1 English Education Study Program – STKIP PGRI West Sumatera [2017]
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE IN WESTLIFE’S SONGS
Winda Yani
1)Siska
2)Edwar Kemal
3)1
English Education Department, STKIP PGRI West Sumatera, Gunung Pangilun – Padang, [email protected], (1
stWriter)
2
English Education Department, STKIP PGRI West Sumatera, – Padang, [email protected], (2
ndWriter)
3
English Education Department, STKIP PGRI West Sumatera, – Padang, [email protected], (3
rdWriter)
ABSTRACT
The research aims to determine the types of figurative language in a Westlife song with the title (Soledad, Total eclipse of the heart, I do, Season in the sun, You light up my life, Puzzle of my heart, Fragile heart, Forever, I ' m already there, and I lay my love on you). Based on the use of figurative language in a Westlife song with that title, the researchers know the types of figurative language in Westlife song. figurative language has several types such as: Metaphor, simile, paradox, Sinekdok, metonym, synesthete, antithesis, personification, hyperbole, irony and so forth. But in this study, researcher focused on personification, metaphor, simile and hyperbole based on the types figurative language that expert Spectrum and Vincent (2004, p.6) explain. This research data such as documents from Westlife songs titled (Soledad, Total eclipse of the heart, I do, Season in the sun, You light up my life, Puzzle of my heart, Fragile heart, Forever, I'm already there , and I lay my love on you). In this research, researcher used a method of document analysis and data analysis techniques. From the results of the study, researcher found no 7 personification, metaphor 5, 4 simile, and hyperbole 19. Each type has a specific purpose based on the context in the westlife„s song lyrics. Researcher has done to analyze of each of these types of figurative language.
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui jenis-jenis penggunaan majas dalam lagu Westlife dengan judul ( Soledad, Total eclipse of the heart, I do, Season in the sun, You light up my life, Puzzle of my heart, Fragile heart, Forever, I’m already there, and I lay my love on you). Berdasarkan penggunaan majas dalam lagu Westlife dengan judul tersebut, maka peneliti mengetahui jenis-jenis majas dalam lagu Westlife. Majas memiliki beberapa tipe seperti: Metafora, Simile, Paradok, Sinekdok, Metonim, Sinestesia, Antitesis, Personifikasi, Hiperbola, ironi dan lain sebagainya. Namun dalam penelitian ini, peneliti hanya fokus pada penggunaan tipe Personifikasi, Metafora, Simile dan hyperbole berdasarkan tipe-tipe yang diungkapkan para ahli Spectrum and Vincent (2004, p.6). Data penelitian ini berupa dokumen dari lagu-lagu Westlife yang berjudul (Soledad, Total eclipse of the heart, I do, Season in the sun, You light up my life, Puzzle of my heart, Fragile heart, Forever, I’m already there, and I lay my love on you). Dalam penelitian ini peneliti menggunakan analisis dokumen sebagai metode dan teknik analisis data. Dari hasil penelitian, peneliti menemukan ada 7 personifikasi, 5 metapora, 4 simile, dan 19 hiperbola. Masing-masing tipe ini memiliki maksud tertentu berdasarkan konteks yang ada di dalam lirik-lirik lagu westlife. Peneliti telah melakukan analisa terhadap tiap-tiap tipe dari figurative language tersebut.
Key words: context, figurative language
INTRODUCTION
Language is a something important in life, because it can send information from one person to other by saying something. Every country in the world has a different language. It can be distinguished between one country with others.
Language is the principle means of human being to communicate with each other. Language use to express ideas, feelings and to build a relationship with other people. Doing conversation in daily, people has different style to send a message to others. Usually, people like to speak and using
2 body language, and say something by using figure
language. Figurative language is part of language that using words to mean something different from their ordinary meaning in order to emphasize an idea. It is supported by Spectrum and Vincent (2004, p.6) Figurative language is used for descriptive effect, it describes or implies meaning, rather than directly stating. It means that, figurative language is describing something or state to give an effect and different meaning.
Figurative language usually find of phrase, novel, and poetry. But, not only of these, figurative language can be also found in song. Several songs have some sentences that contain figurative language.
Song is a kind of literature art that expresses many aspects of life. It can provides us more than pleasure of imagination. Song is a rhyme like a poetry but poetry does not has a music, song is a media in expressing feelings, song can make someone feel happy, sad, and relax. It is supported by Bolitho in Chunxuan Shen (2003, p.253) argues that songs are abundant in themes and expressions which will echo in the learner‟s heart. “Acquisition of automatic language skills depends on rich, meaningful, repeated exposure to comprehensible input without awareness. It means that song contains some expression, and meaningful, it made the listener happiness with the song.
