Feel flows: Language use patterns in the lyrics of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys

IF 1.6 3区心理学 0 MUSIC

Psychology of Music Pub Date : 2025-06-19 DOI:10.1177/03057356251342808

Valeria A Pfeifer, Ava G Naffah, Matthias R Mehl

{"title":"Feel flows: Language use patterns in the lyrics of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys","authors":"Valeria A Pfeifer, Ava G Naffah, Matthias R Mehl","doi":"10.1177/03057356251342808","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys is considered one of the most prolific artists of the 20th century. At the same time, he is also known for his persisting struggles with mental health. Considering that most of his 60+-year career consists of published songs and lyrics, he makes an interesting case study to understand the dynamics of language use in relation to psychological experiences over the course of an individual’s life and career. We identified song lyrics for which he is credited as (co-)writer and analyzed their lyrics ( N = 250) using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) program. Considering features previously associated with mental health (I-talk, Emotional Tone, Analytic language and Cognitive Processes words) over time, we found that I-talk and Cognitive Processes showed an initial increase, followed by a plateau (in 1967), while Emotional Tone showed a cubic relationship with time, being sensitive to changes in Brian Wilson’s life. Analytic language was highly variable and did not show any patterns. Our data suggest that even carefully crafted language, such as song lyrics, can carry information about the writer’s mental health and that considering language use over the course of an individual’s lifespan can provide crucial insights into psychological processes.","PeriodicalId":47977,"journal":{"name":"Psychology of Music","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Psychology of Music","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/03057356251342808","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"MUSIC","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys is considered one of the most prolific artists of the 20th century. At the same time, he is also known for his persisting struggles with mental health. Considering that most of his 60+-year career consists of published songs and lyrics, he makes an interesting case study to understand the dynamics of language use in relation to psychological experiences over the course of an individual’s life and career. We identified song lyrics for which he is credited as (co-)writer and analyzed their lyrics ( N = 250) using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) program. Considering features previously associated with mental health (I-talk, Emotional Tone, Analytic language and Cognitive Processes words) over time, we found that I-talk and Cognitive Processes showed an initial increase, followed by a plateau (in 1967), while Emotional Tone showed a cubic relationship with time, being sensitive to changes in Brian Wilson’s life. Analytic language was highly variable and did not show any patterns. Our data suggest that even carefully crafted language, such as song lyrics, can carry information about the writer’s mental health and that considering language use over the course of an individual’s lifespan can provide crucial insights into psychological processes.

查看原文本刊更多论文

感觉流动：海滩男孩布莱恩·威尔逊歌词中的语言使用模式

沙滩男孩乐队的布莱恩·威尔逊被认为是20世纪最多产的艺术家之一。与此同时，他也因与心理健康的持续斗争而闻名。考虑到他60多年的职业生涯中大部分时间都是由发表的歌曲和歌词组成的，他做了一个有趣的案例研究，以了解语言使用的动态与个人生活和职业生涯中心理体验的关系。我们确定了他被认为是（共同）作者的歌词，并使用语言调查和单词计数（LIWC）程序分析了他们的歌词（N = 250）。考虑到以前与心理健康相关的特征（I-talk, Emotional Tone, analytical language and Cognitive Processes words）随着时间的推移，我们发现I-talk和Cognitive Processes表现出最初的增加，随后是一个平台期（1967年），而Emotional Tone表现出与时间的立方关系，对Brian Wilson的生活变化很敏感。分析语言是高度可变的，不显示任何模式。我们的数据表明，即使是精心设计的语言，比如歌词，也能传递出作者心理健康状况的信息，考虑到一个人一生中的语言使用情况，可以为心理过程提供至关重要的见解。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Psychology of Music Multiple-

CiteScore

4.00

自引率

17.60%

发文量

期刊介绍： Psychology of Music and SEMPRE provide an international forum for researchers working in the fields of psychology of music and music education, to encourage the exchange of ideas and to disseminate research findings. Psychology of Music publishes peer-reviewed papers directed at increasing the scientific understanding of any psychological aspect of music. These include studies on listening, performing, creating, memorising, analysing, describing, learning, and teaching, as well as applied social, developmental, attitudinal and therapeutic studies. Special emphasis is placed on studies carried out in naturalistic settings, especially those which address the interface between music psychology and music education.