Title ‘All the stars aligned’: Creative metaphors of love in Taylor Swift’s and Lana Del Rey’s lyrics
Translation of Title „Visos žvaigždės susiliejo“: kūrybinės meilės metaforos Taylor Swift ir Lana Del Rey dainų tekstuose.
Authors Daniusevičiūtė, Gabija
DOI 10.15388/Taikalbot.2026.23.2
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Is Part of Taikomoji kalbotyra.. Vilnius : Vilniaus universiteto leidykla. 2026, vol. 23, p. 16-31.. eISSN 2029-8935
Keywords [eng] cognitive linguistics ; creative metaphors ; scenarios ; Lana Del Rey ; Taylor Swift
Abstract [eng] Metaphors are known to express people’s feelings, especially complex ones, and they shape our understanding of the world (Lakoff & Johnson 1980; Kövecses 2010). Songs that can be analysed like poetry (Randel 2014; Abrams 2012) regard one of the most complicated human feelings (Maestre 2015; Lomas 2018). The study analyses love-related metaphors in Swift’s and Del Rey’s lyrics, considering creative metaphors and the prevailing metaphorical scenarios. The results reveal that the conceptualisation of love differs across both artists. Metaphorical scenarios prevail in Swift’s lyrics and are less frequent in Del Rey’s. When constructing scenarios, Del Rey employs one-shot creative metaphors, and Swift uses a balanced mix. While the relationship itself is mostly understood as a game, the process of the relationship is conceptualised as a vehicle that takes the passengers/lovers from point A to point B, and the end of the relationship is conceptualised as death, which hints at emotional turmoil.
Published Vilnius : Vilniaus universiteto leidykla
Type Journal article
Language English
Publication date 2026
CC license CC license description