LANGUAGE STYLE SEEN FROM FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE …

LANGUAGE STYLE

SEEN FROM FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE PERSPECTIVE

IN TAYLOR SWIFT’S RED ALBUM

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By NABILA WAHYUNINGTYAS

Student Number: 154214117

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA

YOGYAKARTA

2019

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

LANGUAGE STYLE

SEEN FROM FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE PERSPECTIVE

IN TAYLOR SWIFT’S RED ALBUM

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

Nabila Wahyuningtyas

Student Number: 154214117

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA

YOGYAKARTA

2019

ii






Just because there’s a

hurricane going on

around you,

Doesn’t mean you have

to open the window and

look at it

(Taylor Swift)

vii


For

MY life supporters

that HAVE NEVER BEEN

OUT OF STYLE

_ _ _ _

viii


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Alhamdulillah, I was blessed with so much encouragement from so many

people to finish my study. First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude

to my thesis advisor, Arina Isti’anah S.Pd., M.Hum who provided me with

continuous, pertinent and much input as well as support to help me decide the path

for my educational journey at Sanata Dharma University. I thank her for her

guidance, wisdom, and patience throughout the whole period of this research. I

would like to also thank my co- advisor, Wedhowerti S.Pd., M.Hum for putting

valuable inputs for my thesis. Furthermore, I would like to be thankful for my

great lecturer who has never forgotten to support me no matter how high and how

low I was in the life phase, Harris Hermansyah Setiajid, M. Hum.

My special thanks goes to my precious mama, Yuyun Yulia, Ph.D, my life

advisor for the never ending support and prayers, also goes to my papa, Ir.

Bambang Wahyudi and my brother Logan Wahyu Fauzan who own my endless

love. I am also blessed that I am surrounded by amazing friends that I could not

mention one by one in 2015 batch. My sincere appreciation goes for their

encouragement and support to finish my study. Last but not least, I would

especially like to thank my significant other, who is impatiently waiting for me to

finish this study. I thank him for being my living diary, my support system

throughout my whole process.

Nabila Wahyuningtyas

ix


TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ............................................................................................................................. ii

APPROVAL PAGE ................................................................................................................iii

ACCPETANCE PAGE .........................................................................................................iv

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY .................................................................................. v

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH ............................................................................................vi

MOTTO PAGE ...................................................................................................................... vii

DEDICATION PAGE ........................................................................................................ viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................ix TABLE OF CONTENTS .....................................................................................................ix

LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................ xii

ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................ xiii

ABSTRAK ................................................................................................................................ xiv

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1

A. Background of the Study ............................................................................................ 1

B. Problem Formulation ................................................................................................... 3

C. Objectives of the Study ............................................................................................... 3

D. Definition of Terms ..................................................................................................... 4

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE .............................................................. 5

A. Review of Related Studies ......................................................................................... 5

B. Review of Related Theories ...................................................................................... 8

1. Stylistics ................................................................................................................... 8

2. Semantics ............................................................................................................... 10

3. Figurative Language ........................................................................................... 12

a. Simile ............................................................................................................... 12

b. Metaphor ......................................................................................................... 13

c. Personification ............................................................................................... 13

d. Metonymy ....................................................................................................... 14

e. Apostrophe ..................................................................................................... 14

f. Synecdoche..................................................................................................... 15

g. Symbol ............................................................................................................. 15

h. Allegory ........................................................................................................... 15

i. Paradox ............................................................................................................ 15 j. Hyperbole ....................................................................................................... 16

k. Understatement ............................................................................................. 16

l. Irony ................................................................................................................. 17

4. Female Language Style ...................................................................................... 17

C. Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................. 18

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CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................... 20

A. Object of the Study .................................................................................................... 20

B. Approach of the Study............................................................................................... 21

C. Method of the Study .................................................................................................. 22

1. Data Collection ..................................................................................................... 22

2. Data Analysis ........................................................................................................ 22

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS ............................ 25

A. The Figurative Language Types Found in Song Lyrics .................................. 25

1. Simile ..................................................................................................................... 27

2. Metaphor ............................................................................................................... 30 3. Hyperbole ............................................................................................................. 33

4. Symbol ................................................................................................................... 35

5. Paradox .................................................................................................................. 36

6. Irony ....................................................................................................................... 38

7. Personification ..................................................................................................... 38

8. Metonymy ............................................................................................................. 41

9. Understatement ................................................................................................... 42

B. The Language Style of Taylor Swift ..................................................................... 43

1. Comparative .......................................................................................................... 43

2. Exaggerating ......................................................................................................... 46

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ......................................................................................... 51

REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 53

APPENDICES ......................................................................................................................... 55

Appendix 1: Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Figurative Expressions .............. 55

Appendix 2: Figurative Language Types .......................................................................... 60

Appendix 3: The Lyrics of “Red” ........................................................................................ 62

Appendix 4: The Lyrics of “Treacherous” ........................................................................ 64

Appendix 5: The Lyrics of “I Knew You Were Trouble” ............................................ 66

Appendix 6: The Lyrics of “22” ........................................................................................... 68

Appendix 7: The Lyrics of “Starlight” ............................................................................... 71

xi


LIST OF TABLES

No. Table Page

1 Table 1. Levels of Language 9

2 Table 2. Summary of Figurative Language in Song Lyrics 23

(Example)

3 Table 3. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning (Example) 24

4 Table 4. Summary of Figurative Language in Song Lyrics 25

5 Table 5. Literal and Non Literal Meaning of Lyrics with 27

Simile

6 Table 6. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with 31

Metaphor


Hyperbole


Symbol


Paradox


Irony


Personification


Metonymy


Understatement

xii


ABSTRACT

WAHYUNINGTYAS, NABILA. (2019). Language Style Seen From Figurative Language Perspective in Taylor Swift’s Red Album. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Language is human property which is employed to communicate and to

express one’s feelings verbally. Figurative language is one of language forms that

is used in creating song lyrics. In composing lyrics, each songwriter has different

styles of using figurative language. Songwriters tend to use more figurative

language to be more expressive in conveying the meaning. Taylor Swift as a

famous awards-winning singer-songwriter prefers to use more figurative language

in her songs. Two problems are observed in this research; to (1) figure out what types of

figurative language used as well as (2) find out what language style concluded

based on the five selected songs in the Red album. The lyrics were focused in five selected songs from one album; “Red”, “Treacherous”, “I Knew You Were

Trouble”, “22”, and “Starlight”. Qualitative method was employed to collect and analyze the data through

observation and library study. Purposeful sampling was applied to collect the data. Stylistics was applied as the main approach to analyze the object of the study.

The findings show that Taylor Swift has typical styles of expressing her

ideas through song lyrics. Swift applies nine kinds of figurative language; simile,

metaphor, personification, metonymy, symbol, paradox, hyperbole,

understatement, and irony in the five selected songs from the album. Simile is

found to be the highest in frequency then followed by metaphor, hyperbole,

symbol, and the other figurative language types. It can be concluded that Swift’s

style in songwriting can be categorized to be more comparative and exaggerating.

Keywords: Figurative Language, Stylistics, Taylor Swift

xiii


ABSTRAK

WAHYUNINGTYAS, NABILA. (2019). Language Style Seen From Figurative Language Perspective in Taylor Swift’s Red Album. Yogyakarta: Program

Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Bahasa adalah suatu perangkat manusia untuk berkomunikasi dan

mengungkapkan perasaan secara lisan. Ada beragam jenis bahasa, satu

diantaranya adalah bahasa kiasan. Bahasa kiasan dapat digunakan untuk berbagai

macam tujuan, salah satunya dalam penulisan lagu. Masing-masing penulis lagu

memiliki gaya yang berbeda dalam mengaplikasikan bahasa kiasan. Para penulis

lagu menerapkan bahasa kiasan guna menjadi lebih ekspresif dalam menyalurkan

sebuah makna. Taylor Swift, salah satu penyanyi dan penulis lagu ternama

memilih untuk menggunakan berbagai macam bahasa kiasan dalam jumlah yang

banyak.

Di dalam penelitian ini terdapat dua rumusan masalah yakni; (1) untuk mengetahui jenis bahasa kiasan dalam lima lagu Taylor Swift, dan (2) untuk

mengidentifikasi gaya bahasa berdasarkan hasil yang ditemukan dalam rumusan

masalah yang pertama. Penelitian ini terfokuskan dengan lima lagu Taylor Swift dari album Red yang berjudul “Red”, “Treacherous”, “I Knew You Were

Trouble”, “22”, dan “Starlight”. Metode kualitatif diterapkan untuk mengumpulkan dan menganalisis data

melalui observasi dan studi pustaka. Teknik pengumpulan data yang dipergunakan adalah purposeful sampling yang berarti pengambilan sampel yang disengaja.

Pendekatan stilistika diaplikasikan untuk menganalisis obyek penelitian. Hasil dari penelitian menunjukkan bahwa Taylor Swift memiliki gaya

yang khas untuk mengekspreksikan apa yang ia pikirkan melalui lirik lagu

ciptaannya. Ada sembilan jenis bahasa kiasan yang ditemukan di kelima lagu

yaitu: simile, metafora, personifikasi, metonim, simbol, paradoks, hiperbola,

understatement, dan ironi. Simile adalah jenis bahasa kiasan yang paling banyak

ditemukan, lalu disusul oleh metafora, hiperbola, simbol, dan tipe bahasa kiasan

yang lain. Dapat disimpulkan bahwa gaya bahasa Swift dalam menulis lagu

dikategorikan sebagai membandingkan dan melebih-lebihkan.

Key words: Bahasa Kiasan, Stilistika, Taylor Swift

xiv


CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Language is human property that is used to communicate each other.

According to Jakobson (1995, p. 353), language can be used to express feelings

and feelings are sometimes expressed through artworks, one of those is song

lyrics. To make it more interesting, songwriters often express his/her feelings

throughout figurative language that reveals the uninterpreted meanings in the

songs. Figurative language can be observed using semantics theory describing

literal and non-literal meaning (Hurtford, 2013, p. 1).

In line with figurative language, the way of using figurative language can

be observed by applying stylistics. Stylistics is simply defined as the study of

style. The aim is to explain something, and in general, literal stylistics has the goal

of explaining the relation between language and artistic function implicitly or

expllicitly (Leech and Short, 2007, p. 4).

Accordingly, figurative language tends to be used in expressing feeling, in

particular, songs. Songwriters (female and male) express their feelings in the form

of songs. Female language style tends to be different from male language style.

