From tear-jerkers to mic-drops, NPR's music critics share the 2025 lyrics that made them laugh, cry and hit replay.

WALLA WALLA — Boomers grew up with rock ‘n’ roll, the best music ever, eclipsing Viking horn solos. Occasionally, however, bizarre lyrics intruded. We would buy albums by the dozens and grab lyric ...

From Adele, The Beatles, Selena Gomez, Jimi Hendrix and Bon Jovi, these artists couldn't escape from having one of their song's lyrics mistaken by fans. By Carly Thomas Associate Editor It’s not ...

The use of profanity in music does seem to be more common than in the past. And music fans certainly have an idea of which artists are more likely to swear in their music than others. Which musician ...

Is it a racial slur or is it simply another language? The question has popped up frequently in the context of several Asian languages over the years. And now that Korean pop music has been dominating ...

Sometimes I wonder what Shakespeare would think about 21st-century language. Like, would he think it’s “dope” that so many of the slang words we use actually have two meanings? Would he be super ...