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FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE IN SELECTED SONGS OF “RED” BY TAYLOR SWIFT

Article in LANGUAGE LITERACY Journal of Linguistics Literature and Language Teaching · December 2022
DOI: 10.30743/ll.v6i2.5711

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 Language Literacy: Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and Language Teaching
Volume 6, Number 2, pp: 299-308, December 2022
e-ISSN: 2580-9962 | p-ISSN: 2580-8672
DOI: 10.30743/ll.v6i2.5711

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
IN SELECTED SONGS OF “RED” BY TAYLOR SWIFT
Alya Rizqi Fatikha, Qanitah Masykuroh
Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta, Sukoharjo, Indonesia
E-mail: qm153@ums.ac.id

Received: 2022-07-23 Accepted: 2022-10-28 Published: 2022-12-29

Abstract
This study aims to explore the types and meanings of figurative language in
Taylor Swift’s song lyrics. On the surface level, figurative language cannot
be translated literally. The study is descriptive qualitative, and the data are
in the forms of figurative language taken from eight selected songs in
Taylor Swift's album "Red" collected by documentation technique. The
data are then analyzed using content analysis by referring to the
framework of Knickerbocker & Reninger’s theory (1985) on figurative
language. From the analysis, there are 57 types of figurative language in
the selected songs, namely hyperbole 31,5%, simile 19,3%, metaphor
17,5%, metonymy 5,3%, irony 3,5%, symbol 7,0%, personification 10,6%,
paradox 3,5% and synecdoche 1,8%. Furthermore, the meaning of each
figurative language used in the song lyrics is contextually explored and
allied with the content of the song lyrics which conveys the various deep
expressions of feeling and emotion of Taylor Swift as both a singer and a
songwriter.

Keywords: figurative language; song lyrics; woman singer; woman songwriter

1. Introduction
Song lyric is generally considered as a form of literary work that uses figurative
language which presents more imaginative language to attract the attention of music
listeners. Song lyrics are often used by authors as a means to express feelings and various
kinds of emotions. Besides, song lyrics are also used to convey certain meanings and
messages through words. Song lyrics usually have different meanings and descriptions which
are often sourced from the songwriter’s real-life experiences. However, to understand the
lyrics of the song, it requires an understanding of meaning, including figurative meaning. This
figurative meaning is included in the realm of semantic studies as revealed by Kreidler (2014)
that in semantic studies two kinds of meaning are studied, namely literal meaning and
figurative meaning. Compared to literal language, figurative language is the inventive use of
words to provide readers with imagination and interpretation of meaning in context (Lazar,
2003).
Figurative language itself is a language expression that is commonly applied in
literary works. One of the literary works is song lyrics that resemble poetry. Descriptive
words in figurative language have meanings that go beyond the literal meaning, namely
using symbols to describe other things or events. Additionally, Figurative words function to
explain, strengthen, live, stimulate, and decorate an object (Keraf, 2009: 129). They basically
provide another way to enrich the additional dimension of language. Figurative language is
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Figurative Language in Selected Songs of “Red” by Taylor Swift, Alya Rizqi Fatikha, Qanitah Masykuroh

