appreciating emotionally complex songs you used to ignore?

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does anyone else on the autistic spectrum or otherwise, suddenly find that they appreciate music with emotional complexity and moral ambiguity now that they're in their late 20s, 30s, 40s?

whereas at age 24 for example you were looking for songs about wizards / dragons / the devil (metal), or getting high / partying / defeating your enemies / having sex (pop/rap), instrumentals, now you're appreciating a song not necessarily about love... but about exploring morally ambiguous topics like getting drunk and having casual sex instead of relationships... or falling in love with a demon when you knew she caused your wife to commit suicide... stuff like that. of course you would prefer the same music genres but you would appreciate more "adult" lyrics.

topics you used to label as "emo" and "fruity" or "lame" and just skip over so that you could hear 11/8 meters, shredding and sci fi / fantasy lyrics, or hardcore freestyling rap, or anime sci fi soundtracks... instead.

it's like you're moving more toward a direction where you're understanding the "sexier" or not really romantic but... complex and relationships parts of life rather than just the simple stuff you know?

anyone else feel that way?

I've always gravitated towards the deeper, more artistically meaningful stuff, and yeah anything with substance or emotionally complex. It was later I started liking some of the 'darker' or (somewhat) more popular kind of music, like eminem and some techno, though I also like some classical composers now, say yann tierssen and michael nyman, some pretty good stuff all round. I'm also liking peter bjorn and jon at the moment, I think that comes under indie rock or something.

^^This. I can appreciate material from virtually every aspect of the musical spectrum, but I'm very much a lyrics freak and have a high respect for good poetry (and I'm not talking about just being able to rhyme words).

Mindless party songs and hummable nonsense hooks have their place, but I really respect someone who is expressing deeper and more complex feelings and ideas, as well as those who experiment with sound and recording techniques and exotic instrumentation, instead of just repeating the same old formula over and over.

I have always looked for lyrics I could personally relate to, one issue I had (and still do) is not being able to make out the words without the lyric sheet, helping to drive my attraction to more easy listening types in my teens. I have gone back and re-listened to bands and songs from 10+ years ago and discovered(listened closer, heard a back story or read a lyric sheet) what I missed back then causing sort of a shift in my favourite bands and genres as I now can "get it" or realise how hollow some of my favorite old acts really were. As music became a special interest in my teens the complexity, relate ability and compatible singing and instrumentals of a song became of very high importance to the point of requirement.

I think as you age, change and grow as a person the lyrics you relate too will change accordingly, not discounting the quality your old favorites its just that you no longer relate to that and if younger life is simpler so will the songs that you relate too.

Hi RapidRoy.
Indeed - while for me, I have always looked for musical complexity, but it was the romantic side of music that I disliked. Now, I am beginning to appreciate it because I have had relationships. Maybe.