Alcohol in the top songs of 2013

Has a song lyric ever motivated you to try a particular type of alcohol?

If so, research released in August 2013 found that chances are the alcohol in question was one of four brands: Patron tequila, Hennessy cognac, Grey Goose vodka, or Jack Daniel’s whiskey.

The research used Billboard Magazine year-end charts from 2009-2011 to find the most popular songs in Urban, Pop, Country, and Rock. After reviewing 720 songs off the top lists, it was found that 23% included an alcohol mention, and 6.4% included an alcohol brand mention.

According to the study, Urban music had the most lyrics mentioning alcohol.

Overall, messages displayed about alcohol in the songs were positive or neutral.

The glorification of alcohol use in music has been on the rise since the early 2000’s. This has caused concern about the influence of lyrical alcohol references on the music’s youthful audience. Some believe that listening to music which references alcohol leads young people to earlier experimentation with alcoholic beverages.

Around the world, countries have raised concerns about the prevalence of alcohol mentions in music, especially as music from the United States continues to dominate top charts worldwide.

In the UK, recent research found that one in five of the top ten songs in the UK include alcohol-related lyrics. The number of songs containing alcohol references has risen in the past decade in the UK, and the study linked this to the increasing number of popular songs in the country that are American imports.

An article reporting on this research mused, “American singer Katy Perry’s 2011 single Last Friday Night, for example, details excessive drinking and achieved a top 10 position not only in the US and the UK, but also in Australia, Austria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lebanon, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Slovakia, Spain and Venezuela.”

Similarly, in Australia, concerns were raised about the product placement of alcohol in music videos accompanying top songs. The fear is, once again, for youth and young children being influenced by music portraying excessive alcohol consumption in a positive light.

If mentions of alcohol in media really do influence underage drinking, or youth drinking habits in general, it will be important to continue tracking trends in lyrical content. Would it be going too far to try and regulate alcohol references to protect youth, like some in Britain are considering?

The newest research on the topic is only as recent as the top songs of 2011. How did 2013 do in terms of lyrics mentioning alcohol?

Here’s my quick analysis based off Spotify’s list of the top 100 Tracks from 2013 worldwide (I used Spotify because of the worldwide factor):

Click the songs to listen on YouTube.

1. Can’t hold us – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (No References)

2. Wake me up – Avicii (No References)

3. Thrift shop – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (No References)

4. Get lucky – Daft Punk, Pharrell Williams (We’ve come too far, To give up who we are, So let’s raise the bar, And our cups to the stars.)

5. Radioactive – Imagine Dragons (No References)

6. Let her go – Passenger (Staring at the bottom of your glass)

7. Blurred lines – Robin Thicke, T.I., Pharrell (Talk about getting blasted)

8. Just give me a reason – Pink, Nate Ruess (You’re holding it in. You’re pouring a drink)

9. Ho hey – The Lumineers (No References)

10. I need your love – Calvin Harris, Ellie Goulding (No References)

11. Mirrors – Justin Timberlake (No References)

12. Don’t you worry child – Swedish House Mafia (No References)

13. Scream and Shout – Will I Am (Hear the beat, now let’s hit the floor. Drink it up and then drink some more)

14. Pompeii – Bastille – (No References)

15. When I was your man – Bruno Mars (No References)

Based on this quick overview, 2013 kept alcohol references going strong, with five out of the top 15 songs worldwide (as listed on Spotify) mentioning alcohol.

Homeschooler in the Real World

Emma Folts, a sophomore at Wheaton College, shares her experience about her transition into college and how homeschool has both helped and hindered her.
How has your homeschool experience benefitted you, especially in your transition into college?
I think the one thing that homeschooling did that was really helpful as I entered college was that it taught me time management. As a homeschooler I had the same freedom as a college student has to put things off during the day and go see a friend instead. Since I had that experience, I knew the cost of that.
Also, personal responsibility and accountability with assignments. I feel like a lot of the other students had more expectations for gentler grading and that the professor would give them retakes or extensions, but that wasn’t something that ever happened to me in school. That learning curve wasn’t added because I never had it the other way. I think another thing was that because I was homeschooled, I was familiar with the format of teaching and then studying on my own.
Did you see any issues with your transition socially?
I think that homeschooling had two ramifications for me socially. One was helpful, one was hurtful.
It was really helpful because as a homeschooler, I had spent a lot of time realizing and developing who I was as a person and learning to recognize people who were being themselves, and those were the people I sought out as friends. Friendship as a homeschooler takes a lot more investment. I knew I was choosier with my friends which made me a lot less anxious and a lot more content.
The only real negative impact of the social bit was that I was really used to getting to choose the time I got to spend with people. As a homeschooler I spent a lot of time with people, but that time was controlled by me. As a college student, I found that you can’t really control the time you spend with people and alone time is not really available. Learning to deal with that was a lot harder than anticipated.
Any last comments on homeschool and how it has affected your college experience?
I think homeschooling is really helpful, however it does take a slightly increased amount of advocacy with your peers when you’re entering into college. I think a lot of people come in with certain assumptions about homeschool, especially students. You’re going to get a lot of, ‘oh my gosh, you don’t seem like a homeschooled person!’ [You can’t] take that too personally and explain your experience so that friends can understand it’s an important piece of you, though it might not look like the homeschooling that they’ve seen.
My encouragement to anyone who is a homeschooler transitioning into college is to realize the benefit that you have having been homeschooled, and to realize that the bit of advocacy and explaining that you need to do with your peers is totally normal and that it’s not a big deal. Once they understand your experience, it’s not something I’ve experienced being looked down on for.