Male and female songwriters use different expressions to show what they actually

mean to say. Many songwriters use their own experiences to be the matter of the

songs. According to Danet and Herring (2007, p. 250), female language is

assumed to be more hyperbolic rather than male language because the expressions

1


2

are less direct. Taylor Swift’s style can be one of the representatives of female

songwriter’s style of using figurative language in a song.

Taylor Swift is one of many singer-song writers who uses various kinds of

figurative language to deliver various points through the songs. Taylor Swift has

released 6 studio albums: Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989 and

Reputation. Based on the researcher’s observation, her songs are mostly about

adolescence life, especially about love, heartbreak, and recklessness. Her songs

can be perceived as really romantic and cheerful at times but also sarcastic. She

wrote songs based on anecdotal experience. It was included commonly on the

song description page of her album about whom she was telling about the song.

The researcher uses song lyrics as the research object instead of other

sources because song lyrics seem to have literal and non-literal meaning. Songs

are also media to express feelings in a creative way. Taylor Swift’s songs are

appropriate to choose because Taylor Swift has her own style of using figurative

language. Taylor swift likes to talk about her past experiences in her songs by

applying figurative language. In the cover booklet of her albums she always

mentions whom she dedicates the song to. Moreover, her songs are easy listening

and well known in the music industry. She is also still very young, but she has

written over 40 songs by herself.

By conducting a research based on the object and the topic, hopefully the

findings of this research will give benefits to English students, English teachers,

other researchers and readers. This is expected to improve the linguistic


3

knowledge about figurative language and stylistics in field of linguistics and used

as a reference in teaching and learning about figurative language and stylistics

This research limits on the expressions in the song lyrics in Red album that

has the elements of figurative language in order to find the types and also the

meanings of figurative language. To investigate the literal and non-literal meaning

in songs, the study focuses on 5 of Taylor Swift’s songs from the album Red

(2012) which are “Red”, “Treacherous”, “I Knew You Were Trouble“, “22”, and

“Starlight”.

B. Problem Formulation

Based on the background, the research questions of this present study are

formulated as follows,

1. What types of figurative language are found in Taylor Swift’s selected songs

in the Red album?

2. What are the language styles revealed from the figurative language found in

the album?

C. Objectives of the Study

This study is aimed to answer the questions in the problem formulation.

Firstly, the study aims to find out the types of figurative language that are found

in Taylor Swift’s songs. The answer will help the researcher to investigate the

figurative language used by Swift. Secondly, it aims to figure out the style of

Taylor Swift’s language in song writing by means of figurative language. In


4

further analysis, the writer will start to describe how Taylor Swift as a young pop

country female singer-songwriter composes a song.

D. Definition of Terms

In order to avoid misunderstanding on certain terms, the definition of

several words will be explained in this section. The first word is Language Style.

Language style is the particular variety of language used by different individuals

and in different situations (Simpson, 2004, p.3)

The second word is figurative language. According to Keraf (2009, p.

116), figurative language is a way of expressing typically through language that

shows the spirit and personality of the author or the language user. Figurative

language is language that uses expressions with meanings differ from the

interpretation.

The third word is Album. Album, in terms of music is the composition

of songs which is arranged in beautificial manner in order to develop the concept

of the songs grouping which is usually produced in CD’s (Gioia, 2015, p. 2).


CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

In this chapter, there are three things that are presented. The first is review

of related studies. This part contains the review of previous studies done on the

similar topic. The second is a review of related theories. This part contains

theories which are used to provide foundation for the analysis. The source of

related studies and theories are taken from books, thesis, and journal articles that

support this study. The third is theoretical framework that explains the

contributions of those theories and reviews in solving the problem.

A. Review of Related Studies

In order to make this research more accurate and reliable, the researcher

considers that this research cannot stand without any references. This

consideration has brought the researcher to gather several theses and journal

articles which are related to this study. The related studies are presented one by

one.

The first related study is by Laksita (2017). Laksita’s thesis mostly

discusses the similar topic with this research, which is “Figurative Expressions in

Song Lyrics by Male and Female Songwriters”. The thesis focuses on figurative

language and the style that is shown throughout the use of figurative language by

male and female. Stylistics is employed as the main approach and combined by

the theory of semantic features to determine the literal and non-literal meaning of

figurative expressions, which is employed in this research.

5


6

What is found different from this study is the writer compares the use of

figurative language between man and woman, while in this study, the figurative

language usage is only focused on Taylor Swift’s style. In addition, there are 4

different songs from 4 different singers used in the thesis while this study focuses

5 songs from a singer-songwriter. This thesis comes into conclusion that male

songwriter tends to use hyperbole more than female songwriter, while woman

tends to use simile more than man which identifies that female style is less direct

and more comparing.

The second related study is an undergraduate thesis entitled “Figurative

Languages in Adele’s Album 25”, by Rahmanto (2017). He formulates the

problems on types of figurative language found in Adele’s Album, 25 and the

frequency of figurative language’s types. The research findings are: There are ten

types of figurative language found in Adele’s album 25, which are metaphor,

simile, personification, apostrophe, synecdoche, metonymy, symbol, paradox,

hyperbole and irony. There were four metaphors, four similes, four

personifications, two apostrophes, one synecdoche, three metonymies, two

symbols, one paradox, ten hyperboles and four ironies. Hyperbole is the most

common figurative language type used in the songs.

The similarities between the related study and this research are the topic

about figurative language in songs and the gender of the singer songwriter chosen,

whereas the differences are the object of the study (the songs) and the main

approach of the study. In Rahmanto’s study, the object of the study is Adele’s

songs while in this research the object of the study is Taylor Swift’s songs. The


7

main approach of the study is semantics while in this research the main approach

is stylistics. As well, this research further discusses what language style can be

concluded from the use of figurative language.

The third related study is a journal article by Setiawati (2018) entitled “An

Analysis of Figurative Language in Taylor Swift’s Song Lyrics” from IKIP

Siliwangi Cimahi. The journal focuses on the dominant figurative language and

the contextual meaning of the songs. The songs analyzed are “Red” and “22”.

What differs from the journal and this research is the approach used, in the journal

the approach applied is pragmatics. The conclusion of this journal is Taylor Swift

uses simile and hyperbole the most in two of her songs and based on the

contextual meaning of Taylor Swift tells about romance, treachery and conflict.

The fourth related study is a journal article by Marhamah (2018) entitled

“Figurative Language Portrayed in Rihanna’s Selected Songs” from Islamic

University of North Sumatera. The objectives of the study are to identify the types

of figurative language and to find out the meanings of figurative language in

Rihanna’s selected songs. Figurative language theory applied in this paper is

proposed by Perrine (1969, p. 60) stating that figurative language is another way

of adding extra dimension to language.

What differs the journal article and this study is in the journal article

semantics is applied as the main approach, while in this research the main

approach used is stylistics. The conclusion of this journal is that figurative

language in Rihanna’s selected songs are Hyperbole, Personification, Simile,


8

Metaphor, Symbol, Repetition, Imagery, Alliteration, Metonymy, and Assonance

and the meanings of figurative language adapts the songs.

B. Review of Related Theories

To answer the research questions in this research, there are four major

theories applied, which are stylistics, semantics, figurative language, and female

language style.

1. Stylistics

Leech (2007, p. 11) defines stylistics as “the study of style” and relates it

as the study whose purpose is to “explain language and the artistic function”. It is

the study about linguistic nature of the expressive means of the language as well

as the characteristics and its functions. Simpson (2004, p. 2) asserts, stylistics is “a

method of textual interpretation in which primacy of place is assigned to

language”. Language is so important to stylisticians because the various forms and

levels which constitute linguistic structure are the important indices of the text

function.

As stated by Verdonk (2002, p. 215), the purpose of doing stylistic

criticism and analysis is to provide linguistic data that are objective to support

existing readings or intuitions about a literary work. In this research, the objective

linguistic data are taken from 5 songs of Taylor Swift whose purpose is to support

the intuitions of Taylor Swift’language style of writing her songs. Simpson (2004,

p. 5) notes that the major levels of language and their related technical terms in

language study are presented in the following table.


9

Table 1. Stylistics: Levels of Language

Level of language Branch of language study

The sound of spoken language; the Phonology; phonetics

way words are pronounced.

The patterns of written language; Graphology

the shape of language on the page.

The way words are constructed;

words and their constituent Morphology

structures.

The way words combine with other

words to form phrases and Syntax; grammar

sentences.

The words we use; the vocabulary Lexical analysis; lexicology

of a language.

The meaning of words and Semantics

sentences.

The way words and sentences are

used in everyday situations; the Pragmatics; discourse analysis

meaning of language in context.

Table 1 shows the seven levels of language and brief explanation about the

levels. The first level of language is phonology, phonetics which is the level of the

set of possible human sounds, which constitutes the area of phonetics, and the set

of system sounds used in a given human language, which constitutes the area of

phonology. The second level is graphology which deals with the patterns of

written language and the actual shape of language on the page.

The third level is morphology which is the level of words and endings, to

put it in simplified terms. It analyzes minimal forms in language which are used to

construct words which have either a grammatical or lexical function. The fourth


level is lexical analysis; lexicology which deals with the use of language

vocabulary variation. The fifth level is syntax which is concerned with the


10

meanings of words in combination with each other to form phrases or sentences. It

furthermore deals with the relatedness of different sentence types and with the

analysis of ambiguous sentences.

The sixth level is semantics which is the area of meaning. This level needs

to be studied on its own to have a proper perspective on meaning in language. The

seventh or the last level of language is pragmatics which is concerned with the use

of language in specific situations. The area of pragmatics relies strongly for its

analysis of the speech’s notion which is concerned with the actual performance of

language.

The level employed for the analysis is lexical analysis which focuses on

the vocabulary of language object and semantics which focuses on the words

meaning.

2. Semantics

According to Hurtford (2013, p. 1), semantics is the technical term applied

for the study of meaning, and since meaning is a part of language, semantics is a

part of linguistics. It associates a message with a set of signs which can be seen by

the words. Shortly, Semantics is the study of the discussion of meanings. Based

on semantics, each of the language meaning will be discussed as literal meaning

and non-literal meaning.

The literal meaning of a sentence is just based on semantic information of

the knowledge of English that occurs in ‘everyday’ language (Griffiths, 2006, p.

6). While non- literal meaning use certain words to expose other image of its


11

word, non literal language does not concern with the basic or usual meaning of a

word or phrase. Non- literal meaning is often called figurative meaning which is

not often used in ‘everyday’ language but used to beautify the language as in

poems.

