Conceptual metaphors in lyrics, vocal realization and music – reinforcement or modification of emotional potential

Abstract

The paper seeks to examine the ways in which the emotional potential (germ. Emotionspotential) rooted in the textual part of selected songs can potentially be reinforced or modified by the music and vocal realization. Music and intonation provide sonic counterparts of the emotional states expressed by language. I shall consider cases where the sonic counterpart is either an analog or stands in contrast to the textual component and the affective value commonly associated with the invoked conceptual metaphor/metonymy. The research material consists of three versions of the song Ride by 21 Pilots, the song Here Comes the Night Time by Arcade Fire and Die Flut [the flood] by Joachim Witt and Peter Heppner. The analysis results show that salient presence of up/down image schema in verbal and musical orientational metaphors is observable, albeit not always accompanied with the most typical valence pattern.