also called a metaphor because it means to bring meaning from the literal meaning to the
figurative level. Many writers use this style of language to transfer their impressions of
something to give a message that has a special effect in understanding each sentence of
their work (Knickerbocker & Reninger, 1985). Correspondingly, figurative language is a way
of saying something in an unusual way. In the context of literary works, the writer avoids the
use of literal meaning. In short, figurative language is used to convey feelings, thoughts, and
perceptions that cannot be expressed literally.
Taylor Swift's songs are songs popular that use lots of figurative languages. Besides,
song lyrics are considered to be a kind of language expression which deploys variety of
figurative languages, the application of figurative language in Taylor Swift's songs is the focus
of this study. Moreover, Taylor Swift is a famous American singer and songwriter. This is
evidenced by her songs that are always hit around the world. She has been able to score
many awards at a young age for her best-selling albums. In her songs, Taylor Swift usually
uses various figurative languages, which possibly make some of her songs a bit difficult to
understand for people who do not understand implicit and metaphorical language. In this
study, several songs in the same album, namely “Red” were selected considering that those
songs contain considerable number of figurative language usages. The songs selected
included All Too Well (10 minute version), Red, 22, I Knew You Were Trouble, Everything Has
Changes, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, Start Again, and Starlight.
Researches related to figurative language in song lyrics have previously been
conducted across song genres. Some of them are the research conducted by Arditami (2017)
entitled an analysis of figurative language found in Katy Perry’S song “Firework”, and by
Milana & Ardi (2020) who analyzed figurative language in Justin Bieber’s selected songs. In
addition, Lusiana & Qomariana (2017) identified the figurative language used in the lyrics of
selected songs in Taylor Swift's album, “1989”, and Listiani (2015) explored figurative
language found on the song lyric by Taylor Swift’s “Speak Now” album. Similarly focusing on
figurative language, Nursolihat & Kareviati (2020) identified figurative language used in the
lyric of “A Whole New World” by Zayn Malik and Zhavia Ward. Another study was conducted
by Dewi, Hidayat & Alek. (2020) investigating figurative language in lyric of the song "Lose
You Love Me", while Permana & Winarta (2019) also studied figurative and imagery within
the Fight Song. Besides, Daniswara, & Winaya (2016) examined the meaning of figurative
language with reference to four Iron Maiden’s songs. Fajrin & Parmawati (2021) also
conducted research analyzing figurative language found in the song of Bruno Mars entitled
"Grenade", while Permana & Rajeg (2018) also conducted research entitled figurative
language in the song lyrics of Passenger's album "All the Little Lights". Further, other
research was also conducted by Yastanti, Suhendar, & Pratama (2018) who investigated
figurative language in song lyrics of “Linkin Park”.
This study has the same focus as those of the previous studies, namely the analysis of
figurative language and its meaning in song lyrics. However, this study investigates those
figurative languages by exploring the song lyrics in the album "Red" by both the singer and
the song writer Taylor Swift. As the singer and the song writer, the expression of feeling and
emotion in her song lyrics is an interesting site to investigate. This research is expected to
present linguistic insight regarding figurative language in popular songs by woman singer
and woman songwriter.

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Language Literacy: Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and Language Teaching
Volume 6, Number 2, pp: 299-308, December 2022
e-ISSN: 2580-9962 | p-ISSN: 2580-8672
DOI: 10.30743/ll.v6i2.5711

2. Literature Review
A. Figurative Language
In semantics, the dimensions of meaning include understanding relations,
grammatical and lexical elements, denotation, connotation, morphemes, homonyms, lexical
ambiguity, polysemy, sentences, and meanings (Kreidler, 2014). In addition, Chaer (1994)
categorizes four types of semantics which are distinguished based on the level or part of the
language that is the object of research i.e. a) Lexical Semantics which is a type of semantics
whose object of research is the lexicon of a language; b) Grammatical Semantics which is a
type of semantics whose object of research is grammatical meanings from the morphological
level; c) Syntactic Semantics which is a type of semantics whose research objectives are
based on matters relating to syntax and d) Semantic Meaning which is a type of semantics
that deals with the use of figurative forms, such as metaphor, irony, litotes, etc. In this study,
figurative language style falls under the semantic meaning. Figurative language or often
called figure of speech is a style of language used to convey a message imaginatively or
figuratively with the aim that the reader or listener gets a certain effect. In general,
figurative language is previously used for literary works such as poetry; nevertheless, as the
resemblance of poetry, figurative language is also frequently in song lyrics.
Figurative language, according to Lazar (2003) is a form of rhetoric, the use of words
in speaking and writing to convince or influence the reader. The use of language style makes
the presentation of literary works more imaginative, fresh and memorable and displays an
aesthetic effect. The aesthetic effect causes literary works to have artistic value. The artistic
value of literary works does not mean only because of the style of language, but also
because of the style of storytelling or the arrangement of the plot. However, language style
is the highest indicator in the value of a literary work. Figurative language according to
Knickerbocker & Reninger (1985) is also simply called a metaphor because it means to bring
meaning from the literal meaning to the figurative level. Many writers use this style of
language to transfer their impressions of something to give a message that has a special
effect in understanding each sentence of their work. The use of specific language styles such
as style figurative language in song lyrics is able to influence the listener to be able to know
the song writer ideas. Through this style, the listeners are brought to feel feelings and
expressions such as the expression of pleasure or anger.
Knickerbocker & Reninger (1985) proposed twelve types of figurative language i.e.,
metaphor, simile, symbol, personification, synecdoche, metonymy, hyperbole, irony,
paradox, dead metaphor, imagery and allusion.
a. Simile
According to Keraf (2009: 138) simile is used to say that something is the same as
other things. Simile is a comparative figure of speech. Often used to compare two things,
usually denoted by a conjunction, such as like, as, than, or the verb like Knickerbocker &
Reninger (1985). By using simile figure of speech, the writer can compare ideas with parables
of objects or figures that have similar characteristics to the description of the idea intended
by the author. For example, “He is cold as ice.”

