Do your favourite song lyrics reveal what you’re like as a romantic partner?

My favourite song lyrics of all time are from Ask by The Smiths. “Spending warm summer days indoors,” croons Morrissey, “Writing frightening verse / to a bucktoothed girl in Luxembourg.”

I love the sensual S sounds and the crunch of the Ts. I love the unexpected imagery, and the propulsion of the extra rhyme – writing/frightening. I loved it as a teen who could relate. I love it now.

But according to a new study, the reason I love it could actually be because it reflects my attachment style.

Psychologist John Bowlby formulated attachment theory to explain the behaviour of difficult children – categorising children’s relationship with their primary caregiver as Secure, Anxious, Avoidant-anxious, or Avoidant-dismissive. Bowlby found that adults in romantic relationships often displayed the same characteristic behaviours with their significant others that were learned from their parental relationships. This book goes into some detail, for a popular audience.

The new study, by Alaei, Rule and MacDonald at the University of Toronto, has found a correlation between people’s favourite song lyrics and their attachment styles. Those displaying avoidant relationship characteristics are more likely to enjoy avoidant lyrical themes. Likewise with anxious attachers (which might explain Adele’s popularity).

The question is: should the first question we ask potential romantic partners be about favourite song lyrics?

Or maybe it’s: have I just accidentally discovered that I have an avoidant-dismissive attachment style?

What are your favourite song lyrics? What do you think it says about you?