What is Lyric Analysis?

Music is Insanely Popular, In Case You Didn’t Already Know

Music, as a type of experience, is universally interesting, popular cross-culturally and cross-generationally. In every city in the US and many countries abroad, you can find people walking down the street lost in their music. There are several cool YouTube videos proving this by just asking people what they’re listening to!

Now that music streaming provides users with access to virtually any song on their phone or computer, interest in music has democratized and evolved. There are huge communities of users and artists on all of the 3 big music streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music), all of which have millions of users and a great app experience. Beyond these 3, there are still many important digital sources of music to mention, such as SoundCloud, regular YouTube, soundtracks for purchase and download straight from artists, and more. Online communities in music are alive and well.

Focusing on just Spotify, 456 million users listen to music monthly, and 44% of this group (or approximately 200 million users) listen to music daily. It’s safe to say that people greatly value their music. (Check out this thorough report from Demand Sage for many other interesting statistics on Spotify usage, including the most streamed songs of 2022)

The rest of this post will be about explaining the concept of lyric analysis through several examples and by describing a few different meanings of this term. I enjoy listening to music, especially music with meaningful lyrics, and I can use lyric analysis as a way to tell stories on this blog about my favorite songs. As we will see later in the post, lyric analysis is also a way to tap into deeper emotions and experiences inside you by using music as a tool. Having this skill at introspection has many benefits for other activities like insight, journaling, self-reflecting, and more.

For my purposes on this blog, lyric analysis is defined as the act of breaking down a set of lyrics into particular qualities, including plot, cultural references, and meaning. Even after digging into this topic for a while, I could not find a single catch-all term that’s used in practice but instead several obviously related but slightly different terms (poetry analysis, song analysis, etc.) To avoid being unnecessarily technical, I’m going to arbitrarily nail this term down and apply it just as much to analyzing a poem or an orchestral song, since there is substantial overlap in these topics.

I will explore 3 slightly different views of this phrase, based on what you’re trying to get out of the experience.

Lyric Analysis as a Form of Active Listening to Music

You're practicing lyric analysis any time you listen to a song you particularly like, and you begin to wonder at the meaning of it. Or when you sing along because you know the lyrics and they feel too good not to. These experiences are clues that you find the song meaningful in some way, and you can follow those clues to more insights.

Many people see intense meaning in songs, feeling inspired, encouraged, or incensed when they hear the right music or lyrics. Music has a way of tapping into our psyche, which helps explain its universal appeal. Sometimes, a song emerges that has a recognizable effect on nearly everybody who hears it, and this general effect is a large part of what helps identify “pop music.”

Many songs tell stories as they progress. Sometimes these stories are biographical or historical, describing particular people, places, and events. For example, consider the 1989 Billy Joel hit “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” (Lyrics here) The amount of references packed into this song is enormous, and I still only recognize maybe 70% of them. By examining the lyrics more closely, we can get more enjoyment out of each future listen and more vividly experience the heavy weight of hearing all the cultural references go by (which is likely the intended experience of Billy Joel). We can use lyric analysis to dive deeper into the historical events mentioned in this song. I learn something new every time I look at the Genius.com page linked above, where other contributors help the community get collectively more intelligent at understanding lyrics.

On the other hand, many great songs use fictional elements to simplify, enhance, or otherwise affect their story. Consider the 1982 American number 1 hit “Maneater” by Hall & Oates. (Lyrics here) The lyrics tell the story of a wild, potentially dangerous woman you might meet in a bar or club. It’s not about any particular person, so it can be a slightly exaggerated story with vivid descriptions and juicy lines. Hall & Oates did a great job tying this together in the music video, which blends in images of a black panther. Both the video and the lyrics are driving home the point of this woman being like a wildcat.

However, many lyrics fall into neither of the above 2 categories, but sort of float in a space that has nothing to do with being fictional or non-fictional. They contain metaphorical elements that make them relatable to lots of people’ personal experiences, even if those experiences have no causal relationship in space or time. “Maneater” is an example, since many listeners (probably men) can relate to meeting such a woman in their life. Although none of us have probably met a woman exactly like the one in the song with her exaggerated qualities, we can empathize with the general sentiment or can relate to parts of the experience, i.e. we can all conjure the image of such a woman in our minds, even if those conjured images are only loosely related. In this way, a song that is fictional in its literal sense can also feel like a true experience to many listeners in each of their unique ways.

We can use “Maneater” as an example of this type of meaning a second time, because there is another subtle meaning lurking even more deeply. As the Genius.com page on this song helps reveal, John Oates explained that he wrote this song with an intended meaning that has nothing to do with women. Instead, it’s a song about New York City, which he believes has a sort of wild side that chews up and spits out innocent people who don’t know any better. Since that’s kind of an abstract message for many people (getting eaten up by a city), the song is instead about a ferocious woman, which is much easier to imagine. In this way, Oates is trying to convey a message with a very small hermeneutic circle (2 circles actually: those people who can relate to being chewed up by a major city’s nightlife, and those who can relate to New York City specifically) by nesting it inside a message with a broader audience (getting chewed up by a woman).

