TEXTUAL MEANING IN SONG LYRICS.

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Edwan Ali Firdaus, 2013

Textual Meaning In Song Lyrics

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu

STATEMENT

I hereby certify that this research paper is completely my own work, except where due references are made in the text, and that it contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or institution.

Bandung, January 2013

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Alhamdulillah I was able to finish this research paper. In writing this paper, I was alone in typing the research, but I was never truly alone because during the completion of this research paper, there are many contributions and supports from many people. This research paper will never exist without them. Therefore, I would like to express my sincerely and big appreciation to all of them.

This research paper was carried out under the academic supervision of Iwa Lukmana, M.A., Ph,D. as first supervisor. Therefore, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for his patience, guidance, support, and suggestion. My sincere gratitude is also due to Budi Hermawan, M.P.C. as my co-supervisor for inspiring me in each aspect of this research paper.

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PREFACE

Alhamdulillahirabbil’ alamiin, It is only Allah SWT, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful, who deserves to be praised by all creatures Who allows me to

complete the research paper entitled “Textual Meaning in Song Lyrics” I won‟t ever let myself turn away from Him since I do realize I will never ever find any space to hide from His sight .Blessing and peace are heading to Muhammad SAW, who is The Greatest Messenger and The Noblest Leader.

This research paper is composed originally for the purpose of partially fulfilling the requirements of SarjanaPendidikan degree. The process of writing this research paper inquires me to understand many aspects that are needed in academic writing. For the reason, this condition leads me into condition in which I deserve to be crowned „S.Pd.‟ as a title written after my name. Nevertheless, this process has enriched me with many things that force me to think profoundly for the rest of my life. Hopefully, the lesson from this process makes me well-prepared to face real-life situations outside campus.

Many efforts have been done and this is the best I can do up to now. I do realize that the process of learning should not be plunged in one phase. This is not the end of my learning process. Any weakness in any part of this writing suggests the limitation of my thinking ability at present. Later, it must be a truthful lesson for me to do better. I do hope this research paper may become a beneficial contribution for the reader.

Bandung, December 2013

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Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.1 Background of the Study ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.2 Statements of the problems ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.3 Purposes of the Study ... 3

1.4 Research Methodology... 3

1.5 Organization of the Paper... 4

CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL FOUNDATION ... 5

2.1 Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) ... 5

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3.3 Data Collection ... 23

3.4 Data Analysis ... 24

CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ... 27

4.1 The Themes in the Lyrics ... 27

4.1 Interpersonal Theme... 28

4.1 Textual Theme ... 29

4.1 Topical Theme ... 33

4.1 Tendency in the Used of Themes ... 35

4.2 The Realization of Topical Theme ... 35

4.2.1 Noun Phrase as Topical Theme... 37

4.2.2 Pronoun as Topical Theme ... 39

4.2.3 Circumstance as Topical Theme ... 42

4.2.4 Nominalization as Topical Theme ... 42

4.2.5 Question Words as Topical Theme ... 43

4.2.6 Process as Topical Theme ... 44

4.3 The The Messages in the Lyrics ... 45

CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ... 49

5.1 Conclusions ... 49

5.2 Suggestions ... 50

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1 Types of Theme 9

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LIST OF APPENDICES

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CHAPTER 1 Introduction

This chapter contains introduction which discusses background of the study, statement of the problems, proposes of the study, research methodology, and organization of the paper.

1.1. Background of the Study

Human beings communicate in a host of complex ways. Of all the forms

of communication, music‟s unique approach to connecting people seems to

effortlessly unite generations, faiths and cultures. Over the years, music has been both evolutionary and revolutionary, evoking the same timeless emotions.

Generally, music consists of two elements, sounds as the primary and lyrics as the secondary (Dallin 1994). Lyrics have significant contributions to the music itself although as the second element of the music. Lyrics give the audience deep understanding about the message contained in the song; in other words, lyrics clarify the message contained in the song.

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listener is dependent on the lyrics. The message contained in a song lyric can be delivered depending on how the writer put the words in the lyrics (Bertoli-Dutra and Bissaco, 2006: 1053).

Lyrics have been researched from several points of view. For example, lyrics have been studied in intercultural communication by Fock (2010) who find that micro music and world music have a relation with multicultural discourse. In general linguistics, Cespedes (2005) has studied the meaning and communication in popular music. Another study was conducted by Bertoli-Dutra and Bissaco (2006) who studied the Theme in the U2 songs. They find that the most frequent Theme is „I‟, followed by „you‟and „the‟ which implies the desire of the author for a conversation.

Their study focuses on Themes used in the song lyrics, different with the present study. This present study more specifically seeks to examine Topical Themes used in the song lyrics.

1.2. Statement of the Problem

This study is conducted to answer these following questions: 1. What Themes are realized in Dream Theater lyrics?

2. How are Topical Themes realized in Dream Theater lyrics?

3. How are the messages constructed in selected song lyrics from Dream

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Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu 1.3. Purposes of the Study

Based on the questions formulated above, the purposes of the study are: 1. to examine the Themes used in the Dream Theater lyrics.