To determine literal and non-literal meaning linguistically, semantic

properties were applied. Semantic properties is known as the information which is

already acknowledged by speakers. Semantic properties is represented by the

semantic features. According to Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams (2014, p. 578),

semantic features represent the basic conceptual components of meaning for any

lexical item. One of the attempts to analyze word meaning is by paying attention

to the information the word carries, for example, + and – symbols followed by the

information indicate the semantic features. + symbol presents validity of a quality

while - symbol points out invalidity of a quality. The example of using semantic

features is presented below.

Woman Girl Kitten

+animate +animate +animate

+human +human -human

-young +young +young

The example shows that woman, girl, and kitten share similarities, all the

words above carry the same information that is animate. Woman and girl are both

human beings, while girl and kitten are both young.


12

3. Figurative Language

Figurative language is a language that uses words different from their

proper definitions in order to achieve a deeper understanding. By using figurative

language, a meaning can be conveyed more vividly (Leech, 1991, p. 147).

Figurative language is mostly used to beautify and express feelings in literary

works such as drama scripts, novels, song lyrics and poems. Furthermore, Keraf

(2009, p. 113) states that figurative language is a way of expressing thoughts

typically through language that shows the spirit and personality of the author or

the language user. Figurative language is a media for writers to convey intended

meanings. To readers, the existence of figurative language gives emotional and

persuasive effects from towards the literary works.

It is often debated regarding types of figurative language, it depends on

whose perception on figurative language. According to Perrine (2004, p. 60), there

are 12 types of figurative language which are simile, metaphor, personification,

apostrophe, synecdoche, metonymy, symbol, allegory, paradox,

hyperbole/overstatement, understatement, and irony. The 12 types of figurative

language are listed in details in the following.

a. Simile

Simile is the explicit comparison of two things, indicates by the word or

phrase such as like, as than, similar to, resemble or seems (Perrine, 2004, p. 61).

Simile has the likely definition with metaphor but the the difference is the use of

connective word. Leech stated that “A simile, conversely, is generally more


13

explicit than metaphor” (Leech, 1991, p. 156). Simile does not tell exactly what

one is compared to, there is a bunch of interrelated possibilities.

As an example, an author writes “she is like a glass of lemonade in a hot

summer day”, the connective word like is used to compare the two things, “a

glass of lemonade in a hot summer day” is associated with what is just needed. In

hot summer day, a glass of lemonade will help to refresh people from the hot

weather, so by saying that it means the “she” is just what the writer needs.

b. Metaphor

According to Perrine (2004, p. 61), metaphor is a type of figurative

language that compares one thing to another without using connective words.

Metaphor is similar to simile, the only distinction between them is the use of

connective words in simile. In other words, metaphor is a figure of speech which

is used to compare one to another without using connective word or phrase such

as like, as than, similar to, resemble or seems.

One of the metaphorical expression is “Life is a walking shadow”. It is a

metaphorical statement which shows a comparison between life and shadow.

According to Leech, it is claimed to be a series of definitioms of life; but they are

plainly not the definitions for the term which is expected to be found in a

dictionary (Leech, 1991, p. 151). “Life is a walking shadow” can be interpreted as

life is something that really lacks substance, depending on the context of the text.

c. Personification

According to Perrine (2004, p. 64), personification is an attribution of

human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract


14

quality in human form. This is a close relative of metaphor, in which events

typically with obsecure or complex causes, are portrayed as being caused by a

human like agent. In some cases, the actual agent is personified, for example, a

volcanic eruption may be presented as the act of an angry subterranean giant or a

storm as the act of a vengeful, airborne fury. In some cases, as when death is

personified as a coachman, reaper, or thief, it is not so much the cause of death

(such as disease or famine) that is personified, rather than the event itself (Cruse,

2006, p. 127).

d. Metonymy

Metonymy is the use of something closely related to the thing actually

meant (Perrine, 2004, p. 67). The other definition is a figure of speech in which

the name of an attribute or a thing is substituted for the thing itself (Leech, 1991,

p. 152). Common examples are ‘The Stage’ for the theatrical profession; ‘The

Crown’ for the monarchy; ‘The Bench’ for the judiciary. To conclude,

metonymy is a figure of speech that thing is applied to another with which

becoming closely associated.

e. Apostrophe

Apostrophe is defined as the type of figurative language that addresses

someone absent or something non human as it was present and alive, and could

reply to what is being said (Perrine, 2004, p. 65). Apostrophe is also a form of

personification in which nonhuman or in animate thing is directly addressed as if

it were human or animate.The example is “Oh walls! Why are you here? You

are on my way!” talking to the walls is considered as apostrophe.


15

f. Synecdoche

Synecdoche is the type of figurative language that uses the part for the

whole. Leech noted that Synecdoche is “abstract property for possessor of abstract

property” (Perrine, 2004, p. 67). As an example, using the term “ten hands” for

ten employees, or “a hundred sails” for ships.

g. Symbol

Symbol is defined as something that means more than what it is symbol

maybe best understood as an implied metaphor. (Perrine, 2004, p. 82). The

example of symbol is “you cannot teach an old dog new trick”. In the example it

is seen that the speaker does not only talk about dog itself, but about living

creatures of any species and therefore speaking symbolically. An old dog can be

understood as an old man that in his age he cannot think like when he was young.

h. Allegory

Allegory is a type of figurative language in which abstract ideas and

principles are described in terms of characters, figures, and events (Perrine, 2004,

p.88). According to Leech, allegory stands in the same relation to an individual

symbol as extended metaphor does to simple metaphor, in fact, an allegory may as

well be described as ‘extended metaphor’ (Leech, 1991, p. 163). The example of

allegory is “everyone is equal, but a few are more equal than others”. In the

example, the other way of saying some people are higher than others is shown.

i. Paradox

Paradox is an apparent contradiction that is nevertheless something true, it

maybe either a situation or a statement (Perrine, 2004, p. 101). Paradox is the


16

statement seemingly self-contradiction to what is commonly held to be true but

nevertheless contains a truth. One example of it is “Deep down, you are really

shallow”. The contradiction (deep and shallow) is clearly shown in the statement

and the statement seems to be abstract.

j. Hyperbole/Overstatement

Hyperbole is simply exaggeration out in the service of truth (Perrine, 2004,

p. 102). Exaggeration can be perceived in either way, positively and negatively,

for instance, when someone says “I cannot live without you” it does not mean

he/she is going to die without their serenaded special person, it just means that the

person means a lot to him/ her so living without that person will be extremely

hard.

k. Understatement

Understatement is a type of figurative language employed to make a

situation seem less important than it really is intentionally (Perrine, 2004, p. 102).

Understatement is the opposite of hyperbole or overstatement. Overstatement is

saying more than what it actually means while understatement is saying less than

what it actually means. For example A borrows B’s new jacket and A returns it

with a large wine stain on the front of it and in response B makes an

understatement, “it does not look too bad”.

l. Irony

Irony is a statement in which words are used in such a way that their

intended meaning is different from the actual meanings of the words (Perrine,

2004, p. 103). The ironic statement usually involves the explicit expression of one


17

attittude or evaluation, but with indications in the overall speech-situation that the

speaker intends a really different attitude. An example of irony is “the butter is as

soft as a slab of marble”. It is obvious that marble is a hard substance, by saying

it is as soft as a slab of a marble is being ironic because marble is not soft at all.

4. Female Language Style

Different gender has different behaviour and style. It is also connected to

the way they speak and make utterances. It happens because of the language and

social interaction that affect each other as language is “a multilectal phenomenon;

people write and speak differently depending on their social group, audience,

setting, and any other contextual factors” (Dancygier, 2014, p. 9). In the aspect of

language style, each gender presents specific style.

In daily conversation woman tends to use specific style of speaking.

According to Danet and Herring (2007, p. 250), man tends to speak explicitly and

say directly, while woman tends to speak in the opposite way. Woman speaks

implicitly, therefore, woman seems to be less direct and complicated in saying her

ideas as the listeners are made to guess the intention.

Woman speaks in order to “be cooperative and making connection”

(Cameron, 2006, p.68). Therefore, more implicit statements such as figurative

language are used by woman to imply thoughts and ideas and expect that it will be

accepted by others. Furthermore, Wright (2002, p. 17) conducts a discourse study

and finds out that woman talks more and is less assertive and direct. The

phenomenon of woman producing more words and become more indirect is


18

supported by Mills (1995, p.4) who points out that the factor of woman’s language

production depend on cites, race, class, age, sexual orientation, and education.

Thus, woman’s language production such as in songwriting depends on various

factors. Whereas Cameron (2006, p. 68) asserts that women are more complex

while producing language. In other words, women’s language tend to be different

than men’s language. Therefore female writers, including female songwriters tend

to have specific language style.

C. Theoretical Framework

There are two main problems that were analyzed in this research. This

research focuses on the figurative language types used in the album and language

style of Taylor Swift seen from the use of figurative language.

The researcher applied stylistic approach to answer research questions.

Stylistics is the core to establish the point that Taylor Swift applies various

figurative language to reveal her language style in songwriting. The dominant

figurative language types determines Swift’s language style in the album.

The second theory is semantics, which is applied to analyze the literal and

non-literal meaning in words and phrases that Swift chose for the song lyrics.

Furthermore, levels of language are applied to analyze the data. The lexical level

is employed for analyzing the selected vocabularies, while semantics level is

utilized to determine the meanings of the figurative language listed in the song

lyrics. It helps the writer to analyze the deeper meaning of the lyrics.


19

The third theory is figurative language which helps to analyze non-literal

meaning. It is to categorize the song lyrics into some types of figurative language

that can ease the analysis of lexical meaning.

The fourth theory is female language style which points out that woman

tends to be indirect in expressing her feelings. The findings of this research

strengthen the idea of female language style since the lyrics are created by a

female singer-songwriter.

Overall, the theory applied for the first research question, which is to find

the types of figurative language applied in Swift’s songs, is figurative language

theory, stylistics: levels of language and semantics. Meanwhile, the theory

employed in the second research question, which is to find the style of Taylor

Swift’s language in songwriting, is the theory of stylistics.


CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter reveals three things. The first is object of the study which

explains the general idea about the object that has been researched. The second is

the approach of the study, which contains explanation about the approach that is

utilized in the study and the reason why the approach is selected. The third is the

method of the study which contains elaboration about the method of the study

which includes data collection and data analysis.

