We are what we hear: metaphors in contemporary Spanish and English commercial hits

Abstract

The subliminal messages transmitted by means of metaphors in songs could influence the development of critical thinking among our youngsters which will reflect on their personality later in life. The aim of this article is to analyse the discourse of the most popular commercial songs in English and Spanish of song-writers and the values they convey to metaphorical compositions. 452 metaphors were identified which have been analysed according to six high frequency themes: love, sexuality, happiness, ambition, madness and violence. The results of the discourse analysis indicate how metaphors are culture-bound and reinforce the idea of a distinct and varied perspective of life on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Based on the tendencies of composition of these commercial rhythms, results show that metaphors, being sexually provocative and socially controversial, are used as a strong marketing strategy to which our youngsters are constantly exposed to.

A multimodal analysis for an updated vision of women in music videos

“…At present, little is known about the values, ideas and attitudes propagated through music videos. On the other hand, the music video is currently a multimodal cultural product of great impact and dissemination among young people, and it becomes an extraordinary medium in which to study any contemporary topic or content (Camacho-Díaz and Fonseca-Mora 2021;Sánchez-Vizcaíno and Fonseca-Mora 2019). Music videos show one way of understanding the world in Western society.…”