b. Metaphor
Metaphor is identical to a simile in that it compares two things, but it does not use
the words "as" or "like" to use it. Metaphor is a kind of figurative language to think
something in analogy (Alm-Arvius, 2003: 90; Knickerbocker & Reninger, 1985). It is a
statement that one thing is another, which it is not in a literal sense. It often does not
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Figurative Language in Selected Songs of “Red” by Taylor Swift, Alya Rizqi Fatikha, Qanitah Masykuroh

require words like "like" or "as" to connect sentences. For example: “He is the apple of my
eye.”

c. Personification
Personification is an implicit comparison whose figurative term of the comparison is
always human being. It is a kind of figurative language in which inanimate things, animals,
and ideas are given human characteristics (Lazar, 2003). Personification can have a
significant impact on the reader's perceptions. For example: “broken-hearted songs can pull
me into painful memories.”

d. Metonymy
Metonymy is a figurative Language in which a word is used to declare other things,
because they have close relationship (Knickerbocker & Reninger, 1985). It is a figure of
speech in which one object's name is replaced by another that is closely related to it. For
example: “Can you give me a hand carrying this box up the stairs?”.

e. Symbol
The symbol, symbollein, is taken from Greek and used as a verb that means to match.
Alm-Arvius (2003) refers a symbol as something that is used to represent or is thought to
represent something else. A symbol, more precisely, is a word, phrase, or other utterance
with several, interrelated meanings. For example: “She had a voice like a thunder”.

f. Synecdoche
Keraf (2009: 142) argues that synecdoche is a figurative language that uses part of
something to express the whole (pas pro toto) or on the contrary uses the whole to state a
part (totem pro parte). As an example: “All eyes on you”.

g. Paradox
The word paradox refers to a type of language that integrates claims that oppose
each other. In English, contradiction could refer to the absence of truce among truths,
interpretations, and actions (Picken, 2007). For example: “The only thing we have to fear is
fear itself”.

h. Hyperbole
Hyperbole according to Knickerbocker & Reninger (1985) is a language style that
contains an embellished statement, by exaggeration. Additionally, hyperbole is a kind of
language style that contains an exaggerated statement, by overstating something that is
expressed excessively (Keraf, 2009). For example: “Salsa has a heart like an angel”.

i. Irony
The style of irony comes from the word eironeia which means pretend or deception.
Irony language style is a reference in which someone expresses something with a different
meaning to what is actually meant (Knickerbocker & Reninger, 1985). "Irony is a figure of
speech in which words are utilized in such a way that their intended meaning is distinct from
the real meaning of the words “(Keraf, 2009: 143). In simple terms, it is the distinction
between appearance and actuality. For example: “Your room is so tidy that nothing in the
corner of the room is not covered in paper waste”.

