Study: Beatles lyrical vocabulary "thin" compared to many pop acts

The Liverpool Echo today features a survey of lyrics by various pop bands - no information as to who did the study or why.

In any event, the results show the Beatles at the extreme low end of the chart when it comes to lyrical verbosity. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing!
The Fab Four used just 688 words in their first three albums compared to 1890 used by Elvis Costello and 1748 by David Bowie.

'Love' really is all they needed though, with John Lennon and Paul McCartney using the word 151 times - the most for any artists in the poll.

The poll showed bands in Wales had the biggest vocabulary, using an average of 1316 different words across their first three albums with The Manic Street Preachers displaying the greatest lyrical prowess by using 2056 unique words, the largest number for any band in the poll.

Comments