A. Object of the Study

In this part, the researcher presented the description of the study. It is

about the data analyzed and the linguistic elements contained. The object of this

study is the figurative language found, in particular, song lyrics. The data were

obtained from listening to the selected songs and websites that publish lyrics,

Azlyrics. The five songs chosen from the album Red by Taylor Swift (2012) are

“Red”, “Treacherous”, “I Knew You Were Trouble”, “22”, and “Starlight”.

All the selected songs in the album were closely related to Taylor Swift’s

personal experiences. All different emotions were put together in the album to

describe about the kind of insane, romantic, intense, and toxic relationships that

Swift had experienced in 2010-2012. In the cover booklet of her album, Swift

added that all those emotions spanned intense love, intense frustration, jealousy,

confusion, and she concluded that all those emotions are red.

20


21

The researcher selected them because the songs contain various kind of

figurative language whose usage shows Taylor Swift’s language style in

songwriting. Morever, the Red album was selected among other albums because

as noted from Global Music Report (2013) it was a booming album which earned

Swift two Grammy Award nominations, for Best Country Album and Album of

the year. The songs were selected based on various topics representing love,

regret, recklessness, youth and dream.

B. Approach of the Study

This study comes under the area of stylistics which is explained as the

study of style. It can also be explained as a method of textual interpretation in

order to explore creativity in language use by literary text as its object (Simpson,

2004, p. 42). Thus, stylistics approach is suitable to be used as the foundation of

the data analysis.

Moreover, according to Verdonk (2001, p. 3), language style is the choice

of words used by someone or specific group of people when they speak or write.

In writing song lyrics, language styles of the songwriters reveal the different

expressions to convey the content of the song. Therefore, this study is aimed to

reveal the idea of Taylor Swift’s style that distinguishes her songs from any other

singer songwriters and strengthen the idea of female language style.


22

C. Method of the Study

In the purpose of making the process of analysis more detailed, the method

applied to conduct this study is divided into two parts. The first part is data

collection and the second part is data analysis. Those methods are described as

follows.

1. Data Collection

The data were collected by applying purposeful sampling. According to

Creswell (2007, p. 125), purposeful sampling is used in qualitative research and it

is employed for the identification and selection of information for the most

effective use of limited resources. It is a method which the researcher purposely

chose the limited numbers of selected research objects that can be served as

primary data source. Purposeful sampling is applied because the researcher chose

the selected songs based on the different emotions and different situations of each

song.

The data were obtained from five songs which are “Red”, “Treacherous”,

“I Knew You Were Trouble”, “22” and “Starlight”. First, the researcher listened

to the song while looking at the lyrics. Second, the researcher put the lyrics

containing figurative language in bold then arranged the data.

2. Data Analysis

The first purpose in analyzing the data was to classify the figurative

language found in the lyrics. It was done in order to clarify the figurative language

types which were used in the songs. After the classification was done, the analysis


could be started. The analysis began

language that was found in each song.

formed as in the following.

23

by counting the number of figurative

The example of the Table analysis was

Table 2. Summary of Figurative Language in Song Lyrics (Example)

No Types of Figurative Language Frequency

Total

Table 2 shows the writer’s purpose to answer the two research questions

which were written in the problem formulation. The table was used to answer the

first research question which was to know what types of figurative language that

were used in Swift’s song lyrics. The first research question was elaborated under

sub-topics based on the type of figurative language that was found and explained

in a form of paragraph. The song lyrics that contained figurative language were

also concluded in the elaboration. Moreover, to make the clearer understanding of

the literal and non-literal meaning, the table of literal and non-literal meaning is

inserted and it consists of number, figurative expression, type of figurative

language, literal meaning, non-literal meaning and shared semantic feature. The

shared semantic feature is written with the symbol + / -. The following is the

example of the table followed by the explanation.


24

Table 3. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with Metaphor

(Example)

No Song Figurative Literal Non-Literal Shared

Title Expression Meaning Meaning Semantic

Feature

1 I knew You I knew you Difficulties A [+problem]

Were were problematic

Trouble trouble… person

Table 3 reveals that trouble literally means difficulties, while in the song it

indicates a problematic person. The shared semantic feature is [+problem]. The

second problem was to know how figurative language showed the style of Taylor

Swift’s songwriting based on five selected songs of her booming album, Red. The

style of the songwriter was found by analyzing which figurative language type

was foregrounded. Each figurative language type was presented different style. If,

for example, simile is foregrounded, it means that the style of Taylor swift’s

songwriting is comparative because simile is a type of figurative language which

compares one to another by using connective word such as like or as.


CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this chapter, the researcher discusses the answers of the research

questions which were presented in Chapter I. The parts below show the kinds of

figurative language found in the song lyrics and how the use of figurative

language shows the language style of Taylor Swift.

A. The Figurative Language Types Found in the Song Lyrics

Twelve types of figurative language expressions were discussed in the

previous chapter. In the five songs that were analyzed, nine types of figurative

language types are found in the data. They are simile, metaphor, personification,

metonymy, symbol, paradox, hyperbole, understatement, and irony. Table 4

shows the summary of figurative language expressions which were found in the

five selected songs.

Table 4. Summary of Figurative Language in Song Lyrics

No Types of Figurative Language Frequency

1 Simile 14

2 Metaphor 10

3 Hyperbole 7

4 Symbol 6

5 Paradox 3

6 Irony 2

7 Personification 2

8 Metonymy 1

9 Understatement 1

Total 45

25


26

Table 4 reveals the quantity of each figurative language type found in the

five selected songs in the album. There are nine types of figurative language that

are found in the songs and forty five lyrics with figurative language. It is shown

from the table that simile is the most dominant figurative language type in the

songs. It is then followed by metaphor, hyperbole, symbol, paradox,

personification, irony, metonymy, and lastly understatement.

The figurative language found in the songs points out the application of

lexical analysis which is the fourth level of language. As mentioned in the second

chapter, this level deals with the use of variation in language vocabulary

(Simpson, 2004, p.5). The use of figurative language in the songs indicates

vocabulary variation. Swift selects to use numerous types of figurative language

to deliver her intention throughout her songs.

The figurative language found are followed by the meaning of lyrics with

figurative language since the semantic level is used. According to Simpson (2004,

p.5), semantic level, which is the sixth level of language needs to be studied on its

own to have a proper perspective on meaning in language. The meaning of

figurative language found in the songs gives a deeper understanding of the

figurative language types utilized by Swift.

To make the literal and non-literal meaning clearer, tables of literal and

non-literal meaning found in the lyrics are conducted and arranged under each

figurative language type. The literal meaning is based on the definition on

Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2018). The explanation and examples of figurative

language types found also the figurative meanings are in the following.


27

1. Simile

Simile is a comparison of one thing to another by using connective words

like or as (Leech, 1991, p.153). Simile is similar to metaphor, the difference is

only the use of connective words. Table 5 is the literal and non-literal meaning of

lyrics containing simile.

Table 5. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with Simile



Feature

1 Loving him is A very Enjoyment, [+valuable]

like driving a expensive and Pleasure

Red new Maserati... luxurious car

2 ... passionate as A discgraceful Something [-good]

sin manner wrong but

addictive

3 Keep dancing In the age of Feeling [+youth]

22 like we’re 22 twenty two youthful

4 You look like Unpleasant Something [+problem]

bad news news that very

brings trouble challenging

5 Starlight And we’re The light Something [+beauty]

dancing like emitted by the dreamy and

we’re made of stars beautiful

starlight

Table 5 shows that Maserati literally means a very expensive and

luxurious car and in the song it can be associated with enjoyment or pleasure. The

semantic feature shared is [+valuable]. Sin is defined as disgraceful manner while

in the song it refers to something wrong but addictive. The semantic feature

shared is [-good]. 22 means in the age of twenty two, while in the song is

indicated as feeling youthful. The shared semantic feature is [+youth]. Bad news

literally means unpleasant news that brings trouble, while in the song it is


28

associated as something very challenging. The shared semantic feature is

[+problem]. Starlight means the light emitted by the stars, while in the song it

actually points out something dreamy and pleasing. The shared semantic feature is

[+beauty]. Below is the first example of lyric which contains simile.

(1) Loving him is like driving a new maserati down a dead-end street

The first simile is found in “Red” song in the first line of the verse. It is

considered as simile because Swift compares the feeling of loving someone to

maserati by using like as the connective word. The word maserati refers to a

luxurious sport car which can be related to the songwriter’s feeling. When it is

related to something that is luxurious, it is implied as something that provides

pleasure and satisfaction. Dead-end street is known as an end of a street without

an exit.

In this lyric, Swift implies her feeling of loving someone which feels like

driving a new maserati, which gives her a big pleasure and satisfaction. The

following term shows the contrast, dead-end street refers to a situation that even

the songwriter loves the man so much and that it gives her so much pleasure, it

will end soon as there is nothing she can do more than races a dead-end street. The

following lyric is the next example of lyric which contains simile.

(2) Faster than the wind, passionate as sin, ending so suddenly

The second example of lyric containing simile is found in “Red” song in

line 2 which is the continuity of the first lyric example. It is included as a simile

since the songwriter compares how she loves the man that is passionate to a sin by


29

using as as the connective word. Sin is defined in Merriam-Webster Dictionary

(2018) as an action that is or is felt to be extremely disgraceful. It is related to the

passionate feeling. When the passionate feeling is compared to a sin, it implies a

feeling which is desirable and erotic. What Swift tries to convey is the situation

when someone does a sin. It is usually addictive and irresistible. As shown in the

complete lyrics, the songwriter explains about her feeling of loving the man in the

song which ends so suddenly as if it is faster than the wind as passionate as doing

a sin. Below is the next example of lyric containing simile.

(3) Keep dancing like we’re 22

The third example of lyric containing simile is found in the last line of the

chorus, just before the pre-chorus in “22” song. Dancing is associated with

something fun and 22 is the age that Swift thinks is the most fun. Swift feels that

being in the age of 22 is the best because she keeps on relating 22 to matters that

are full of enjoyment and freedom. In the lyric it shows that eventhough they are

not in the age of twenty two, they should have just pretended that they are 22

years old.

(4) You look like bad news, I gotta have you

The fourth example of lyric which contains simile is found in the last line

of “22”. It is considered as simile because of the comparison of you and bad news

by using look like as the connective word. Bad news is known as news that is not

pleasant or will bring negative emotions. Comparing someone to bad news means

that the person compared to bring badness or even badluck. Meanwhile, in the


30

song it means that the guy Swift compares to bad news and it brings challenging

experiences because the phrase is followed by I gotta have you. It indicates that

Swift is willing to be with this guy because he brings such an interesting

challenge. The following lyric is the fifth example of lyric containing simile.