2. to find how the Topical Themes are realized in Dream Theater lyrics.

3. to find how the messages are constructed in selected song lyrics from Dream

Theater‟s “Scenes From A Memory.

1.4. Research Methodology

Qualitative approach is used in this study. Fraenkel and Wallen (1990: 10)

state that “qualitative approach is employed when a researcher wants to acquire a

holistic depiction of what actually happens in particularly circumstances or situation. Further this study also employed descriptive method. According to Arikunto (1996:234), it has no intention to prove any hypothesis, but to examine and describe the representation of social events that are found in the data sources. Descriptive quantification is also employed in this study. As Alwasilah (2008) stated, descriptive quantification is used to support the quality of descriptions and to make better understanding of the study.

The data for this study are in the form of song lyrics of Dream Theater‟s

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Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu 1.5. Organization of the Paper

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CHAPTER 3 RESERCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the research design used in conducting this research. More specifically, it describes the research problem, research design, data collection, and data analysis.

3.1. Research Problem

The purposes of the study are to find out the Themes used and the most frequent Topical Themes in Dream Theater lyrics. Therefore, the present study is intended to investigate the following questions:

1. What Themes are realized in Dream Theater lyrics?

2. How are Topical Themes realized in Dream Theater lyrics?

3. How are the messages constructed in selected song lyrics from Dream Theater‟s “Scenes From A Memory”?

3.2. Research Design

Qualitative approach was used in this study. Fraenkel and Wallen (1990: 10) state that “qualitative approach is employed when a researcher wants to

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and describe the representation of social events that are found in the data sources. Descriptive quantification is also employed in this study. Alwasilah (2008) stated that descriptive quantification is used to support the quality of descriptions and to make better understanding of the study.

Based on the definition above, the research methodology employed in this research was descriptive qualitative method since the data were indirectly measurable and in the form of words. The study has applied with the purpose of investigating the discourse features that were found in the selected song lyrics. The data has analyzed using Halliday Theme and Rheme analytical framework to find out the textual meaning of the selected songs‟ lyrics.

3.3. Data Collection

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able to gain the completeness and the depth of information in facing the reality (Sutopo, 2002 cited in Wulan 2008).

In taking sample, the study employed purposive sampling technique. Purposive sampling is a non-random technique of drawing sample based on certain criteria conformed to the research purpose. Sample of this research were the lyrics by Dream Theater which was composed in the 1999. The lyrics that had been taken were as follows; Through My Words, Through Her Eyes, and The Spirit Carries On. These three lyrics were composed by John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess (1999), while “Through My Words” and “The Spirit Carries On” were composed by both of them (1999) and “Through Her Eyes” was composed by Jordan Rudess (1999).

3.4. Data Analysis

The collected data are analyzed using Theme and Rheme analytical framework proposed by Halliday (2004). In analyzing the lyrics, the study applied several steps: first, the song lyrics were divided into clauses. The second step was carried out to identify the Topical Themes using the Hallidayan Theme and Rheme analytical framework (2004) which is developed among others by Eggins (2004). A string of words are considered a Topical Theme if appear in the beginning of the clause and occupy one transitivity functions as exemplified below.

Where did we come from?

Topical Theme Rheme

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In the above example, the question word „where‟ is a Topical Theme because question word „where‟ function as circumstance and it appears in the beginning of

the clause and also occupy one transitivity functions. As mentioned by Eggins (2004), question words which initiate questions will function as Topical Themes.

If I die tomorrow textual topical

THEME RHEME

example 3.2

In the above example, the conjunction „if‟ is a Textual Theme because conjunction „if‟ function as conjunctive adjunct. As mentioned by Eggins (2004),

conjunctive adjunct is textual Theme element.

Don`t weep at my grave interpersonal topical

THEME RHEME

example 3.3

In the example above, the Interpersonal Theme is finite „don‟t‟. The finite is the

primary auxiliary „do‟ combined with negative polarity. As mentioned by Eggins

(2004), primary auxiliaries are included as finite, and finite is one of the Interpersonal Theme elements.

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Table 3.1 Sample of Realization of Topical Theme in the First Lyrics

No. Types of Topical

The last step was carried out to interpret the messages from the song lyrics based on the distribution of Topical Theme supported by distribution of Textual and Interpersonal Themes.

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Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

This chapter presents the conclusions which are taken from the findings and discussions in the previous chapter. This chapter also presents some suggestions for further studies.

5.1. Conclusions

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Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu 5.2. Suggestions

After drawing some conclusions, there are several suggestions that may be useful for teachers and further studies. For teachers, this study can be used as a tool to analyze songs that will be used as a media in teaching English. It is possible that if this study had made the Thematic Analysis not exclusively on the clause level, but on the text level, this study would have gotten different results. This study could also have gotten different results if this study had considered the Theme+Rheme equation or even if this study had analyzed the other two meta-functions, but this was not the intention of this study.

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Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu References

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