Frames- According to Fillmore ([1982] 2006), a frame “is a system of categories structured in accordance with some motivating context”. Let's consider the example of the word 'carnivore' in English. English speakers understand that ‘carnivore’ means ‘person who only eats meat’ because of the cultural context, or ‘frame’ surrounding the term. So frames will be different for every individual, although based on shared cultural experiences we might assume they'll be somewhat similar.
Mental Spaces- Fauconnier (1985, 1994) introduced this concept. Basically, this refers to the images your mind thinks of when imagining a particular frame. Taking the 'carnivore' example again, a mental space could be imagining yourself eating steak, a hamburger, or other meat. Perhaps you'd imagine a table filled with meat. Whatever works. Again, every individual will have different mental spaces evoked by a frame.
Blending- Turner (2002) discusses the concept of 'blending', which is basically a combination of more than one mental space. Imagine, if you will, that you've heard the word 'carnivore' while sitting in a large lecture. Suddenly you start envisioning the row of classmates in front of you as large, juicy steaks. Perhaps the person next to you turns into a bratwurst. What your mind has done is combine the mental space where you imagined large quantities of meat with the mental space of physical reality-the actual people sitting in chairs in class. Your mind combines the spaces into a blend, leaving out original elements of both spaces in the process.
For more info on these concepts, the following articles are good starting points.
Fauconnier, Giles. Mental Spaces: Aspects of Meaning Construction in Natural Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985, 1994.
Fillmore, Charles J. “Frame Semantics. In Cognitive Linguistics: Current Applications and Future Perspectives. Mouton De Gruyter, 2006.
Turner, Mark. “Conceptual Integration”. In Cognitive Linguistics: Current Applications and Future Perspectives. Mouton De Gruyter, 2006.
Now that we have basic definitions down, let's see how these concepts can be applied to understanding song lyrics. Consider the song "Papa Was a Rodeo" by The Magnetic Fields. Here are the lyrics:
I like your twisted point of view, Mike
I like your questioning eyebrows
You've made it pretty clear what you like
It's only fair to tell you now
that I leave early in the morning
and I won't be back till next year
I see that kiss-me pucker forming
but maybe you should plug it with a beer
Papa was a rodeo
Mama was a rock 'n roll band
I could play guitar and rope a steer
before I learned to stand
Home was anywhere with diesel gas
Love was a trucker's hand
Never stuck around long enough
for a one-night stand
Before you kiss me you should know
Papa was a rodeo.
The light reflecting off the mirror ball
looks like a thousand swirling eyes
They make me think I shouldn't be here at all
You know, every minute someone dies
What are we doing in this dive bar
How can you live in a place like this
Why don't you just get into my car
and I'll take you away I'll take that kiss now, but
Papa was a rodeo
Mama was a rock 'n roll band
I could play guitar and rope a steer
before I learned to stand
Home was anywhere with diesel gas
Love was a trucker's hand
Never stuck around long enough
for a one-night stand
Before you kiss me you should know
Papa was a rodeo
And now it's 55 years later
We've had the romance of the century
After all these years wrestling gators
I still feel like crying when I think of what you said to me
You get the idea. Now let's see a diagram of the blend that's constructed that helps us visualize and understand the narrative occuring in this song. It's tiny, but if you click on the picture you can see a larger version.