Did you ever listen to an Elton John song and think, “Wow, I wish I understood what he was singing about?” If so, that may be because, according to a new study, the lyrics to Elton’s songs are among the most sophisticated of all British music stars.

The study, conducted by British tabloid The Mirror, reportedly used algorithms designed to measure the difficulty of school textbooks to analyze song lyrics by a wide range of acts, including The Beatles, David Bowie, Queen, Rod Stewart, The Who, Led Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac. The study found that it requires 9.3 years of education to fully understand the words to Elton’s tunes. And of course the lyrics to Elton’s songs aren’t written by Elton himself, but by his songwriting partners, including his frequent collaborator, Bernie Taupin.

The only British act with lyrics more sophisticated than Elton’s, says the newspaper, is ’80s New Wave act Depeche Mode, whose lyrics require 10.3 years of education to understand. Also finishing in the top 10 of the tally are Dire Straits, The Pet Shop Boys, Bowie, Stewart, UB40, Queen and Def Leppard.

On the other side of the spectrum, the study wasn’t too kind to Led Zeppelin. The band’s old blues lyrics, euphemisms for sex and references to mythical beings were deemed the least sophisticated of all the artists studied, notching an average readability score of only 4.4. They shouldn’t feel too bad, though — The Beatles, The Who, Jethro Tull, Fleetwood Mac and Paul McCartney as a solo artist also are listed among the 10 acts with the least sophisticated lyrics.

Here are the top 10 acts with the most sophisticated lyrics:

Depeche Mode — 10.3
Elton John — 9.3
Dire Straits — 9.2
The Pet Shop Boys — 9.1
David Bowie — 8.7
Rod Stewart — 8.7
Robbie Williams — 8.6
UB40 — 8.5
Queen — 8.5
Def Leppard — 8.5

And here are the top 10 acts with the least sophisticated lyrics:

Led Zeppelin — 4.4
The Who — 5.3
The Smiths — 5.5
The Beatles — 5.7
Jethro Tull — 6.1
Joy Division — 6.5
Fleetwood Mac — 6.5
The XX — 6.7
Paul McCartney (solo) — 6.7
Coldplay — 6.9

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