Overview
- Dr Naomi Adam published a corpus analysis in The Conversation between Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, 2026, based on the Taylor Lyric Corpus (TaLyCo), a bespoke dataset of 247 publicly available songs totaling 123,553 words.
- The study used corpus‑linguistic methods to identify recurring themes across Swift’s 20‑plus year catalogue, highlighting colour, counterfactual scenarios, embodiment, opposition and time as the strongest motifs.
- Adam found specific lexical patterns that repeat across albums, including frequent references to body parts and clothing and an unusually high use of the colour grey, with examples cited from songs across multiple eras.
- Those same patterns appear in Swift’s four new Encore tracks, where the analysis notes concrete instances (arms, lips, cardigans, ‘church dress’) and reports a mixed reception among fans and commentators.
- Adam will expand the research in a forthcoming book, The Lyrics of Taylor Swift, and the corpus offers scholars and listeners a transparent, repeatable method to track how Swift’s lyrical choices may shape her future work.