Taylor Swift's new song was released today. I've already had a student ask me for clarification regarding the line "I don't trust nobody" and whether or not it is being used correctly.
I told them my thoughts about artists who bend the rules a bit in order to make a song more appealing or catchy (especially country songs). I'm definitely not a stickler for grammar rules (and this song breaks a few), but I'm curious about what you think.
Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K0RzZGpyds
NOAH.
So is this what teenagers and youth listen to these days?
Oh my God! How on earth is this a song?
This is more like a tragic incident... I'm sorry if I'm offending anyone, but
I'm so surprised that someone as famous as this singer consider this a
song! They must be so sure that people would listen to anything.
If someone like Taylor Swift uses "I don't trust nobody", it's like she's giving
an excuse to whoever listens to her to make the same grammar mistake and
assure them that it's okay to sound dumb.
I don't think that it sounds 'comfortable or colloquial.' It sounds like the person didn't finish high school to me.
But it does sound fine in a song.
In my opinion, it doesn't matter if song lyrics break grammar rules. Music is art and beauty is in the eye of the beholder (or listener in this case). Song writers are not writing books, they are attempting to express their ideas using words, sounds (like whoooo, yaaaaa, etc.), and music. Trying to learn English grammar from songs is not wise. However, songs can be good for oral comprehension due to their repetitive nature and the usual availability of lyrics. Just keep in mind that some songs and singers are very hard to understand even for natives.
For an example of a song that is in English, but practically unintelligible, give this song a listen. When I first heard it I was listening to a French radio station that plays both English and French songs. I thought for sure this song was in French because I could only understand a word or two and many songs on this station have songs that mix English and French. I was shocked to find out it was all in English. The singer must have a sock in her mouth :)
Burak Yeter - Tuesday ft. Danelle Sandoval
Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist! (Pablo Picasso)
Learn the rules, so you know how to break them properly. (Dalai Lama)
I believe you definitely can break them as long as you know them. :)
The way you speak seems to be strongly influenced by the way your family spoke when you were growing up. I would never say "I don't trust nobody." My brain would not come up with those words normally. We weren't a double negative family. I have, however, met one native speaker who grew up in a "no past participle" family." She never used the past participle forms such as "eaten." She would ask, "Have you ate yet?" You can be sure her family said that.
I met a native speaker high school kid who did not know that English even had a past perfect tense. Instead of saying "Tom had been sick for a week, so he didn't go to the party yesterday" his family would something like " Tom didn't go to the party yesterday. He was sick all week before that."


