In The New York Times article "A Generation’s Vanity, Heard Through Lyrics", the author says that today's lyrics are a different animal from those of the past, but he stops just short of explicitly agreeing with Dr. Dewall's conclusion that “Late adolescents and college students love themselves more today than ever before". But he indicates his willingness to accept this claim by giving final say to a researcher who supports it.At best, this study might yield a very loose hypothesis. But adopting this hypothesis requires a tremendous leap because the assumptions behind it are many. Among them are that (1) the Billboard charts accurately reflect listener demographics and (2) lyrics to popular songs reflect listeners' state of mind, thoughts, and attitudes. These two assumptions, which are chief among the many, are themselves deeply flawed.
So why give precious column space to this?
What privileged generation hasn't put subsequent generations under the spotlight and declared them immoral, worthless, and devoid of any real substance? Hey, generation who reads the NYT, it's your turn.
The article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/science/26tier.html
