This research investigates the realization of break up and romance songs.
It employed a qualitative approach. The data sources are four songs by
Taylor Swift, “I Knew You Were Trouble” (IKY), “Would’ve, Could’ve,
Should’ve” (WCS), “King of My Heart” (KM), and “London Boy” (LB).
Those songs are analyzed in terms of their transitivity, which represents a
process condensation. Each of the clause is classified by the type of
process and the social actors involved to determine who does what (and to
whom). The analysis results five types of transitivity, material, mental,
relational, behavioral, and verbal process contained in the data. The type
of process that is not used on the data is existential process. The findings
indicate the insights into how Taylor Swift strategically implies transitivity
to evoke diverse emotional responses through her music. The songs are
dominantly constructed by the material process (46%) both to create
romantic and heartbreak atmosphere. The material process of break-up is
realized by the imperative process form. The actor mainly uses you as the
dominant figure to portray the boyfriend in the narrative, and it's not
always followed by the goal. However, the material process of love is
realized in the form of declarative sentence. The actor dominated by the
subject I as the representative of the emotional engagement and
independent actions, it is not always provided with the presence of
circumstance. It also reveals transitivity functions as a tool in shaping the
interpersonal meanings in lyrical compositions. This study enhances the
understanding of how process choices in song lyrics offers insights into
the interplay between language and emotion in popular music.