Death as Portrayed to Adolescents through Top 40 Rock and Roll Music.

Examined first 37 years of Top 40 rock songs (1955-91) and identified songs that included past or impending death. Determined popularity of songs, cause of death, gender of deceased, and relationships among characters. Conducted analysis of song content. Found that death songs comprised disproportionately popular subset of Top 40 music, males dominated obituaries, and grieving responses were restricted. (Author/NB)