<![CDATA[Taylor Swift’s song “Seven” recounts the childhood of a seven-year-old who watches a friend live in fear under a father figure’s abusive parenting. This study examines six lyrical units from the song using Roland Barthes’s semiotics to trace the child’s response to the abuse witnessed. A qualitative desk study drew primary data from close textual observation of the lyrics and secondary data from dictionaries and family-psychology literature. Commutation test isolated six analysis units, five from the bridge and one from the chorus. Denotative and connotative readings show that the first three lines mark the friend’s house losing its function as a safe communication space, through a haunted house, the father’s persistent anger, and a secret promise that closes the communication channel with adults. The next three lines show the narrator taking over a protective role through an invitation to live together, a fantasy of becoming pirates, and a promise to protect the friend from crying and hiding. Tracing the myths behind these six meanings reveals long-standing narratives about parents frightening children with the word “ghost,” a father’s authority under patriarchal culture, popular narratives of children building their own refuge outside the home, pirates as a symbol of freedom, and true friendship as an unconditional protector. These myths make “Seven” easy to recognize across cultures and languages, including for Indonesian listeners. The findings show the child playing an active role in constructing meaning and seeking protection through peer bonds when the family fails to serve as its first safe space.]]>
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