Gender Word Frequency in The Beatles Discography

This table displays the frequency of words associated with gender in songs performed by The Beatles. This table started as a simple idea to show the difference in Beatles songs themed around women vs. those themed around men.

Once we saw that "she" appears far more often than "he", and "her" than "him", we expanded the table to include other gendered words. The pattern became more complex at this point: "man" appears more often than "woman", and "boy" than "girl". However, this might be a trick of the light: both "man" and "boy" can often be used as expressions, as for example "Man I was mean" (in the song Getting Better) and "I read the news today oh, boy" (in "A Day in the Life"), or perhaps most markedly "Boy, you been a naughty girl" ("I Am The Walrus"). Another way in which the use of "boy" and "man" can mask an actual focus on women/girls in a song is that the singers, being all male, will often refer to themselves using those terms. For example, in the song "This Boy", the singer is speaking to his ex-girlfriend, comparing himself ("this boy") to the girl's current boyfriend ("that boy"), using the word "boy" eleven times, while the girl in question is only addressed with the gender-neutral "you". The fact that he is actually singing to a female listener, and trying to woo her back, is not at all apparent from the count of gendered words in the lyrics.

In one point the comparison breaks down, after a fashion. We searched for "baby" and "honey", terms of romantic endearment most often used by a man speaking to a woman (in theory, they could be used by any gender, speaking to any gender, in any romantic relationship; but The Beatles were all men, and none of the songs they recorded jumps out as actually being written from a female perspective). The closest analogue we came up with for a man speaking to a man would be "friend" (which is really gender-neutral: "Can't Buy Me Love" is addressed to "my friend", but we never know if that friend's gender.)

Still, the overwhelming result of these statistics is that somgs recorded by The Beatles, when they concern relationships, is that they are most often guys talking to women/girls, especially their female romantic interests (songs such as "I Wanna Hold Your Hand"), followed by guys talking to one another about women/girls, especially their female romantic interests (songs such as "Hey Jude"), followed by guys talking to other guys about other things.

Why should we asssume that male-female relationships in Beatles songs are necessarily romantic? Surely not all of them are; but the fact that we have shown that "love" is by far the most frequently-used significant word in Beatles songs tells us that, on the whole, songs relating to romance are going to outweigh any other theme.

The table below quantifies this, not only for each song, but for the songs as a whole.

To gauge how far a song, or all the songs, lean towards feminine words, we created a "Femdex", which is simply the number of feminine words minus the number of masculine words. A negative femdex means a song that uses the masculine words more often; a positive femdex means a song that uses feminine words more often. We experimented with dividing instead of subtracting, but if the number of masculine words is zero, that would mean dividing by zero, which would give a femdex of infinity -- if XQuery would calculate it, which it immediately refused to do.

(Note: we excluded all songs from the list that do not use any of these words, and ordered them by Femdex.)

