What I built
A data visualization that analyzes word frequency across the top 100 country songs from 2000 to 2024. The output confirms what anyone who’s listened to country radio already suspects: beer, trucks, small towns, and heartbreak dominate the lexicon. Interactive bars let you explore which words peak in which years.
Why I built it
I’ve had a long fascination with data visualization as storytelling — a Flowing Data membership since the early days, zero actual skill. I was on a country music kick and noticed the tropes everywhere. I wanted to test whether the clichés were real, quantify them, and build something visual in the process. A small experiment that turned into a genuine data story.