Based on the explanation above truly makes the researcher is more interested to analyze the figurative language in several songs. The researcher wants to analyze songs from Westlife.
Because, the researcher found some figurative languages in Westlife‟s song. Westlife is one of many famous boy bands. They come from Ireland.
Furthermore, in order to complete this research, the researcher uses several theories that give a beneficial support toward this research. The first one is Berriman (2005, p.8) there are four types of figurative language; (1) Metaphor, does not use like, as or than. One thing is said o be something else. Example: This seat is a rock, she had voice of a song bird, when it come to eating he was a pig of a person. (2) Alliteration, Repeats two or more initial sounds in one sentence. Example:
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, last Saturday Sam scored six goals, slowly the sun set serenely behind the hills. (3) Personification, Occurs when we give a non-human thing, human qualities, like actions, thoughts, feelings and habits.
Example: The haunted house groaned loudly, little Pig said, “ I will build a house of bricks”. (4) Simile, Compares two unlike thing using the words like, as or than. Example: His hands were as cold as ice, the sunbeams sparkled like diamonds on the water, the bag was lighter than feather.
Meanwhile, Spectrum and Vincent (2004, p.6) state that figurative is language used for descriptive effect, it describe or implies, rather than
directly stating it. There four type figurative language, include: (1) Personification is assigning human qualities, feelings or actions to an animal, an object, or an idea. For example; the mother bear cried for her cub. (2) Metaphor is comparing unlike things but without using like or as, for example; his baby was a well –oiled machine. (3) Simile is using like or as to compare things that may seem unlike each other, for example; her smile was as dazzling as the sun. (4) Hyperbole is using exaggeration to convey strong emotion, express humor, or emphasize a point, for example; I felt we walked a million miles.
Moreover, Watkins and Knapp (2005, p.53) state that there are 8 types of figurative language, they are: (1) Alliteration is the figurative language of repeating the some sound, usually the initial consonant of word. Example: “A big bully beats a baby boy”. (2) Cliché is generally a pejorative term for the use of a word or phrase.
Example: “Happy Birth day!” (3) Hyperbole is a word, sentence or statement with over or exaggeration. Example: “a thousand apologies, as old as the hills”. (4) Metaphor is a figure of speech where one thing is named as another. Example:
“Her home was a prison”. (5) Metonymy, Its similar with metaphor but designates something by the name of something associated with it. Example:
The oval office was busy in work”. (6)Rhetorical question, It is a question that does not expect an answer. Example:”Are you kidding me?” (7) Simile is a figurative that makes a comparison between one thing and another. Example: ”The flow of traffic moves like a snake”. (8) Synecdoche, It is a figure where the part is used to represent the whole of where or where of whole used to represent the part. Example:”All hands on deck”.
Based on the types above from several author, researcher limits the types of figurative language into personification, metaphor, simile, and hyperbole from Spectrum and Vincent (2004, p.6). The researcher chose the theory of type of figurative language by Spectrum and Vincent since it is related and appropriate with the data that researcher acquired.
RESEARCH METHOD
This study was conducted by using qualitative research. Qualitative researcher is study things in their natural setting, attempting to make sense of or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them. The design that is used in this research is content or document analysis. According to Ary et al. (2009, p.457) content analysis focuses on the characteristics of materials and asks “What meaning is reflected in these?” content or document analysis is a research method applied to written or visual materials for the purpose of identifying specified characteristics of the materials. It means that, content or document
3 analysis method focuses to identify the
characteristics of a material and the meaning of a written or visual material. This method suit with this research because the researcher wants to identify the types and meaning of figurative language in Westlife‟s song.
To make analysis of data easily, the researcher used source of the data. The data of this In collecting the data, researcher needed instrument.
Instrument is a tool that used to gather the information which is needed in the research. Ary et al (2010, p.431) state that the most widely used tools in qualitative research are observation, interview, and document or artifact analysis.
Therefore, the researcher chose document as a tool of this research. Document that used in this research was Westlife‟s song entitle Soledad, Total eclipse of the heart, I do, Season in the sun, You light up my life, Puzzle of my heart, Fragile heart, Forever, I’m already there, and I lay my love on you.
In collecting the data, researcher needed instrument. Instrument is a tool that used to gather the information which is needed in the research.
Ary et al (2010:431) state that the most widely used tools in qualitative research are observation, interview, and document or artifact analysis.
Therefore, the researcher chose document as a tool of this research. Document that used in this research was Westlife‟s song entitle Soledad, Total eclipse of the heart, I do, Season in the sun, You light up my life, Puzzle of my heart, Fragile heart, Forever, I’m already there, and I lay my love on you.