(5) And we’re dancing like we’re made of starlight

The lyric is found in the last lines of the chorus. The bold phrase is repeated

to indicate the actual highlight of the song. Starlight is the light emitted by stars. It

literally refers to visible electromagnetic radiation from stars other than the sun

which is observable from earth during the night time (Robinson, 2002, p. 38).

Starlight is associated with something dreamy, shiny, and beautiful. By saying

someone is made of starlight means that they are born to shine.

Moreover, it is summarized in the album cover booklet that the song is

about romantic adventure of Swift which is inspired by the grandparents of her

boyfriend at the time. It can be concluded that using the word starlight indicates

the dreamy relationship moment Swift has with her significant other at the time.

2. Metaphor

Metaphor is defined as a figurative expression that uses comparison without

any connective words such as ‘like’ and ‘as’ (Leech, 1991, p.150). It compares

one thing to another or more in order to show their similarity. Table 6 shows

literal and non-literal meaning of lyrics with metaphor.


31

Table 6. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with Metaphor



Feature

1 Red Loving him Color of blood Intense [+bold]

was red

2 Treacherous And all we Outer thin layer Something [+pair]

are is skin and hard whitish completely

and bone… tissue of different but

humans/animals bounded

body

3 22 …but I’m The age of twenty Young, wild, [+youth]

feeling 22 two years old and free

It is shown in the table that Red is defined as the color of blood, while in

the songs it is indicated to be intense. The shared semantic feature is [+bold]. Skin

and bone means outer thin layer and hard whitish tissue of humans/ animals body,

while in the song it seems to be something completely different but bounded. The

shared semantic feature is [+pair]. 22 means the age of twenty two years old,

while in the song it seems to be young, wild, and free. The shared semantic

feature is [+youth]. Below is the first example of lyric that contains metaphor.

(6) Loving him was red

The lyric above is the last metaphor shown in “Red”. It is grouped into

metaphor group because it also has a comparison between the feeling of losing

him and the color of red. Loving literally means feeling love and affection, while

red is used to evoke the erotic feelings. It leads to the idea of love that is

passionate, affectionate, and desirable (Wright, 2011, p.5) As added by Khan

(2015, p.360), the color red also means happiness and warmth. The meaning of

affection is shown by the comparison between a feeling of loving someone and


32

the color of red. Red is also associated with erotic feelings, it might be because

red roses symbolize the romantic yet attached feelings of a lover. By showing this

comparison, the songwriter wants to show how it feels when she is loving

someone which is affectionate, warm, and erotic as the color of red. It also shows

the contrast between the previous lyrics that use colors that have the meaning of

sadness. The following lyric is the second example of lyric containing metaphor.

(7) “I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling 22”

The lyric found in the chorus of “22” is categorized as metaphor. There is

only one metaphor found in the song which is the number 22. The subject I is

compared to a number, 22. The word I is seen as Taylor Swift. Meanwhile, the

number 22 has both connotation and denotation meaning. The number presented

in the song shows an age. The connotation meaning of 22 is how happy Swift is at

the age of 22 because it is the age when she feels young, energetic, free, creative

and full of life. She has a lot of energy and enjoys her life. Moreover, the

metaphor explains that 22 is a middle-young phase where Swift finds so much

fun. Below is the third example of lyric containing metaphor.

(8) And all we are is skin and bone trained to get along

This metaphor is found in verse 1, line 8 of the song “Treacherous”. It is

classified as metaphor because there are two different things being compared in

the lyric which are we and skin and bone. In this metaphor, the word we is

identified as ‘skin and bone’. Both of the words in this metaphor have literal

meaning. The word skin is known as thin layer of tissue covering the body of


33

human or animal and the word bone is any of the pieces of hard tissue that makes

up human’s or animal’s skeleton. Meanwhile, skin and bone are bounded together,

so by comparing one and another to skin and bone means that they are meant to be

together.

3. Hyperbole

Hyperbole is known as the figurative language which uses exaggerated

statement to express strong feelings (Leech, 1991, p.167). The hyperbolic

expressions can be found by the exaggeration in some part of the lyrics which are

done by the songwriters in order to create a stronger or deeper meaning of the

song. The following is the Table of literal and non-literal meaning of lyrics with

hyperbole.

Table 7. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with Hyperbole



Feature

1 Red …he’s Turning Remains on [+continu-

spinning around the mind ous]

around my repeatedly

head

2 Treacherous And I’ll do Doing Doing things [+action]

anything you everything to make

say someone someone

basically says happy

Table 7 shows that spinning refers to turning around repeatedly where in

the song it seemingly remains in the mind. The shared semantic feature is [+bold].

Do anything you say means doing everything someone basically says and it is

pointed out that doing things is to make someone happy. The shared semantic


34

feature is [+action]. The first lyric that uses hyperbolic expression is presented as

follows.

(9) That’s why he’s spinnin’ round in my head

Spinning is known as a verb that shows a movement of turning around

repeatedly, as defined in Merriam-Webster dictionary (2018), yet the song lyric

does not literally refer to it. The song lyrics are included as a hyperbole as the

song writer adds the extravagant statement spinning around in my head to express

her feeling. It refers to the time when the songwriter cannot stop thinking about

the man whom she mentions as if the man is spinning around her head. The

following lyric is the next lyric which contains hyperbole.

(10) And I’ll do anything you say

The lyric is found in the song “Treacherous” in the third line of the bridge.

It is stated as hyperbole because the speaker says that she is willing to do anything

the guy she loves saying. It does not matter whether the thing he says is reckless

or harmful, she will do it. Moreover, when a girl or a guy is truly in love with

someone, they will do anything, even the stupidest thing just to be with the person

they love. This line is such a famous line and it is often heard even in everyday

life, in fact, in the lyric the word ‘anything’ will not really be literally anything, it

indicates to mean she will do things to make the guy happy. Moreover, the phrase

is applied to make the phrase or sentence more convincing and romantic just like

the flow of the song.


35

4. Symbol

As discussed in the second chapter, symbol is defined as something that

means more than what it is. Symbol might be best understood as an implied

metaphor (Perrine, 2004, p. 82). Symbol is said to be different from metaphor

because in symbol there is no comparison included. Table 8 is the literal and non-

literal meaning of lyrics with symbol

Table 8. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with Symbol



Feature

1 Red Burning red A vibrant red Intimate [+bold]

color

2 Starlight Don’t you see The light Something [+beauty]

the starlight? emitted by dreamy and

the stars pleasing

Table 8 shows that burning red refers to a vibrant red color, while in the

song it is associated as intimate. The shared semantic feature is [+bold]. Starlight

means the light emitted by the stars and it is indicated in the song as something

dreamy and pleasing. The shared semantic feature is [+beauty]. The following

lyric is the first example of lyric which contains symbol.

(11) Burning Red

The lyric is found in the last line of the chorus and it keeps on being

repeated. It is repeated because it strengthens the symbol of the song. The color

red is often associated with heat, so the term red in the lyric indicates the intensity

of the feeling of love. By adding the word burning in front of ‘red’ symbolizes the


36

intense and highly passionate act of loving. Below is the second example of lyric

with symbol.

(12) Don’t you see the starlight?

The lyric is found in the last line of the chorus of Starlight. Starlight is

associated with astronomy phenomenon, but in the lyric the meaning of starlight is

not the actual literal meaning. The term starlight here means fantasy or something

dreamy and pleasing. The next lyric is Don’t you dream impossible things? so it

suits the presence of starlight as the symbol of fantasy of romantic relationship that

is considered to be dreamy or fairy tale like.

5. Paradox

Paradox is an apparent contradiction that is nevertheless something true, it

maybe either a situation or a statement (Perrine, 2004, p. 101). The lyric contains

paradox makes a contrast. The following Table shows the literal and non-literal

meaning of lyrics with paradox.

Table 9. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with Paradox



Feature

1 For breakfast Having Having fun and [-time

down midnight morning meals forgetting time manage-

22 at very early ment]

morning

2 And end up Having dreams Ignoring the [-time

dreaming without falling time because manage-

instead of asleep of happiness ment]

sleeping


37

It is shown on the table that breakfast down midnight refers to having

morning meals at very early morning while it is associated in the song as having

fun and forgetting time. The shared semantic feature is [-time management].

Dreaming instead of sleeping means having dreams without falling asleep, while

in the song it seems ignoring time because of happiness. The shared semantic

feature is [-time management]. The following lyric is the first lyric with paradox.

(13) For breakfast down midnight

This lyric is found in the second line of the third verse of “22”.

Breakfast is known as meal in the morning. If breakfast is down midnight it

means that it is not breakfast. The lyric above does not mean literally, it means

unusual behaviour to be done in such exciting situation. In an exciting situation

such as party, people tend to forget time and do things without thinking about

the time. The following lyric is the next lyric with paradox.

(14) And end up dreaming instead of sleeping

The lyric is found in the same song as the first example which is “22”. It is

located in the last just before the second pre chorus of the song. As known

generally, sleeping is associated with dreaming as well. A person will not really

have a dream if they are not sleeping. Dream in this lyric means the actual dream

from sleeping, so the phrase is supposed to mean ignoring the time because of full

enjoyment of the situation.


38

6. Irony

Irony is a statement in which word are used in such a way that their

intended meaning is different from the actual meanings of the words (Perrine,

2004, p. 103). The irony found in the songs points out that what is said is not what

is meant. In the selected songs, two irony expressions are found and they are both

in the first and second verse of the song “I Knew You Were Trouble”. The

following table presents literal and non-literal meaning of lyrics with irony.

Table 10. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with Irony



Feature

1 I Knew You found Unexpectedly Get/trap [+notice]

You Were me discover

Trouble

2 He’ll never Have not or will Will not be [-action]

see you cry not see someone responsible

cries

Table 10 shows that found literally means unexpectedly discover, while in

the song it is pointed out as get or trap. The shared semantic feature is [+notice].

Will never see you cry means have not or will not see someone cries and in the

song it is indicated as will not be responsible. The shared semantic feature is [-

action]. The irony found in the songs are listed and explained in the following.

(15) You found me

The lyric above shows that the word found brings an ambiguous meaning.

It means being trapped, because the previous lyric is I was in your sight, you got

me alone. It points out the irony of being found. The word found in love songs


39

usually brings the romantic vibes, or it indicates something lost that comes back

while in this song it is not the same. Below is the second irony found in the songs.

(16) He’ll never see you cry

The lyric is found in the the second verse of “I Knew You Were Trouble”.