If you can understand the song “Maneater” at this level, then its meaning for you can evolve even more. Once we identify that there’s something similar between the experiences of being chewed up and spit out by a woman and a city, then we have gained the ability to perceive the quality of “being chewed up and spit out” (or whatever you might call this quality with a name you think suits it best).

At the start, it would have sounded pretty nonsensical to argue that a song like “Maneater” could have anything to do with something like an addiction. But once you go through the route of understanding how the song is about a woman, a city, and finally a feeling, then the song’s meaning opens up. You’ll start to notice that it’s fairly relatable to lots of different experiences.

Exploring “Maneater” like this is just one example of what lyric analysis can do for us. With the right perspective, we can find deeper ideas and messages hiding inside our favorite songs. Listening to them can be a richer and more enjoyable experience and we take these insights and relate them well outside the context of the original song. Our tastes in music can refine as we identify the messages, themes, motifs, etc. that most resonate with us, and we can have a lot more fun talking about our favorite music with other people.

Lyric Analysis as a Form of Active Listening to Others

While I was researching the concept of lyric analysis for this post, I was surprised to find that lyric analysis is a term of art with a very particular meaning. Lyric analysis is an established therapeutic technique where practitioners use songs as a tool in their therapy. It would be a mistake for me to not give this specialized topic a mention and a fair description, since this phrase is already used extensively by this group of people in their writing.

In my first post “What is Analysis?”, I explained that an “analysis” can have 3 subtly different meanings: (1) the act of looking for qualities in some object, (2) the written document, speech, or other communication of the results, (3) a standardized and expectation-driven version of how to perform this activity. Up to this point, I’ve been writing about lyric analysis as an example of (1), performing the generic activity of analyzing lyrics. The following explanation is about performing lyric analysis as an example of (3), a specialized version of this examination of lyrics.

According to this podcast from a professional music therapist, lyric analysis is a technique in psychotherapy to use music as the starting point for meaningful conversations with clients. A therapist who is skilled at identifying meaningful songs might choose to play a particular song for a client that they know has a certain topic or emotional effect for them. A therapist might choose songs that contain themes of courage, regret, parenting, abuse, cultural problems, or many other topics that might come up in therapy. This can be a way to stimulate the client into talking about something similar they feel or have experienced, and it can transition smoothly into a related explanation the therapist is planning on giving. Lyric analysis refers to this strategic choice, the reasoning the therapist might use to decide that a particular song will have a desired effect when played.

Alternatively, such therapists might ask clients to play and talk about their favorite songs (or in some cases even write their own lyrics). This can be a surprisingly effective way to get people to open up about themselves while enjoying the experience. Together, they can explore why the client’s favorite songs mean so much to them, which might raise some very good conversation threads. Here, lyric analysis refers to the somewhat standard approaches for the conversation as they explore the meaning of a song together. Other therapeutic techniques for nudging clients to open up about themselves can have unpredictable results (such as just asking them about their problems directly), so it’s understandable why this technique might be a valuable tool.

As a technical discipline, lyric analysis is full of jargon and pretty abstract about its methods. In general, I would describe practitioners' explanations as having a very postmodern approach of examining both songs and peoples’ subjective interpretations of those songs. Essentially, when a person has a reaction to a song, it’s a clue that there’s some part of the song they’re capable of telling a story to themselves about (whether positive or negative). When they don’t react at all to a song (or don’t react the way you would expect), it’s a clue that they don’t have any internal coherent narrative available that would help them make sense of what the song is about. In other words, the song doesn’t light up an image for them inside. Both of these findings can be the starting point for deeper questioning, and can segue right into many well-known forms of therapy (cognitive behavioral therapy, psychoanalysis, etc.). That’s where a therapist’s trained knowledge will pick up.

This finding is helpful even to us amateurs. This reinforces what many people may already know, that playing music while you have certain conversations or activities with other people can improve the mood and deepen the intimacy. You can bring out a certain side in people or even completely transform them by playing music that works with the situation.

In addition, when you talk about music with your friends, everyone involved is sharing their personal wisdom about the energy, vibe, and messages that they like having in their life. You can learn quite a lot about the people in your life by asking them about some of their favorite songs.

Unfortunately, it's not as straightforward as the statement above. Talking about or listening to atypical music can be a very vulnerable activity, so you can't usually do it too deeply with strangers, and it may be a bit too sensitive to open this avenue with people close to us. Many people in real life do not give an unbiased answer when you ask them about their favorite songs, and they may give an answer they think makes them look cool instead of opening up. Even with all of the challenges that may occur, talking about our favorite music with our favorite people is still a underrated way to actively listen to them. When we share our perspective on music, we also share with each other.

For anyone who’s interested in learning more about lyric analysis as a technical discipline,  I located this academic paper explaining the current state of lyric analysis research, which covers many different applied methods for therapists. To be honest, it’s thick with jargon and not very useful outside of its academic audience. However, it is an extremely thorough exploration of how we might verify that lyric analysis has potential value for therapeutic practitioners to apply with discretion.