In acquiring the data, the researcher used analysis document. According to Yusuf (2005, p.250) Analysis document is one of the techniques to collect the data and information in research. The data of this research is songs from Westlife. The researcher conducts the procedures as follow:
1. researcher read the songs intensively to find out the figurative language.
2. After that the researcher collected all sentences that contain figurative language and write all of the data on a book.
3. Finally, the researcher determined and analysis the data which are related to the researcher.
After gaining and collecting the data, the researcher took the next step that was analyzing the data. The method of analyzing the data that was used in this research was the theory from Miles (2014, p.12) states the activities that are doing analyze the qualitative data are data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification.
1. Data condensation refers to the process of selecting, focusing, simplifying, abstracting, and transforming the data that appear in the full corpus (body) of written-up field notes, interview transcripts, documents, and other
empirical materials. In this stage, the researcher firstly selects the data that have been getting classification. The researcher focuses on the data of figurative language and prevents the data reduction.
2. Data display is organized, compressed assembly of information that allows conclusion drawing and action. The researcher will be helped in this stage to understand what is happening. After select the data of figurative language, the researcher will get information and will forward to do an action on the data.
3. Drawing and verifying conclusion, From the start of data collection, the qualitative analyst interprets what things mean by noting patterns, explanations, causal flows, and propositions.
This is the last stage in qualitative analysis, in which the researcher concludes the data in form interpretation. The data are interpreted based on the context in each type of figurative language.
FINDINGS
The researcher had done analyzing of the data that had gotten. The data were analyzed according to the theories that classified some types of figurative language. Then the researcher used the theory of context to identify the meaning in each datum.
The researcher found many types of figurative language in Westlife‟s song. The types of figurative language found are various. Researcher found four types of figurative language in Westlife‟s songs are:
1. Findings N
o
Personificat ion
Metaphor Simile hyperbol e 1 “And your
memory live on” found in Soledad song.
“She’s the puzzle of my heart”
found in puzzle of my heart song.
“I’m lying like a child in your arms”
found in Total Eclips e of the Heart song.
“If only you could see the tears in the world you left behind”
found in Soledad song.
2 “Where our love young and free”
found in
“You are the sun”
found in forever
“Your love is like a shado
“In my heart you were the
4 Soledad
song.
song. w on me all of the time”
found in Total Eclips e of the Heart song
only”
found in Soledad song
3 “Love will bring us back to you and me”
found in Soledad song.
“You are my light”
found in forever song.
“But the wine and the song, like the season s have all gone”
found in Seaso n in the sun song.
“I would give my life away”
found in Soledad song
4 “Cause I can still hear the voice inside of me, that calling out your name”
found in Soledad song.
“I’m the sunshine in your hair, I’m the shadow on the ground, I’m the whisper in the wind, and I’m your imaginar y friend”
found in I‟m already there song.
“Like a miracl e she meant to be”
found in puzzle of my heart song.
“We’ll be holding on forever, cause we’ll never be wrong together
” found in Total Eclipse of The Heart song
5 “I get a little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears”
found in
“I’m the beat in your heart, I’m the moonlight shining
“Just put your hand in mine forever”
found in I do
Total Eclipse of the Heart song.
down”
found in I‟m already there song.
song
6 “When all the birds are singing in the sky”
found in season in the sun song
“And don’t deny me a lifetime loving you”
found in I do song 7 “I don’t
think it could endure another pain” found in fragile heart song.
“Do I give my all to you?
and I will say I do”
found in I do song 8 “But
there’s a voice from deep inside of you, that’s calling out to make you realize”
found in fragile heart song.
“Rollin’
at sea, adrift on the waters”
found in you light up my life song
9 “I feel
I’m losing defenses , to the color of her hair and I feel I’m losing defenses , to the color of her eyes”
found in puzzle of my heart
10 “Just
5 thinking
about her takes me through the night”
found in puzzle of my heart song
11 “So how
can I break this wall around you, that’s aiding both our hearts to grow in pain”
found in fragile heart song
12 “Even if
you took my heart, and tore it apart, I would love you still, forever”
found in forever song
13 “There
is no one in this world, who can love me like you do, that the reason that I wanna spend forever with you”
found in forever
song
14 “And
I’ll be there until the end, can you feel the love that we share”
found in I‟m already there song
15 “But I’ll
be with you whereve r you are”
found in I‟m already there song
16 “Just a
smile and the rain is gone”
found in I‟m already there song
17 “Just a
smile and there’s no way back”
found in I‟m already there song
18 “Every
time I breathe I feel brand new”
found in I‟m already there song
6 2. Interpretation
In general, figurative language is used to make writing be nice and more interest. It can be seen in poetry, novel, song and etc. Especially in Westlife‟s songs entitle Soledad, Total eclipse of the heart, I do, Season in the sun, You light up my life, Puzzle of my heart, Fragile heart, Forever, I’m already there, and I lay my love on you.
