2020年高考英语外刊时事命题七选五：你发现了吗 热门流行歌曲一年更比一年“丧” Is Pop Music Getting Sadder And Angrier

Pop Music: Sadder and Angrier 你发现了吗? 热门流行歌曲一年更比一年“丧” Broken hearts and righteous anger have always made some of the greatest hits. From Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” to Adele’s “Someone Like You” and Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me,” artists have turned their tears to gold. ____1____ That’s the conclusion of two recent analyses examining thousands of American and British hits from the last few decades. Since the 1980s, emotions such as sadness and loneliness have become increasingly universal in song lyrics (歌词). Expressions of pure joy, meanwhile — think the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” — are apparently less likely to trouble the charts.{1} What’s behind these changes? Does it simply reflect a change in the way music is consumed? Or is it expressing the emotional undercurrents (潜在的情绪) of society today? ____2____ I thought it would be worth getting the view from someone who has crafted hit songs over decades. I contacted Mike Batt, the songwriter who has penned many hits incl