The lyric shows that the phrase will never see you cry involves an explicit

expression. It means the guy in the song will not be responsible for the mistakes

he does. He will just walk away and does not mind a thing. It does not mean the

guy will not literally see the girl cries because he will never let her down. Usually

the phrase will never see you cry is associated as making someone happy

continuously. The lyric shows that what is said is not what is meant. The phrase

chosen suits the whole idea of the song because the song is about a guy who is a

kind of troublemaker.

7. Personification

Personification is a human characteristics attribution to something

nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form (Perrine,

2004, p. 64). In the songs, two lyrics mean something immortal to be given the

abstract human quality is included in. The following Table is literal and non-literal

meaning of lyrics with personification.

Table 11. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with Personification



Feature

1 Treacherous This path is Careless and Dangerous [-good]

reckless thoughtless


40

2 I Knew You …saddest fear Comes in a Disturbs [-please]

Were Trouble comes disturbing way

creeping in or manner

Table 11 shows that reckless refers to careless and thoughtless, while in

the song it is associated as dangerous. The shared semantic feature is [-good].

Comes creeping in means coming in a disturbing way or manner, while it indicates

disturbance in the song. The shared semantic feature is [-please]. The following

lyric is the first lyric with personification.

(17) This path is reckless

The lyric is found in the second line of the chorus of “Treacherous”. The

term reckless is an adjective of a person or their actions without thinking or caring

about the consequences, while the term ‘path’ is an immortal thing, path is known

as a walkway. Meanwhile, by saying this path is reckless meaning the way of

having the relationship is careless. The personification of the song suits the whole

intention of the song. The song is about a girl falling for someone but she knows

and realizes that it could be dangerous. She realizes that the relationship will not

work out but anyway she keeps going with it. Below is the second lyric with

personification.

(18) And your saddest fear comes creeping in

The lyric is found in the first line of the bridge of “I Knew You Were

Trouble”. the act of human of coming in disturbing way or manner. Meanwhile, the

phrase saddest fear is known as the worst unpleasant emotion of being


41

threatened. By putting both phrases together in the song means the stage when

someone is feeling threatened and disturbed by something unpleasant. The

personification supports the idea of the song because the song presents such a

negative idea as well as the meaning.

8. Metonymy

Metonymy is the use of something closely related to the thing actually

meant (Perrine, 2004, p. 67) as listed in Chapter II of this research. A metonymy is

chosen because it is such a well-known characteristic of the concept. There is only

one metonymy found in the song and album. The metonymy is found in the second

line of the fourth verse of the song “I knew you were trouble”. The following Table

shows the literal and non-literal meaning of lyrics with metonymy.

Table 12. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with Metonymy



Feature

1 I Knew …from Mumbles People’s [+speak]

You Were whispers on on the street street

Trouble the street talk/gossip

Table 12 shows that whispers on the street refers to mumbles on the street,

while it is indicated as people’s street talk/gossip in the song. The shared semantic

feature is [+speak]. The following lyric is the lyrics with metonymy found in the

songs.


42

(19) I heard you moved on from whispers on the street

The lyric shows that the speaker gets information about this guy from

people’s talk on the street or may also be said as gossip. Swift chooses the term

whispers on the street because the word whispers can replace the word talk. So,

the metonymy of this song means people’s street talk which, in this case, is an

unpleasant talk to be heard.

9. Understatement

As discussed in the second chapter of this research, understatement is a

type of figurative language employed to make a situation seem less important than

it really is intentionally (Perrine, 2004, p. 102). Understatement is the antithesis of

hyperbole or overstatement. In the selected songs, there is only one

understatement found. The understatement is found in the bridge of “I Knew You

Were Trouble”. Table 13 shows literal and non-literal meaning of lyrics with

understatement.

Table 13. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with Understatement



Feature

1 I Knew Cause you never Have not Heartless [-good]

You Were loved me or her or loved anyone

Trouble anyone or or anything

anything

It is shown on the table that never loved me or her or anyone or anything

means have not loved anyone or anything, while it is associated as heartless in the


43

song. The shared semantic feature is [-good]. The following lyric is the

understatement lyric found.

(20) Cause you never loved me, or her, or anyone, or anything

The lyric means the man does not have love-feelings because it is said in

the lyric that he never loved ayone or anything. The word never in this lyric

indicates understatedness, underemphasis, and negativeness of the meaning. The

presence of this understatement lyrics supports the idea of the song. The song is

about a bad man who brings problems to his surroundings. So, it is suitable to use

understatement to strengthen the idea of the song that the guy in this song is

heartless and is deserved to be put down.

B. The Language Style of Taylor Swift Based On Selected Songs

Stylistic approach is used throughout this study. This study is aimed to

find the style of Swift by analyzing her album “Red”. The style that has been

found in the song is comparative and exaggerating; it is concluded from the

frequency of figurative language types applied in the lyrics.

1. Comparative

Taylor Swift applied a lot of figurative expressions in composing her

songs, especially in the Red album. Nine types of figurative language were found

in forty five figurative expressions. Using figurative language in a song can be

depicted as being more romantic in a way because figurative language has sense

of art. The facts that Swift tend to speak implicitly and use more complicated


44

expressions lead to the vagueness which is caused by the use of figurative

language.

It is shown in Table 4 that the most dominant figurative language type is

simile. Out of forty five figurative expressions, there are fourteen similes and ten

metaphors. Furthermore, twenty four out of forty six figurative expressions are

written to compare, which gives an idea that the style of Swift based on the five

selected songs in the album is comparative. The following lyric is the first

example of the comparison using simile.

(21) Forgetting him was like trying to know somebody you never met

The lyric is found in the third line of “Red” song’s chorus. Forgetting

someone’s love is compared to a matter such as trying to know somebody one that

she never met. Trying to know somebody we never met is very complicated

because there are no clues of it. It is difficult because when we try to know

somebody we haven’t met yet it brings uncertainty and questions to our mind

because we cannot really know somebody without seeing them in person. To

really know someone, we have to meet them and know their behaviour. Below is

the second example of comparison using simile.

(22) Memorizing him was as easy as knowing all the words to your old

favorite song

The example is found in the second line of the second chorus of the song

“Red”. As known, memorizing someone means keeping someone in mind, by

comparing with knowing all the words to ones’ old favorite song means it will be


45

easily done without any hurdles to memorize. Memorizing an old favorite song is

considered to be very easy because when ones like a song so much usually they

will keep on listening to it and the lyrics will be remembered. Swift chooses the

phrase to reveal the romantic vibes of the song. The “Red” song also presents an

idea of an intense romance.

Apart from simile, metaphor also takes a big proportion in the songs, since

nine metaphors are revealed. Metaphor is in the second place, right after simile.

What differs metaphor from simile is metaphor does not need connective words to

compare. Below is an example of comparison using metaphor.

(23) Missing him was dark grey all alone

The lyric was found in the second line of the chorus of the song “Red”.

Generally, what is usually described by using the word dark relates with sorrow or

bad things. Grey means a color intermediate between black and white or

associated with the color of ashes, as defined in Merriam-Webster Dictionary

(2018). The color dark grey represents pain and sorrow, so it means that missing

someone ones have feelings for brings sadness. In the song, Swift chooses colors

in relation to her emotions about a relationship. Swift chooses the dark grey color

to express how she feels when she misses the man she loves. It can be concluded

that when Swift misses the man she loves she feels gloomy. The following lyric is

another example of comparison using metaphor.


46

(24) I knew you were trouble when you walked in

The lyric is in the first line of the first chorus of “I Knew You Were

Trouble”. Trouble is defined in Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2018) as a cause of

distress, annoyance, or inconvenience. In the lyric, you is being compared to

trouble. It is noted in her cover album that this song is about a toxic man. Hence,

Swift expresses how bad this man is by comparing him to trouble. It gives a

deeper understanding to the listeners that this man Swift means is a real toxic.

Swift feels that she has been trapped by this man. The rest of the lyrics of the song

also direct to negative connotation.

Although all types of figurative language are non-literal, metaphor and

simile requires more clues to disassemble the real meaning and it depends on what

is being compared to. It needs clues to figure out what dark grey color actually

means in term of psychology and emotion, how the word trouble depicts someone,

how trying to know somebody ones never met feels like and how easy to

memorize an old favorite song.

2. Exaggerating

In Table 4, it can be seen that hyperbole and symbol are in the next order

after simile and metaphor. The frequency of hyperbole and symbol marks

exaggeration. There are thirteen out of forty five expressions written to

exaggerate, consisting of 7 hyperbole and 6 symbol. Hyperbole is known as

extravagant statement while symbol is known as something that means more than

what it is. In hyperbole the literal meaning is added by the extravagant statement


47

which can make the meaning goes deeper. Roberts and Kreuz (2006, p. 164)

assert hyperbole is used to emphasize something. The question that should be

asked upon hearing a hyperbolic statement is whether or not it's actually a true

statement. Hyperbole would have people believe so, and that is what makes it an

effective and strategic stylistic choice. Therefore, hyperbole is considered to be

persuassive. The following lyric is the first example of exaggeration using

hyperbole.

(25) Your name has echoed through my head

The example is found in the third line of the bridge of the song

Treacherous. The lyric is supposed to indicate that the addresser says that the

addressee cannot be forgotten. Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2018) defines that

echo is a sound caused by the reflection of sound waves from a surface back to the

listener. Meanwhile, in the song lyrics, the use of echo means being repeated and

kept in mind. Looking at the context of the whole song, it means swift cannot take

the guy she serenades out of her mind. The use of echo gives persuassive effect to

make the listeners think that she really cannot take this man out of her mind or

cannot stop thinking about him. The following lyric is the second example of the

exaggeration using hyperbole.

(26) We could get married and have ten kids and teach them how to

dream

The hyperbole above is found in the last lyric of the bridge of the song

“Starlight”. It shows that having ten kids and teach them how to dream is an

exaggeration. The example is supposed to show that Swift is being persuassive


48

about dreamy things. She persuades that dreaming is allowed and it also brings

hope. Having ten kids is considered as hyperbolic statement because it is such an

outrageous statement. Some people wish to have many kids because they think

having as many kids will bring luck. Moreover, having many kids is not easy, it

will cost a lot for the education, health, and many more. In the song, it means that

Swift wants to have future with this guy she addresses in the song to face beautiful

moments together.

