The phenomenon is well documented: popular culture productions (films, novels, video games, songs) mirror the concerns, values, tensions and societal developments characteristic of the era in which they are produced. A study carried out in 2026 by the language learning platform Babbel scrutinized the 150 most listened to French-speaking hits since 2005 to highlight the way in which societal changes are reflected in language.
Result: lyrics which testify to generations that are more precarious and anxious about the future, but also more diversity in the languages used, a sign of a music industry and the emergence of more diverse models.
Songs from the 2000s marked by the aspiration for love and happiness
The hits that worked the most commercially in the mid-2000s were mostly about hope, escape and love. From Ilona Mitrecey who encouraged us to go on vacation and who dreamed of“a perfect world”to Sinsemilia who wished us “all the happiness in the world”through Amel Bent who was not afraid of “shoot for the moon” in “My philosophy”, Magic System which urged us to “move move” with our friends, or even Tragedy which said “bye bye” to worries, hits of those years were imbued with optimism and faith in the future.
2010: a decade where we saw ourselves growing wings
The messages contained in the songs of the 2010s reveal a faith in the collective and an aspiration for freedom. 2015 is the year when, in “Millionaire”, Soprano equates wealth with seeing “his pockets filled with hope” and to be loved by his bride. Louane, for her part, emancipates herself and takes the train without “turn around” in his cover of Michel Sardou’s hit, “Je vole”. Jul, in “I forget everything”, helps his friends released from prison, “look for (one’s) way” and short “behind happiness”.
On all of the most listened to songs in 2015, Babbel noted a peak in the lexical field of freedom, while the first references to luxury and money appear. For Sophie Vignoles, linguist and head of learning content production at Babbel, “the songs of these years still show that carelessness sells. On the other hand, the progressive diversification of themes shows a hardening of imagination linked to a society in the grip of social and economic changes, which result in an increase in precariousness.
After 2020: we dream less of a “perfect world” than of being a “boss lady”
This hardening of the imagination described by Sophie Vignoles seems to be materializing at the turn of the 2020s. In the most streamed French-speaking hits in recent years, the lexical fields of violence and money explode, while those of love and freedom diminish. Damso has “hard to forgive” and wants to see his enemies “dead” in “Unforgivable.” Schuyler juggles contracts and dollars in “Boss Lady.” Jul said to himself “less surrounded” in “Under the Moon”. And in “Charger”, the anthem for 20-30 year olds from the group Triangle des Bermudas, we “spell” downright “firearms”.
This feeling that popular songs reflect a more individualistic and violent society than twenty years ago is not specific to France. The phenomenon was also noted in the most listened to hits in Germany, but also in the United States: a study published in 2024 which looked at 12,000 English-speaking songs released between 1980 and 2020 revealed that the lyrics gradually centered around the “I” to the detriment of “we”. They are also more repetitive and loaded with negative emotions.
“The fact that this comes through more in the songs does not signal that society is more violent than yesterday, but rather that audiences are particularly receptive to works that communicate the general feeling of instability.”
However, let us be careful not to draw hasty conclusions about these trends which do not indicate that society today is more violent and individualistic than two decades ago. What they tell us, however, is that these songs echo a more anxious time, where solidarity seems to be fading and confidence in the future more fragile.
“Our society has never been free of violencespecifies Sophie Vignoles. The fact that this is more apparent in today’s songs does not signal that it is more violent than yesterday, but rather that audiences are particularly receptive to works that communicate the general feeling of instability. As for the predominance of the “I” in songs that are commercial successes, it tells us that today, the public is looking above all for personal, intimate stories, with which it is easy to identify.”
More lucid texts imbued with diversity
If the lyrics of songs from twenty years ago seem happier to us, we could also describe them as more naive. Today, the songs directly address certain themes which, two decades ago, were passed over in silence, such as domestic violence, which the singer Helena speaks of in “Mauvais Garçon”, the toxic romantic relationships that Pomme and Stromae sing about in “Ma Meilleure Enneme” or even the dangers that the progress of technology represents for artists, which Jul relays in “Phénoménal”, which castigates artificial intelligence.
The study carried out by Babbel also notes a significant change in the most listened to hits: the opening of the language linked to the increase in its mixing. If English was already present in many hits French speakers in the 2000s, today we note a breakthrough in Arabic, Spanish, Lingala and even Creole in popular songs.
“We see that even if the themes addressed may seem darker, the songs are more than ever a space to express oneself, share one’s feelings, offer stories of the intimate, the visceralanalyzes Sophie Vignoles. This openness to other languages and the fact that it works commercially should make us optimistic. Despite the visible polarizations within society, language follows natural social developments. It is lively, creative and shows us a society rich in the different cultures that make it up.”