The first song was Soledad song, the researcher was concludes the types of figurative language, they are; personification and hyperbole, and finding of this research are four personification, and three hyperbole. This song finds many personifications because in this song singer compare his love story with inanimate alive like a human.
The second song was Total Eclipse of the Heart, in this song researcher finds one personification, two simile, and one hyperbole.
Researcher finds many types of figurative language is simile, because he felt so much miss his love he needed the girl too much he compare the girl‟s love with a shadow, he means the girl‟s love is always there beside him wherever he goes like a shadow always there beside human.
The third song was I do, researcher finds hyperbole only, there are three hyperbole in this song. I do song is tell about showing the true love to someone and make her realize that his love is true he will be loving and giving all of him to the girl.
The fourth song was Season in the Sun, researcher finds one personification, and one simile in this song. This song told about the last chance and days for someone, who will die and leaves his family and friend, he wanted to pass the time with family and friend with singing a song and drunk like a season have all gone.
The fifth song was You Light up My Life, researcher finds only one hyperbole in this song.
This song tells about a boy who waiting for someone he loved. When she comes to his life he felt his life and days are light up, and he fell so free and happy like a rolling at the sea and adrift on the water.
The sixth song was Puzzle of My Heart, researcher finds three types of figurative language of this song, there are one metaphor, one simile, and two hyperbole. Researcher finds may hyperbole in this song, because this song is a nice and romantic song because singer lost his defenses to the color of her hair and eye. He fell in love again with the girl, he compared the girl with
puzzle, he meant the girl is one piece of the puzzle of his heart to complete his heart and love him.
The seventh song was Fragile Heart, researcher finds two personification, and one hyperbole. This song tells about singer has a fragile heart and it ever broken before and now he fell anymore. He do not think his heart could endure another pain but he can hear the voice inside of the girl call out to make her realize, it is a sad song.
The eighth song was Forever, researcher finds two metaphor, and two hyperbole in this song. This song tells about someone convince a girl that he will love the girl forever, only the girl in his heart, even if she take his heart and tear it apart, he still love the girl forever. In this song singer compares the girl with sun and light she is something important in his life like a sun and light can give a the brightness for his life.
The ninth song was I’m Already There, researcher finds two metaphor and two hyperbole.
This song tells about a father miss his family; he only can hear his family voice on the phone. He tells to his son, he will back home soon do not cry because he is always there around them, he compare his self with sunshine, shadow, whisper, imaginary friend, beat of heart, and the moonlight.
He meant his family does not feel lonely without him, he want them fell presence of him.
The last song was I Lay My Love on You, in the last song researcher finds three hyperboles only, because this song is an exaggerate song he tells that just a smile and the rain is gone, and also there is no way back, and also he says, he fell brand new every time he breathes.
All of Westlife‟s songs in this researcher are indeed have many types of figurative language, many people like the song from this vocal group although this group was dispersed. Because Westlife‟s songs adapt their song with love story theme and deliver with parable. It is the way to make the song more interesting or easy to listening.
CONCLUSION
This research aims to identify the types of figurative language in Westlife‟s songs. In this research, the researcher mean to explore the types of figurative language based on the experts. Then, the theory context is used to see how context influences the meaning of lyric songs. The researcher uses document analysis as the design of this research. The sources of the data are ten songs from several Westlife album, they are Soledad, Total eclipse of the heart, I do, Season in the sun, You light up my life, Puzzle of my heart, Fragile heart, Forever, I’m already there, and I lay my love on you. Beside, the researcher is helped by the song
7 lyric to look the types of figurative language in the
songs. The technique of collecting data is analysis document. In analyzing the data, the researcher uses analyze the qualitative data are data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification.
Eventually, the researcher has got data and analyzes each form based the context. In conclusion, the researcher finds several types of figurative language that used in Westlife‟s songs.
These types are personification, metaphor, simile, and hyperbole. There were eight of personification, five of metaphor, four of simile, and eighteen of hyperbole. From the data it can be seen that the dominant types of figurative language is hyperbole, then is following by personification and then metaphor, the last is simile.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all, the researcher praises to Allah SWT who has given the researcher strength and chance to finish thesis entitle “Figurative Language in Westlife’s songs” from the beginning until the end. This thesis is requirement in order to complete S1 degree at English Department of STKIP PGRI West Sumatera.
Furthermore, the researcher also expresses big appreciation and gratitude toward researchcer`s parents (Bapak Abdul Kamil and Ibu Ramina), and advisors (Siska, S.S., M.Pd and Edwar Kemal, M.Hum) who have painstakingly spent their valuable time to guide and give excellent suggestions to researcher in preparing this research.
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