The phrase teach them how to dream is actually a clue of being in life with

full of hope. The phrase matches with the general idea of the song. It is said in

The Wall Street Journal (2013) that the song “Starlight” is actually a song about a

beautiful relationship inspired by Bob and Ethel Kennedy who were the

grandparents of Connor, the man she was dating at the time. She added that she

liked their black and white picture when they were dancing because she thought it

was adorable and she would like to experience a sweet moment.

Besides hyperbole, symbol also comes after simile and metaphor. In the

songs, there are five symbols found. Symbol exists whenever something is meant

to represent something else. Symbol is a type of figurative language which is used

when an author wants to create a certain mood or emotion in a literary work

(Perrine, 2004, p. 82). The symbols used in the songs also suits the general idea of

the song. The song “Starlight” gives an idea that people have their own criteria of

dreaming. Another example of exaggeration using symbol is in the following.


49

(27) You’ll spend your whole life singing the blues

The lyric above is found in the second line of the pre chorus of the song

“Starlight”. In the lyric, Singing the blues does not really mean singing blues

songs, it means being melancholist instead. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defined

that blues in informal way is the feeling of melancholy, sadness, or depression

(2018). The term blues is an African-American music that traverses a wide range

of emotions and musical styles as defined in Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2018).

The lyric before is he says Look at you, worrying so much about things

you can’t change. Therefore, the bold phrase indicates the effect of worrying too

much is feeling down or becoming very melancholist. Actually, the lyric above is

not complete, the bold phrase there is followed by if you keep thinking that way,

so it means that if the girl keeps on worrying or over thinking, she will be trapped

in sorrow. It is said to be a way of exaggeration because Swift emphasizes the

feeling of dreamy with the words with poetic effect such as singing the blues. The

second example of exaggeration using symbol is in the following.

(28) Once upon a time, a few mistakes ago

The lyric found in the first line of the first verse of “I know You Were

Trouble”. Usually what is more common to be heard is once upon a time, a few

moments ago. Once upon a time is generally used to introduce a narrative of past

events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales (Konnikova, 2012, p. 3). Meanwhile a

few moments ago is used to indicate the time when the story was set. In the lyrics,

Swift applies mistakes instead of moments or any other words that usually


50

specifies time because she tends to symbolize something. Merriam-Webster

Dictionary (2018) defines mistake as an action or judgment that is misguided or

wrong or simply something incorrect. Swift chooses mistakes to show that she

considers the time the story happens as a fault that she regrets.

Moreover, the song tells about a toxic relationship so Swift’s choice of

using mistakes seems to be appropriate. It strengthens the point that she regrets

being in a relationship with this guy she addresses the song to. The symbol shows

exaggeration because Swift emphasizes hatred and shame through the choice of

words. If she does not exaggerate she will not emphasize the unpleasant feeling

through words that have negative connotations.

Generally, women speak in order to “be cooperative and making

connection” (Cameron, 2006, p.68). Therefore, women use more implicit

statements such as figurative language in order to imply their thoughts and ideas

and expect that it will be accepted by others. The two styles found in Taylor

Swift’s songs based on the choice of figurative language reflects on female

language. It is said that women tend to hide the literal meaning by saying

something implicitly to let the listeners think and take a guess for their aim (Danet

and Herring, 2007, p. 250). Both styles, comparative and exaggerating show that

Swift applies indirect way of expressing herself through songs she writes.

Furthermore, the more figurative language is used, the more vagueness is

created. Swift applies nine figurative language types in her five selected songs in

the album, but there are four types of figurative language that have considerable

amounts so the style is concluded to be in two kinds only.


CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

This chapter presents the conclusion based on the analysis which has been

done in the previous chapter. The data of the analysis are taken from five songs

from a singer-songwriter, Taylor Swift. The songs are “Red”, “Treacherous”, “I

Knew You Were Trouble”, “22”, and “Starlight”.

This research finds that Taylor Swift uses various types of figurative

language in creating song lyrics. Out of twelve types of figurative language, there

are nine types of figurative language found in forty five expressions. The nine

types of figurative language are simile, metaphor, personification, metonymy,

symbol, paradox, hyperbole, understatement, and irony.

This research reveals that the most used figurative language type is simile

with the frequency of thirteen, metaphor with the frequency of nine, hyperbole

with the frequency of seven, and symbol with the frequency of six. Three

paradoxes, two ironies, two personifications, two metonymies, and one

understatement are noted as well.

The language style of Swift in songwriting is determined by the number of

figurative language types in the five selected songs in the Red album. Simile and

metaphor are the most dominant figurative language types found in the songs. The

high frequency of simile and metaphor points out that the style applied by Swift is

comparative, since both simile and metaphor are the types of figurative language

which are used to compare one to another.

51


52

Apart from simile and metaphor, it is listed in Table 4 that hyperbole and

symbol are put in the third and fourth place. It can be concluded from these two

figurative language types that the style revealed is exaggerating. Hyperbole is a

type of figurative language which is applied to state an extravagant statement. The

quite high frequency of hyperbole brings the style of exaggeration. Meanwhile,

symbol is a figurative language type that means more than what it is. Symbol also

conveys exaggerating style because it emphasizes the meaning of the song with

the choice of words that match the song and it persuades the listeners to be in the

situation of the song.

The two styles found in the study also reflect on female language style

which can be noted that woman tends to be indirect when expressing her feelings.

Woman, in this case is female songwriter, is considered to hide her actual purpose

and make riddles to be guessed. In the future research, the researcher argues that it

needs more reliable resources to find more language styles. In the end of the

conclusion, it is hoped that the readers can be able to understand language style

based on figurative language.


REFERENCES

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Pittsburgh: Rosedog Books.

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Konnikova, Maria. (2012). The Power of Once Upon A Time : A Story to Tame

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Laksita, Amadea. (2017). Figurative Expressions in Song Lyrics By Male and Female Songwriters. Universitas Sanata Dharma, Yogyakarta.

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APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Figurative Expressions

found in the Lyrics

a. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Red

No Figurative Figurative Literal Non Literal Shared

Expression Language Meaning Meaning Concept

Type

1 ... like driving a A very Enjoyment, [+valuable]

new Maserati... expensive and Pleasure

luxurious car

2 ... passionate as A discgraceful Something [-good]

sin manner wrong but

addictive

3 ... like... flying Downward Final [+action]

through the free movement under decision

fall the force of

gravity

4 Like the colors in Briliant shades Colors suit [+variation]

autumn... Simile of orange, every the feelings

shades of

brown, gold and

yellow

5 ... like trying to Getting to really Doing an [+effort]

know somebody know someone extremely

you never met we haven’t met difficult task

yet

6 ...like realizing Finding out that Being [+Feeling

all you ever what is wanted grateful happy]

wanted was is in front tof us

there...

7 ...as easy as A song that has Something [-forget]

knowing... old been favorited that has

favorite song for such a long alwas been

time memorized

8 ...like trying to A puzzle of A [+problem]

solve a words arranged challenging

crossword... in grid of matter

squares

55


56

9 ...like wishing... Love could be Unbelievably [+feeling in

that love could be very deep and in love love]

that strong strong

10 Losing him was Color of sky and Sad, painful [-bright]

blue... sea

Metaphor

11 Missing him was Color of ashes Gloomy [+darkness]

dark grey...

12 Loving him was Color of blood Intense [+bold]

red...

13 ...he’s spinning Turning around Remains on [+continu-

around my head Hyperbole repeatedly the mind ous]

14 Moving on from Not able to Very difficult [+problem]

him is impossible occur or be done to be done

15 When I still see it Seeing Stays in the [+remain]

all in my head everything in the mind

mind

16 Burning red Symbol A vibrant red Intimate [+bold]

color

b. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Treacherous

No Figurative Type of Literal Non Literal Shared

Expression Figurative Meaning Meaning Concept

Language

1 ... you’re quick A mass of wet Something that [+hold]

sand sand that yields traps and hard to

easily to pressure resist

Metaphor anything falling

into it

2 And all we are is Outer thin layer Something [+pair]

skin and bone... and hard whitish completely

tissue of different but

humans/animals bounded

body

3 ... but you’re a The resistance An opposite will [+contrast]

friction that one object

encounters when

moving over

another


57

4 Your name has A sound being Remains in [+continu-

echoed through repeated after the mind, cannot be ous]

my mind Hyperbole original sound has forgotten

stopped

5 I’ll follow you Following until Keeping [+loyal]

home home someone safe

6 And I’ll do Doing anything Doing things to [+action]

anything you someone basically make someone

say says happy

7 This path is Personificat Careless and Dangerous [-good]

reckless -ion thoughtless

c. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of I Knew You Were Trouble



Language

1 Once upon a Symbol Something Something [-right]

time, a few Incorrect that has been

mistakes ago regretted

2 I knew you Difficulties A problematic [+problem]

were Metaphor person

trouble....

3 Now I’m lying A solid surface of An unpleasant [-pleasant]

on the cold the earth which is phase

hard ground cold and hard

4 A new notch An indentation on Someone who [+mark]

on your belt is a surface will just be a

all I ever be memory

5 You found me Irony Unexpectedly Get/trap [+notice]

discover

6 He’ll never see Have not or will Will not be [-action]

you cry not see someone responsible

cries

7 ...from Metonymy Mumbles on the People’s [+speak]

whispers on street street talk /

the street gossip

8 ...saddest fear Personification Comes in a Disturbs [-please]

comes disturbing way or

creeping in manner


58

9 Cause you Understatement Have not loved Heartless [-good]

never loved anyone or

me or her or anything

anyone or

anything

d. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of 22



Language

1 ...but I’m Metaphor The age of 22 Young, wild, [+youth]

feeling 22 years old and free

2 For breakfast Having Having fun and [-time

down Paradox morning meals forgetting the management]

midnight at very early time

morning

3 And end up Having dreams Ignoring the [-time

dreaming, without falling time because of management]

instead of asleep happiness

sleeping

4 ...to dress up Someone who Very [+style]

like hipsters tries hard to fashionable and

follow the stands out

Simile latest trend and

fashion

5 Keep dancing In the age of 22 Feeling [+youth]

like we’re 22 youthful

6 You look like Unpleasant Something [+problem]

bad news news that challenging

brings trouble

7 ...when we Time limits Burdens [+responsi-

forget about the bility]

deadlines Symbol

8 We ditch the A sequence of Real life [+situation]

whole scene continuous circumstances

action in a

movie


59

e. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Starlight



Language

1 We could get Hyperbole Having many Having big [+expectatio

married and children ambitions n]

have ten kids...