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Language Literacy: Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and Language Teaching
Volume 6, Number 2, pp: 299-308, December 2022
e-ISSN: 2580-9962 | p-ISSN: 2580-8672
DOI: 10.30743/ll.v6i2.5711

B. Song Lyrics
An element that is significant in a song is the lyrics of the song. Song lyric is an
expression of the soul or feelings, which are poured in the form of words or sentences (Ali,
2006). The lyrics of the song generally tell something to the audience listener, it can be a sad
story, a happy heart, a love, longing, and so on. In addition, a song is like a stylistic vocal
game and word meaning deviation is a language game in creating song lyrics. Besides,
musical notation and melodies adapted to the lyrics are used to amplify the lyrics, so that
listeners get carried away with what the author was thinking. Through the lyrics of the song
in the form of messages as well as spoken words and sentences, the function is to create an
atmosphere and image of imagination to the listener and create various meanings. The
function of the song as a medium of communication is to sympathize with reality and
imaginative stories.
Song lyrics are included in the literary genre because the lyrics are literary works
(similar to poetry) that contain an outpouring of personal feelings in the wording of a song
(Departemen Pendidikan Nasional, 2003: 678). Hence, the lyrics are analogous with poetry
but served with songs that belong to the genre of imaginative literature. Every song must
have a specific purpose to be conveyed to the public as listeners. The song contains a line of
words that well assembled in an interesting style by the composer and delivered in the
beautiful voice of the singer. In this study, the researcher explores the figurative language in
the lyrics of the selected songs by Taylor Swift in the album “Red” because they have a
variety of interesting lyrics written by their own singer.

3. Research Method
This research is descriptive qualitative, and it is designed to identify the types and the
meaning of figurative language in selected song lyrics taken from Taylor Swift's songs in the
album entitled RED which was released in 2012 i.e., “All Too Well (10 mins version)" were
"Red", "22", "Everything Has Changed", We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", "I Knew
You Were Trouble", "Begin Again", and "Starlight". The data were collected by
documentation technique and were analyzed deploying content analysis by referring to the
theory of figurative language by Knickerbocker & Reninger (1985).
In the process, the data are converted into code with the following details: to
indicate the title of the song using the code D(no)/title/album title. For example, for the Red
song on the Red album, the code is written as follows: D1/R/R. Then for the next song with
the title All Too Well, it is written D2/ATW/R. Meanwhile, to show each song's lyrics along
with the type of figurative language, use the following code; single data along with
numbering (datum)/type of figurative language/number. For example, for the lyrics of the
song "But something bout it felt like home somehow" identified simile, the code used is
Datum 1/Si/1. The next example in the lyrics "Autumn leaves falling down like pieces into
place" is also identified as simile, so the code used is as follows Datum 2/Si/2.

4. Results and Discussion

From the selected song in ‘Red’ album by Taylor Swift, 57 figurative languages were
collected and nine figurative languages were found. In addition; those figurative languages
can be categorized and summarized in the following table:

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Figurative Language in Selected Songs of “Red” by Taylor Swift, Alya Rizqi Fatikha, Qanitah Masykuroh

No. Kind of Fig Lang No of Occurance Percentage

1 Simile 11 19,3%
2 Hyperbole 18 31,5%
3 Metaphor 10 17,5%
4 Metonymy 3 5,3%
5 Symbol 4 7,0%
6 Irony 2 3,5%
7 Personification 6 10,6%
8 Paradox 2 3,5%
9 Synecdoche 1 1,8%
Total 100%
Table 1. Kinds of figurative language

