<i>tendency of popular songs to devolve from long and content-rich ballads to highly repetitive texts with little or no meaningful content.</i><p>Sounds like a good thing to me. I like music a lot, and most of the time I prefer it straight-up, undiluted by words. To me (non-verbal) music IS the message, and demoting it to a carrier that has to be modulated by a message to be enjoyed is upside-down. (Excepted: talented singers in a foreign language.)