2 ...like we’re Simile The light Something [+beauty]

made of emitted by the dreamy and

starlight stars beautiful

3 ...like we dream Simile Dreams or hope Something [+thought]

impossible that will never that remains

dreams come true as wishful

thought

4 Pretending to be Metaphor A royal couple An [+pair]

a duchess and a from a kingdom impressive

prince couple

5 ...your whole life Singing blues Being [-happiness]

singing the (sad) songs melancholist

blues Symbol

6 Don’t you see The light Something [+beauty]

the starlight? emitted by the dreamy and

stars pleasing


60

Appendix 2: Table of Figurative Language Types Found in the Songs

No Types Lyrics Title

1 “Loving him is like driving a new Red

Maserati..”

2 “.. Passionate as sin ending so

suddenly”

3 “Loving him is like trying to change

your mind once you’re already flying

through the free fall”

4 “Like the colors in autumn, so

bright..”

5

Simile

“Forgetting him was like trying to

know somebody you never met”

6 “Touching him was like realizing all

you ever wanted was right there in

front of you”

7 “Memorizing him was as easy as

knowing all the words to your old

favorite song”

8 “Fighting with him was like trying to

solve a crossword and realizing there’s

no right answer”

9 “Regretting him was like wishing you

never found out that love could be that

strong”

10 “It feels like a perfect night to dress up 22

like hipsters”

11 “Keep dancing like we’re 22”

12 “You look like bad news”

13 “And we’re dancing like we’re made Starlight

of starlight”

14 “Losing him was blue..” Red

15 “Missing him was dark grey..”

16 “Loving him was red”

17 “I knew you were trouble when you I Knew You

walked in” Were Trouble

18 “Now I’m lying on the cold hard

Metaphor ground”

19 “A new notch on your belt is all I ever

be”

20 “...but you’re quick sand” Treacherous

21 “And all we are is skin and bone


trying to get along”


61

22 “...but you’re a friction”

23 “Pretending to be a duchess and a Starlight

prince”

24 “..he’s spinning’round my head” Red

25 “Moving on from him is impossible”

26 “When I still see it all in my head”

27 “Your name has echoed through my Treacherous

Hyperbole mind”

28 “I’ll follow you home”

29 “And I’ll do anything you say”

30 “We could get married and have ten Starlight

kids and teach them how to dream”

31 “Burning red” Red

32 Once upon a time, a few mistakes ago I Knew You

Symbol

Were Trouble

33 “Tonight’s the night when we forget 22

about the deadlines”

34 “We ditch the whole scene”

35 “You’ll spend your whole life singing Starlight

the blues...”

36 “Don’t you see the starlight?”

37 “For breakfast down midnight” 22

Paradox

38 “And end up dreaming, instead of

sleeping”

39 “It’s miserable and magical”

40 Irony “You found me” I Know You

Were Trouble 41

“He’ll never see you cry”

42 Personification “This path is reckless” Treacherous

43 “And your saddest fear comes I Knew You

creeping in” Were Trouble

44 Metonymy “And I heard you moved on from

whispers in the street”


45 Understatement “Cause you never loved me, or her, or

anyone, or anything”


62

Appendix 3: The Lyrics of “Red” by Taylor Swift

[Verse 1:]

Loving him is like driving a new Maserati down a dead-end street

Faster than the wind, passionate as sin, ending so suddenly

Loving him is like trying to change your mind once you're already flying

through the free fall Like the colors in autumn, so bright just before they lose it all

[Chorus:]

Losing him was blue like I'd never known

Missing him was dark grey all alone

Forgetting him was like trying to know somebody you never met

But loving him was red

Loving him was red

[Verse 2:]

Touching him was like realizing all you ever wanted was right there in front of

you

Memorizing him was as easy as knowing all the words to your old favorite song

Fighting with him was like trying to solve a crossword and realizing there's no

right answer Regretting him was like wishing you never found out that love could be that

strong

[Chorus:]

Losing him was blue like I'd never known



But loving him was red

Oh, red

Burning red

[Bridge:]

Remembering him comes in flashbacks and echoes

Tell myself it's time now, gotta let go

But moving on from him is impossible

When I still see it all in my head

In burning red

Burning, it was red

[Chorus:]

Oh, losing him was blue like I'd never known


63



'Cause loving him was red

Yeah, yeah, red

We're burning red

[Post-Chorus:]

And that's why he's spinnin' 'round in my head

Comes back to me, burning red

Yeah, yeah

His love was like driving a new Maserati down a dead-end street


64

Appendix 4: The Lyrics of “Treacherous” by Taylor Swift

[Verse 1:]

Put your lips close to mine

As long as they don't touch

Out of focus, eye to eye

Till the gravity's too much

And I'll do anything you say

If you say it with your hands

And I'd be smart to walk away

But you're quicksand

[Chorus:]

This slope is treacherous

This path is reckless


And I, I, I like it

[Verse 2:]

I can't decide if it's a choice

Getting swept away

I hear the sound of my own voice

Asking you to stay

And all we are is skin and bone

Trained to get along

Forever going with the flow

But you're friction

[Chorus:]


This path is reckless


I, I, I like it

[Bridge:]

Two headlights shine through the sleepless night

And I will get you a—get you alone

Your name has echoed through my mind

And I just think you should, think you should know

That nothing safe is worth the drive

And I would follow you, follow you home

I'll follow you, follow you home


65

[Chorus:]

This hope is treacherous

This daydream is dangerous

This hope is treacherous

I, I, I... I, I, I... I, I, I...

[Post chorus:]

Two headlights shine through the sleepless night

And I will get you, I'll get you alone Your name has echoed through my mind

And I just think you should, think you should know

That nothing safe is worth the drive

And I would follow you, follow you home





I, I, I like it


66

Appendix 5: Lyrics of “I Knew You Were Trouble” by Taylor Swift

[Verse 1:]

Once upon a time, a few mistakes ago

I was in your sights, you got me alone

You found me, you found me, you found me

I guess you didn't care, and I guess I liked that

And when I fell hard you took a step back

Without me, without me, without me

[Pre chorus:]

And he's long gone when he's next to me

And I realize the blame is on me

[Chorus:]

'Cause I knew you were trouble when you walked in

So shame on me now Flew me to places I'd never been

'Til you put me down, oh

I knew you were trouble when you walked in

So shame on me now

Flew me to places I'd never been

Now I'm lying on the cold hard ground

Oh, oh, trouble, trouble, trouble


[Verse 2:]

No apologies. He'll never see you cry,

Pretends he doesn't know that he's the reason why

You're drowning, you're drowning, you're drowning

Now I heard you moved on from whispers on the street

A new notch in your belt is all I'll ever be

And now I see, now I see, now I see

[Pre chorus]

He was long gone when he met me

And I realize the joke is on me, yeah!

[Chorus:]


So shame on me now





67

So shame on me now





[Bridge:]

And the saddest fear comes creeping in

That you never loved me or her, or anyone, or anything, yeah

[Chorus:] I knew you were trouble when you walked in

So shame on me now



I knew you were trouble when you walked in (you were right there, you were

right there)

So shame on me now






Trouble, trouble, trouble


Trouble, trouble, trouble


68

Appendix 6: Lyrics of “22” by Taylor Swift

[Verse:]

It feels like a perfect night to dress up like hipsters

And make fun of our exes, uh uh, uh uh.

It feels like a perfect night for breakfast at midnight

To fall in love with strangers, uh uh, uh uh.

[Pre chorus 1:]

Yeah,

We're happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time

It's miserable and magical.

Oh, yeah

Tonight's the night when we forget about the deadlines

It's time

[Chorus:]

Uh oh!

I don't know about you

But I'm feeling 22

Everything will be alright

If you keep me next to you

You don't know about me

But I'll bet you want to


If we just keep dancing like we're

22, ooh-ooh

22, ooh-ooh

[Verse 2:]

It seems like one of those nights,

This place is too crowded.

Too many cool kids, uh uh, uh uh (who's Taylor Swift anyway, ew?)

It seems like one of those nights,

We ditch the whole scene and end up dreaming

Instead of sleeping.

[Pre chorus 2:]

Yeah,

We're happy, free, confused, and lonely in the best way

It's miserable and magical.

Oh, yeah


69

Tonight's the night when we forget about the heartbreaks

It's time

[Chorus:]

Uh oh! (hey!)


But I'm feeling 22



You don't know about me


Everything will be alright (alright)


22, ooh-ooh (oh, oh, oh)

22, ooh-ooh


22, ooh-ooh

22, ooh-ooh

[Post chorus:]

It feels like one of those nights,

We ditch the whole scene.


We won't be sleeping.


You look like bad news.

I gotta have you,

I gotta have you.

[Chorus:]

Ooh-ooh

Ooh-ooh, ye-e-e-e-eah, hey

I don't know about you (I don't know about you)

But I'm feeling 22



You don't know about me (you don't know about me)




22, ooh-ooh

22, ooh-ooh

22, ooh-ooh, yeah, yeah


70

22, ooh-ooh, yeah, yeah, yeah

[Post chorus:]


We ditch the whole scene


We won't be sleeping


You look like bad news,

I gotta have you,

I gotta have you.


71

Appendix 7: Lyrics of “Starlight” by Taylor Swift

[Chorus:]

I said, "Oh my, what a marvelous tune"

It was the best night, never would forget how we moved.

The whole place was dressed to the nines,

And we were dancing, dancing

Like we're made of starlight

Like we're made of starlight

[Verse 1:]

I met Bobby on the boardwalk, summer of '45

Picked me up late one night out the window,

We were 17 and crazy, running wild, wild

Can't remember what song it was playing when we walked in

The night we snuck into a yacht club party

Pretending to be a duchess and a prince

[Chorus:]

And I said, "Oh my, what a marvelous tune."

It was the best night, never would forget how we moved.



Like we're made of starlight, starlight


[Pre chorus:]

He said, "Look at you: worrying too much about things you can't change.

You'll spend your whole life singing the blues if you keep thinking that way."

He was tryna skip rocks on the ocean, saying to me,

"Don't you see the starlight, starlight?

Don't you dream impossible things?"

[Chorus:] Like "Oh my, what a marvelous tune."

It was the best night, never would forget how we moved





[Bridge:]

Ooh, ooh, he's talking crazy

Ooh, ooh, dancing with me

Ooh, ooh, we could get married

Have ten kids and teach them how to dream


72

[Chorus:]

Oh my, what a marvelous tune

It was the best night, never would forget how we moved






Like we dream impossible dreams

[Post chorus:]

Like starlight, starlight

Like we dream impossible dreams

Don't you see the starlight, starlight?

Don't you dream impossible things?


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