Song	He	She	Him	Her	Boy	Girl	Man	Woman	Baby	Honey	Friend	Masc. Total	Fem. Total	Femdex
Total Word Use Count	159	452	29	232	151	49	91	25	199	41	24	352	1100	748
Ticket to Ride	0	32	0	2	0	2	0	0	6	0	0	0	42	42
Devil in Her Heart	0	27	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	33	33
I Feel Fine	2	19	0	9	0	2	0	0	5	0	0	2	35	33
She's a Woman	0	22	0	4	0	0	2	8	0	0	0	2	34	32
Clarabella	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	24	3	0	0	31	31
Girl	1	15	0	2	0	15	1	0	0	0	0	2	32	30
I Got a Woman	0	20	0	2	0	0	1	9	1	0	1	2	32	30
You're Going to Lose That Girl	0	2	0	15	0	11	0	0	0	0	1	1	28	27
She Loves You	0	21	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	25	25
Sie liebt dich	0	20	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	25	25
For No One	1	13	1	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	22	20
She's Leaving Home	0	14	0	6	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	21	20
Every Little Thing	0	14	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	19	19
Ain't She Sweet	0	12	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	18	18
Cry Baby Cry	0	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	0	1	1	19	18
Drive My Car	0	4	0	0	0	3	0	0	11	0	0	0	18	18
Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	2	0	0	17	17
Hallelujah, I Love Her So	0	7	0	5	0	1	0	0	3	0	0	0	16	16
Honey Pie	0	3	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	9	0	0	15	15
I Saw Her Standing There	0	4	0	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	15
I Don't Want to Spoil the Party	0	6	0	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	14
She Came in Through the Bathroom Window	0	9	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	14
I'm Down	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	13	0	0	1	14	13
Keep Your Hands Off My Baby	0	1	0	0	2	5	0	0	9	0	0	2	15	13
Baby's in Black	2	12	4	1	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	6	18	12
Her Majesty	0	2	0	7	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	12
Here, There and Everywhere	1	3	0	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	13	12
Lonesome Tears in My Eyes	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	0	0	0	12	12
Another Girl	0	3	0	0	0	9	0	0	0	0	1	1	12	11
Day Tripper	0	9	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	11
Don't Let Me Down	0	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	11
I Got to Find My Baby	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	5	4	0	0	0	11	11
Misery	0	4	0	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	11
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)	0	7	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	11
Run for Your Life	0	0	0	0	0	16	6	0	1	0	0	6	17	11
Something	0	5	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	11
What's The New Mary Jane	1	11	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	12	11
When I Get Home	0	0	0	9	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	11	11
Lucille	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	8	0	0	0	10	10
One After 909	0	1	0	2	1	0	0	0	5	3	0	1	11	10
Thank You Girl	0	0	0	0	0	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	10
Polythene Pam	0	6	0	3	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	10	9
Wild Honey Pie	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	0	0	9	9
And I Love Her	0	2	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	8
For You Blue	0	0	0	0	0	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	8
Lovely Rita	0	1	0	8	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	9	8
Don't Bother Me	0	5	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	7
Hey Jude	0	0	0	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	7
Baby It's You	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	6	6
Glad All Over	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	2	0	0	6	6
Good Day Sunshine	0	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	6
I Forgot to Remember to Forget	0	2	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	6
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds	0	1	0	2	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	6
Old Brown Shoe	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	5	0	0	0	6	6
Things We Said Today	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	6
Boys	0	2	0	2	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	5
Get Back	2	5	0	3	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	4	9	5
I Lost My Little Girl	0	0	0	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	5
I've Just Seen a Face	0	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	5
Leave My Kitten Alone	0	0	0	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	5
Lend Me Your Comb	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	0	0	5	5
Long Tall Sally	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	0	0	5	10	5
Martha My Dear	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	5
Sexy Sadie	0	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	5
A Taste of Honey	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	5	5
Chains	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	4	4
Hello Little Girl	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4
Helter Skelter	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4
I Want You (She's So Heavy)	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4
If I Fell	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da	1	4	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	6	4
Please Please Me	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4
Yer Blues	1	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	4
Yes It Is	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	4	4
Your Mother Should Know	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4
I'm a Loser	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	4	3
Like Dreamers Do	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3
She Said She Said	0	5	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	3
That Means a Lot	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	6	3
Yesterday	0	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	4	3
All You Need Is Love	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
Eight Days a Week	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
Getting Better	0	1	0	2	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	2	4	2
I Just Don't Understand	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	2
I'm In Love	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
Little Child	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	2
Maggie Mae	1	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	2
Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
Maxwell's Silver Hammer	5	5	0	4	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	7	9	2
Mr. Moonlight	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
What You're Doing	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
You Won't See Me	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
Child of Nature	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	1
Happiness Is a Warm Gun	1	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	3	1
I Should Have Known Better	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
I'm Looking Through You	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	1
It's Only Love	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Julia	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Lady Madonna	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	1
Let It Be	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Matchbox	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	2	0	2	3	1
Mother Nature's Son	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	1
Step Inside Love/Los Paranoias	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	1
Two of Us	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Watching Rainbows	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
What Goes On	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	1
You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	1
Anna (Go to Him)	2	0	8	0	0	10	0	0	0	0	0	10	10	0
Baby, You're a Rich Man	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	0	10	0	0	10	10	0
Good Morning Good Morning	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0
Penny Lane	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0
Back in the U.S.S.R.	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	2	0	3	2	-1
The Ballad of John and Yoko	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	1	-1
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	-1
Carol	0	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	2	-1
Don't Ever Change	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	-1
Eleanor Rigby	2	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2	-1
Hey Bulldog	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	-1
I Want to Hold Your Hand	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	-1
If I Needed Someone	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	-1
I'll Cry Instead	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	2	1	-1
I'll Get You	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	-1
I'm So Tired	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	-1
Love You To	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	-1
Octopus's Garden	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	-1
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	-1
Act Naturally	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	-2
All Together Now	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	-2
Can't Buy Me Love	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	-2
I Call Your Name	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	-2
I'll Follow the Sun	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	-2
No Reply	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	-2
We Can Work It Out	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	-2
Yellow Submarine	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	-2
You Can't Do That	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	-2
Bad Boy	5	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	6	3	-3
Paperback Writer	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	3	0	-3
Revolution 9	2	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	4	1	-3
Carry That Weight	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	-4
Glass Onion	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	4	0	-4
Mean Mr. Mustard	1	2	1	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	6	2	-4
I Am the Walrus	2	0	0	0	2	1	2	0	0	0	0	6	1	-5
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	-6
Rocky Raccoon	7	2	0	3	5	1	1	1	0	0	0	13	7	-6
A Day in the Life	3	0	0	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	7	0	-7
Johnny B. Goode	3	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	7	0	-7
Circles	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	9	0	-9
I Wanna Be Your Man	0	0	0	0	0	0	21	0	12	0	0	21	12	-9
The Fool on the Hill	6	0	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	11	0	-11
This Boy	3	0	0	0	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	0	-14
Nowhere Man	9	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0	15	0	-15
Teddy Boy	17	6	1	4	6	0	1	0	0	0	0	25	10	-15
Doctor Robert	11	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	4	18	0	-18
Come Together	22	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	22	0	-22
Sour Milk Sea	22	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	22	0	-22