Top 12 themes in Billboard #1 hit songs and successful ad campaigns

Associated Descriptors: Sadness, heartache, losing, love, loneliness, unrealized romance

Keywords: Heart, love, apart, lonely, leaving, feeling

A songs like “One Sweet Day” by singer-songwriter Mariah Carey and R&B group Boyz II Men and commercials like, “Nothing Sucks Like an Electrolux” express the theme of loss.

Personal loss was a dominant theme in the 1980s and 1990s?decades that were generally viewed as times of personal abundance in the United States.

Associated Descriptors: Longing, wanting, anticipation, lust, coveting.

Keywords: Move, tonight, baby, body, trying, dance.

A song like “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” by The Beatles, recorded in October 1963 and the television commercial for the Escada fragrance, “Desire Me,” with Olivia Wilde express the theme of desire.

Associated Descriptors: Dreams, other-worldly, longing, anticipation, hope

Keywords: Dream, heaven, tonight, moon, move, world

A song like “Something About the Way You Look Tonight? by Elton John and Samsung’s recent “The Way We’re Wired? commercial, overtly emphasizes the aspiration theme.

According to the research, the aspiration theme was quite popular in the 1980s and declined in the 1990s with a slight increase in the 2000s.

Associated Descriptors: Out of love, loss, separation, goodbye, person-specific

Keywords: Waiting, time, leaving, tear, goodbye, lonely

A hit song like Toni Braxton’s, “Un-Break My Heart? and the Yellowbook ad, “Break Up? with Alexandra Daddario express the break-up theme.

The “breakup? theme appears to be used regularly and with less fluctuation across decades than the other themes. This could either indicate that, outside of the 1960s and 1970s “breakup? is a relatively under-represented lyrical theme or that it is a theme that is constantly represented among commercially successful lyrics and not as subject to temporal or environmental fluctuations as are the other primary themes.

Associated Descriptors: Pain, mixed emotions, in the moment, sadness, change, goodbye

Keywords: Bad, good, goodbye, kiss, moment, woman

A song like “Pain” by Three Days Grace and the television commercial for the Dove’s, “Patches” campaign are examples of the pain theme.

The “pain” theme was almost non-existent before the 1980s and declined in the 1990s. It is presently the most popular theme, along with “desperation” in the 2000s.

Associated Descriptors: Optimism, energetic, vibrancy, dancing, connectedness

Keywords: Life, everything, music, good, world, dancing

The Billboard hit from 1977, “You Light Up My Life? by Debby Boone, and the famous Coca-Cola “Hilltop – I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke? commercial from 1971 and the Apple, iPad Air television ad, “Your Verse? express the inspirational theme.

The inspiration was hardly used before 2000 with a brief increase in the 1990s. It is currently at break-out levels this year.

Associated Descriptors: Romantic, oneness, togetherness, dreamy, idealistic

Keywords: Feeling, morning, woman, heart, time, heaven

A song like Jim Croce’s, “Time in a Bottle? and the 2007 Cadillac, “Break Through? ad campaign which featured the music of Led Zeppelin express the nostalgia theme.

The “nostalgia? theme stands distinct from the other primary themes in the 1970s, and yet it decreases in usage until the 2000s.

Associated Descriptors: Rebellious, counter culture, Rock ‘n’ Roll, music

Keywords: Favorite, Sunday, playing, city, rock, radio

A song like “Blue Suede Shoes” by Elvis and the 1966 Dodge Charger, “The Dodge Rebellion? commercial express the rebellion theme.

The research showed there was a substantial fluctuation in the use of the “rebellion theme” across the 50 years, which indicates that its use was closely tied to environmental cues.

Associated Descriptors: Reflective, jaded, cynicism, trapped, contemplative

Keywords: State, Favorite, mirror, Sunday, heavy, jet

“Hip to Be Square” a song by Huey Lewis and the News from 1986 and the infamous Keep America Beautiful ad campaign, “The Crying Indian? express the jaded theme.

The jaded theme had a major boost in the early 1980s and briefly in the 1990s.

Associated Descriptors: Helpless, trapped, desperate, cornered, coveting

Keywords: Corner, throw, line, guess, promise, stupid

The song “Cry Me a River? by Justin Timberlake and the Nissan LEAF “Polar Bear? commercial express the desperation theme.

The “Desperation? theme generally is underrepresented until the 2000s, where it dominates. This is reminiscent of the patterns exhibited by the primary themes of “Pain? and “Desire? and could track closely to the post-9/11 social environment.

Associated Descriptors: Fantasy, escape, ecstasy, love as a drug, sex,

Keywords: Deal, ecstasy, flying, inside, question, grooving

The hit song from 1975 by Paul Simon, “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover? and the Amazon Kindle commercial, “Fly Me Away? are examples of the escapism theme.

The escapism theme appeared in the 1990s with the desperation theme following in the 2000s. It could be that those periods of time where individuals are searching for escape and fantasy are followed by periods where they feel trapped and helpless.

Associated Descriptors: Distant, Memories, Pointless, Secrets

Keywords: Memory, Suitcase, Circle, View, Secret, Magic

The hit song by Nelly, “Dilemma ft. Kelly Rowland” and the T-Mobile commercial for JUMP! “Missed Texts? express the confusion theme.

Both loss and confusion were the dominant themes in the 1980s according to the study.