Image Courtesy of Press Here Publicity Depeche Mode is probably known more for their explosive synth-pop sound than their witty lyricism, but a study conducted by British tabloid The Mirror concludes the band writes the most sophisticated lyrics of all the U.K. bands that they surveyed.
Reportedly using algorithms designed to measure the difficulty of school textbooks, the study found that it requires 10.3 years of education in order to understand an average song written by the 80's electronic group -- the highest of all the bands surveyed. Legendary singer Elton John notched the second-highest sophistication rating: his lyrics require 9.3 years of education to fully understand.
On the other side of the spectrum, the study wasn't too kind to Led Zeppelin. Their old blues lyrics, euphemisms for sex and references to mythical beings were deemed the least sophisticated of all the bands studied, notching an average readability score of only 4.4. They shouldn't feel too band, though -- The Beatles are also listed as one of the 10 bands with the least sophisticated lyrics, with an average readability score of 5.7.
Modern rock bands aren't immune from the Mirror's study, either -- both Coldplay and The XX were among the bottom 10 on the sophistication scale, receiving readability scores of 6.9 and 6.7, respectively.
If these results seem fishy to you, it's probably worth noting that Def Leppard, who wrote the song "Pour Some Sugar on Me," appear as one of the 10 bands with the most sophisticated lyrics, requiring 8.5 years of education to understand an average song. If you've always argued that Def Leppard writes more sophisticated lyrics than the Beatles, you've finally been vindicated.
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