Lyric Analysis as a Form of Active Listening to Yourself

If therapists can use lyric analysis as a technique to listen more deeply to their clients, then we also have an opportunity to use lyric analysis to listen more deeply to ourselves.

While I was researching lyric analysis as the method described above, I read many detailed descriptions of how therapists are able to ask questions and listen to their clients explain the effect music has on them. From their answers and explanations about the songs, a picture emerges of the psyche of that person. Although this is generally a method for 1 person to learn about another, I realized that the core concepts of interpretation and analysis apply just as much if we’re looking at stories and explanations written by our own hand.

I believe I have been applying this form of “lyric analysis” in an amateur capacity for years, despite not having this name for it. Furthermore, I believe all of us are capable of applying this perspective. I will describe this form of lyric analysis in the sense of (1) again, the generic activity of looking out at the world, but this time using music as a vehicle to examine the qualities of how we perceive.

I have long known that playing certain music can have powerful psychological effects on myself. Whenever I discovered this, I began to identify music by their effects and to listen to them when I wanted to have certain emotions, or flashback to certain moments in life, or to revisit the song's essential message.

As an example I’m sure many can relate to, I’m pretty proud of my Workout Playlist, where I use rock and electronica songs with intense beats to help me maintain exercise intensity. I know that listening to these songs will make me have energetic thoughts and emotions about movement, effort, exertion, machines, and other vibes that make me feel at home in the gym. I want to be having these thoughts and emotions when I’m working out because I like this effect, and my awareness of this effect is the lyric analysis I’m referring to. My awareness leads me to make make continued efforts to grow and evolve this playlist as my tastes change, since I always want the effect to fresh.

Beyond a mere workout playlist, I have a special fondness for hundreds of treasured songs, each with their own unique qualities, and many with a religious or spiritual significance. Along the way, I realized that listening to these songs helped me deeply understand who I am, who I aspire to be, and beliefs I’m carrying around inside. But I’m not talking about songs that just give you plain directions and answers that are immediately interpretable. Instead, I’m talking about listening to a special song that generates intensely vivid reactions inside, questions and puzzles inside that need an actual effort to be unpacked. My practice of listening to these songs over years while reflecting on my reaction to them has been an essential part of my overall psychological growth and development.

Among many worthy choices, “Light Speed” by Grieves has a special place in my heart. (Lyrics here) I checked my Spotify to confirm that I added this song on 2012-10-08, which means I’ve been listening to this song for at least 10 years. The song is about Grieves growing up and transitioning from a kid to a teen to an adult. I can relate to a few but not all of the literal events he recounts. More importantly, listening to this song has a really nostalgic, wise effect on me by drawing my attention to my own transitions through life stages. When I first found this song, I didn’t know exactly what this song meant to me or how I would feel about my own future. But I knew that I liked the images, desires, and questions that emerged in me while listening to this song. I wanted to continue thinking about these questions even when I was much older, so I’ve kept this song in my life to periodically check in with myself and remember not to move so fast sometimes. Each time I listen to it, I imagine a slightly different set of experiences, making me learn something new how I feel about my life path and my most important memories.

My experience of listening to “Light Speed”, having certain feelings, and then reflecting on what those feelings say about me, is the deeper meaning of lyric analysis. This nurturing, awakening, stimulating effect is something I’ve noticed in hundreds of songs, each of which have their own special effect on me.

I’m certain that my choice songs wouldn’t have quite the same magical effect on you, because they just don’t mean the same things to you that they do to me. Instead, conceptually, there’s some other set of songs that hold special meaning that unlock certain experiences inside you and really say something about who you are as a person.

If you have a special song or playlist of songs (or potentially many playlists and albums) that you use to activate emotional effects on yourself, then you too are skilled in this sense of lyric analysis. You should keep cultivating this skill of listening directly to your deeper self by using music as a vehicle. Your internal experience of the music is just as meaningful, and many times even more beautiful. Take some time every now and then to think about what’s hidden inside your experience of your favorite music.

Summary

In this post, I’ve defined lyric analysis as the act of breaking down a set of lyrics into particular qualities, including plot, cultural references, and meaning. This takes great cultural knowledge or just a willingness to search on Genius.com and Google. We can learn many lessons, both historical and factual as well as ones that are subjective and meaning-based. Everyone is practicing this skill whenever they listen to music they love and notice parts inside the song that they like.

I also found that some therapists use lyric analysis to refer to specific techniques for using music to facilitate therapy. Even without perfectly understanding these techniques, there are many accessible ideas about how to use songs as a conversation topic to help us really open up to each other about what we like, desire, and believe.

Finally, I described lyric analysis as a method of understanding our unique, personal reaction to a song in order to better understand ourselves. When you reflect on what stands out to you in a song, it tells you something about what stands out to you.

In my next post in this series, I will take a look at one of my favorite songs, a relatively unknown choral song called “Terra Nova.” Although the Civ 5 community is niche and the overtly Christian themes in this song can be polarizing, we’ll explore how this song might be surprisingly relatable to the anyone on the journey of mature adulthood. Until next time. 🎵👋