The researchers chose eight songs from the same album, namely Taylor Swift's Red
album. The songs are All Too Well (10 mins version), Red, 22, Everything Has Changed, We
are Never Ever Getting Back Together, I Knew You were Trouble, Begin Again and Starlight.
This research has found nine figurative languages i.e. hyperbole, simile, metaphor,
metonymy, personification, irony, paradox, symbol, and synecdoche. The most common
figurative language found is hyperbole. This is reinforced by the many lyrics that seem
exaggerated to attract listeners' attention. Considering that most of the songs performed by
Taylor Swift use figurative language, it is not surprising that a lot of figurative language was
found. For a detailed explanation, here is an explanation of each figurative language along
with its contextual meaning.
a. Simile
Simile is a comparison of two things, usually denoted by a connective, such as like, as,
than, or a verb like resembles. In general, a simile is a sort of figurative language used to
describe the similarity of two objects (in shape, colour, characteristic etc). Some of the songs
below include the type of Simile:” But something bout it felt like home somehow”
(D2/ATW/R).
These lyrics are in the song All Too Well (10 mins version). This lyric contains a simile
figure of speech because it is reinforced by the word "like" which means to show an explicit
comparison. The contextual meaning contained in this lyric is that "she" feels comfortable
when with "him". Felt like home means comfortable. Home is associated with a comfortable
place.

b. Hyperbole
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which something is exaggerated in order to
emphasize the information in the sentence. “That magic’s not here no more” (D2/ATW/R).
This lyric is in the song All Too Well (10 mins version). This lyric includes hyperbole because
the sentence is exaggerated to achieve a meaning. In this lyric the word "magic" means love.
Therefore, the contextual meaning is that there is no longer love that is felt in the
relationship.

c. Metaphor
Metaphor is one of the figures of speech that uses analogies or parables. Metaphor is
also defined as a word or phrase that is used to refer to something else to show how similar
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Language Literacy: Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and Language Teaching
Volume 6, Number 2, pp: 299-308, December 2022
e-ISSN: 2580-9962 | p-ISSN: 2580-8672
DOI: 10.30743/ll.v6i2.5711

the two things are. Some of the songs below include the type of Metaphor including “Wind
in my hair” (D2/ATW/R). This lyric is in the song All Too Well (10 min version). This lyric
contain metaphor because word “wind” is used as an analogy of “flowing hair”.

d. Metonymy
Metonymy is the use of a substitute name for an object in the form of a
characteristic, attribute, or brand. Some of the songs below include the type of Metonymy
including;
“Your cheeks were turning red” (D2/ATW/R). This lyric is in the song All Too Well.
This lyric contains metonymy because the word “turning red” means blushing. The
contextual meaning of this lyric is that his cheeks are blushing.

e. Symbol
A symbol is an object that describes or symbolizes another object. Some of the songs
below include the type of Symbol for example “You were tossing me the car keys”
(D2/ATW/R). This lyric is in the song All Too Well. This lyric contains symbol because “tossing
me the car keys” means asking to drive the car. The contextual meaning of this lyric is “he”
asked “her” to drive the car.

f. Irony
Irony is a satire figure of speech where the definition of irony is a style of language
that contains statements that are very contradictory or inversely proportional to the actual
situation. The instance is “fuck the patriarchy”, key chain on the ground” (D2/ATW/R); This
lyric is in the song All Too Well (10 mins version). This lyric contains Irony because the
sentence “fuck the patriarchy” is a satire on people who think that women cannot do
anything, while in fact, women can lead her own life.

g. Personification
Personification is language style that gives the nature or behavior of inanimate
objects. This lyric is an example of the type of Personification: “A never-needy, ever-lovely
jewel whose shine reflects on you” (D2/ATW/R). This lyric is in the song All Too Well (10 mins
version). It contains personification because it uses the word “jewel” as a retainer of the
characteristic of inanimate objects with human. The contextual meaning of this lyric is that
“she” thinks that her boyfriend was valuable and amazing just like the jewel.

h. Paradox
Paradox figure of speech is a figure of speech whose meaning is contrary to the
existing words. “For breakfast at midnight” (D3/22/R), this lyric is in the song 22. This lyric
contains paradox because “breakfast” is usually used for morning eating. But in this lyric, the
contextual meaning is they having fun until forget the time.

i. Synecdoche
Synecdoche is figure of speech that states something in its entirety or states the
whole for a part. “When you said you needed space” (D5/WNGBT/R), This lyric is in the song
We are Never Ever Getting Back Together. This lyric contains synecdoche because it states
the whole for a part of “space”.

