bobby Goldsboro songs of the late 1960s!
Good one. How about Bobby Goldsboro ....”Honey”
Sad songs not only can say a lot, but they can also be very beautiful. To me, the saddest popular song of all time is Little Mother by Vaughn De Leath, a hit in the summer of 1928. A Cottage for Sale by Ruth Etting (1930) and Stop the Sun, Stop the Moon by Paul Whiteman (1932) are very sad but also very beautiful.
Teen Angel--Dion & the Belmonts (1958)
I would say sad. But this poor boy is even sadder.
A Boy Named Hugh--Gene Price (1976)
Cherish is a very sad song and yet has no negative words in it.
Pop singers have given poor Lucille a bad reputation.
Lucille--The Drifters (1954)
Lucille--Little Richard (1957)
“What could possibly be sadder than any Morrissey song?”
Morrissey.
L
One of my least favorite songs of all time because the protagonist is a credulous poltroon. But a year later, an antidote to that song came out featuring a protagonist who was courageous, focused and motivated.
Midnight Mary--Jerry Cole (1963)
I prefer this one.
Honey--Rudy Vallee & His Connecticut Yankees (1929)
Angelic voice and songs that will leave you at least sniffing a little.
Hey Gang, nothing says “happy” like Japanese yodeling...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppm5_AGtbTo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDsFMpfFW7k
“One of the saddest songs ever is also one of the most beautiful, Nights In White Satin by The Moody Blues.”
What put the final nail in the coffin was the poem at the end of the song, Late Lament written by Graeme Edge and spoken by Mike Pinder
Late Lament
Breathe deep the gathering gloom
Watch lights fade from every room
Bedsitter people look back and lament
Another day’s useless energy is spent
Impassioned lovers wrestle as one;
Lonely man cries for love and has none
New mother picks up and suckles her son
Senior citizens wish they were young
Cold-hearted orb that rules the night
Removes the colours from our sight
Red is grey is yellow white
But we decide which is right
And which is an illusion
“A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night” — One of my favorite albums ever. “This Is All I Ask”, and “What’ll I do” are great — you get lost in them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.