A new study suggests that in order for a song to become a hit, the lyrics have to be dumbed down to a grade school level.

Andrew Powell-Morse analyzed the reading level for 225 songs that spent at least three weeks at the top of the Billboard charts. The genres measured were Pop, Hip-Hop, Country, and Rock.

What he found was that lyrics have been getting dumber and dumber since 2005, dropping almost two full grade levels in just the last decade.

10 years of dumb lyrics
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Of all four genres rated, Country came out on top with the highest average reading level, while hip-hip/R&B was the lowest.

10 years average genres
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According to the study, once the individual songs and artists were broken down, the info got even more interesting.

The average reading level of Eminem is a grade-and-a-half higher than Beyoncé, while Nickelback (!) tops Foo Fighters by nearly a number letter grade. In the world of pop music, superstars like Mariah Carey and Adele rank a full number grade higher than the likes of Lady Gaga and Ke$ha.

hip hop artists dumb lyrics
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So, what was the "smartest" song? Which song scored the lowest to become known as the "dumbest" song?

You can check out all the interesting data in the full report here.

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