004 - Cultural Examination of Song Lyrics and Love

From Lost In Love to Boy Bye - How Changing Lyrics Reflect Our Changing Attitudes Toward Love.
We used to have ballads. Epic sweeping syrupy sweet songs of undying devotion. Then love grew up - or grew jaded, depending on how you look at it. One thing's for certain, the love song as we knew it is long dead and not coming back.
In this episode, I take it back to the wind machine fueled hair bands and their power ballads, the gushing 90s R&B boys on bended knee, and the comeuppance from women getting wise to their own power and expressing it with new attitudes toward love.
The episode even comes with a playlist. I hope you have fun listening.
Playlist

Bye Bye Ballads - Companion Playlist

Further Reading:

https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/05/27/as-millennials-near-40-theyre-approaching-family-life-differently-than-previous-generations/#:~:text=A%20majority%20of%20Millennials%20are,Silents%20at%20a%20comparable%20age.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/03/09/led-by-baby-boomers-divorce-rates-climb-for-americas-50-population/#:~:text=In%202015%2C%20for%20every%201%2C000,1%2C000%20married%20persons%20in%202015.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/09/21/postgrad-relationship-hierarchy-friendships-romance/

https://www.sparksandhoney.com/gen-z-complexities-relationships#:~:text=Gen%20Z%20is%20eschewing%20old,with%20friends%2C%20romantic%20or%20not.

https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2019/07/22/the-state-of-personal-trust/

Written, directed, and executive produced by Chauncey Zalkin. Sound engineered by Eric Aaron. Photography by Alonza Mitchell with Design Consulting by Paper + Screen.
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