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Figurative Language in Selected Songs of “Red” by Taylor Swift, Alya Rizqi Fatikha, Qanitah Masykuroh

This study revealed several figurative languages contained in the selected songs
belonging to Taylor Swift. The finding showed that the type of figurative language that most
often appears is hyperbole with a frequency of eighteen times with a percentage of 31.5%.
While the type of figurative language that least frequently appears is Synecdoche with the
frequency of occurrence only once with a percentage of 1.8%. Further, Hyperbole being the
dominant figurative language might indicate that the songwriter, Taylor Swift, uses
hyperbole as an implicit expression in giving emotional and dramatic effects excessively in
each verse of the song. Taylor Swift’s song themes mostly contain possible implicit meanings
such as heartbreak, complicated love, and so on. Hence, hyperbole is regarded the most
appropriate figurative language to emphasize those themes.
In addition, out of twelve figurative languages as proposed in Knickerbrocker &
Reninger’s theory (1985), there are only nine figurative language that found in this study.
This could be because the figurative language found is in accordance with the interpretation
of the song lyrics under study. The three figurative languages that are not included in the
song's lyrics are Onomatopoeia, Allegory and Allusio. The three figurative languages are not
included in the song lyrics studied because they are not in accordance with the themes of
Taylor Swift’s song lyrics.
Further, the result of this study is in alignment with the previous studies, particularly
those by Lusiana & Qomariana (2017), Dewi, Hidayat & Alek (2020), Yastanti, Suhendar, &
Pratama (2018) and Fajrin (2021), who investigated the figurative language from song lyrics,
and resulted the research findings that the most dominant figurative languages are
hyperbole because the song messages about negative things such as pain heart, and
treachery are very deep.
Based on the previous studies above, the results of their research and the results of
this study have the same findings, namely analyzing the types and meaning of figurative
language. Nevertheless, this study applied the theory of figurative language by
Knickerbrocker & Reninger (1985) on the song lyrics sung and written by the same singer and
songwriter i.e., Taylor Swift.
Moreover, this study also confirms the application of the types of figurative language
as proposed by Knickerbocker & Reninger (1985) on song lyrics. While in their seminal book
“Interpreting Literature” they proposed twelve types of figurative language, this study
showed that Taylor Swift only uses nine types of figurative language to support her in
conveying messages about the eight selected songs. This highlights that the variety of
figurative language in song lyrics can also be determined by the genre and the theme of the
song, therefore; not all types of figurative language must presence in a song lyric or even in
an album.

5. Conclusion
This study analyzed eight Taylor Swift’s songs from one album “Red”. In general, all
the songs that have been investigated are based on the life experiences of Taylor Swift.
Figurative language in this case. The hyperbole and figurative imagery of Taylor Swift's songs
are dominant because most of the context of the song's lyrics is the depiction and emphasis
of conflict, heartache and deep betrayal. The lyrics are mostly conveying deep feeling and
emotion, so the words used in the song are exaggerated by comparing the original meaning
with the explicit words.
This research is hoped to be applicable for students to elaborate the types of
figurative language as a learning resource. It is also hoped that further researchers will be

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Language Literacy: Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and Language Teaching
Volume 6, Number 2, pp: 299-308, December 2022
e-ISSN: 2580-9962 | p-ISSN: 2580-8672
DOI: 10.30743/ll.v6i2.5711

able to analyze figurative language on more various song genres and from different language
perspectives.

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 Figurative Language in Selected Songs of “Red” by Taylor Swift, Alya Rizqi Fatikha, Qanitah Masykuroh

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