Advancing semantic and pragmatic theoretical frameworks through an analysis of Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do”

Abstract

Semantics and pragmatics, as theoretical frameworks, continue to prove their appropriateness in the examination of literary texts and conversations, as well as in songs and music. This denotes that the two theoretical frameworks cannot solely be constricted within the parameters of general linguistics; instead, they are applicable to other disciplines or subject areas. In view of this fact, this article aims to uncover the covert meanings in Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” lyrical song. To do this, semantic and pragmatic theoretical frameworks are applied, while the song itself is acknowledged as a primary source of data. The objective of this article is to demonstrate the development of semantics and pragmatics, as theoretical perspectives, and the ways in which meaning can be explicated using these theoretical perspectives in the chosen song and other areas of interest. Ultimately, the overall objective is to demonstrate how words, phrases and sentences may be understood differently by language users. The results and discussions validate that Taylor Swift uses different linguistic techniques, as well as metaphorical expressions to communicate her message to her audience. Nevertheless, such abilities of this singer and songwriter may not always be clear to everyone, hence the necessity to apply semantic and pragmatic theoretical lenses. The closing remarks underline the importance of continuing to develop the two theoretical perspectives beyond the limitations of general linguistics. In addition to this, the closing remarks underscore the synergetic relationship that exists between language and music.