Exposing the Meaning of Figurative Language in Selected Alie Gatie’s Song Lyrics
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e-Journal of Linguistics
Available online at https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/eol/index
Vol. 16, No. 1, January 2022, pages: 116--123
Print ISSN: 2541-5514 Online ISSN: 2442-7586
https://doi.org/10.24843/e-jl.2022.v16.i01.p12.
Exposing the Meaning of Figurative Language in
Selected Alie Gatie’s Song Lyrics
Stefanus Dendy Prasetya Bere Mahasaraswati University Denpasar Bali, Indonesia, [email protected]
Desak Putu Eka Pratiwi
Mahasaraswati University ,Denpasar Bali, Indonesia, [email protected]
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Article info Received Date: 25 Nopember 2021 |
Abstract* This article entitled "Exposing the Meaning of Figurative Language in Alie Gatie Selected song lyrics". Figurative language is sentences or phrases that possess secret meanings |
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Accepted Date: 30 Nopember 2021 |
behind the word, phrases, or sentences. This article aims to exposing the types of figurative language and uncover the meaning of figurative language used in Alie Gatie selected song |
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Published Date: 31 January 2022 |
lyrics. The writer is interested in analyzing Alie Gatie selected songs since Gatie’s songs are telling stories of his love stories and his heartbreak. The datas were obtained by the method of observating and taking notes. The obtained data were then analyzed by descriptive qualitative method using theory |
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Keywords:* |
proposed by Knickerbocker and Reninger (1963) to identify the |
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Figurative Language, Meaning, Song Lyric. |
types of figurative language and theory of meaning by Leech (1981) to expose the meaning of figurative language. The finding shows that there are various figurative languages used in Alie Gatie’s selected songs such as Metaphor, Irony, Hyperbole, and Paradox. |
Nowadays, music is one of the source of entertainments and the source of fame and wealth if the composers are highly known by general public or being famous for what they have created in their masterpieces. Some songs has a deep meaning when they contains a Figure of speech or normally we call; Figurative Language. Composer such as Alie Gatie has created many masterpieces which contains many figures of speech. Each of his song is a story of its own which contains lyrics that would elucidate the plot of the story. Every interesting part from a song is based on its lyrics. For people who already know the Basic English, they tend to easily understand the delivered message from the singer inside the song lyrics. But most people are unaware of Figurative language in their favorite song or song album.
Language is one main way to communicate or interact with people, which is why it is important for the life of human beings. With language we can interact to certain people, and
without language, people are unable to communicate one to another. Language is used to express our feelings, ideas, knowledges, and informations in both spoken and written. We could also obtaining information, absorb other people knowledge, and understand people’s feelings by interacting within the same language. Nonetheless, learning English could be very challenging for some people, but most other would try learning English with their own way, and one of their ways is to learn English from Music. By music, we can start to develop our pronounciaton, Retrieving new vocabulary, and simultaneously good at translations
Figurative language is a type of language that departs of language employed its own traditional amd literal ways of describing persons of object. It is usually immediately obvious whether a written is using figurative language or literature language. Figurative language is very important in expressing our ideas through several various ways for particular example; is through a song, because it also employs various figures of speech.
The authors concentrated on analyzing several selected songs by Alie Gatie, which is one of the famous Songwriter in USA. The writer is interested in analyzing his songs because his songs are telling stories of his love stories and his heartbreak. The authors uses this song because as we all aware, Relationship or Heartbroken is one way lead to a Depression. Many people had suffered depression and anxiety due to Heartbroken of and or a Relationship but the writer wants to change this assumption because Alie Gatie’s music can also give positive messages to all listeners.
The authors used Alie Gatie’s selected songs as data source which taken from a website called Genius.com. The data were obtained by observation method and taking note technique. The obtained data were analyzed by descriptive qualitative method using theory proposed by Knickerbocker and Reninger (1963) to identify the types of figurative language and theory of semantic by Leech (1981) to analyze the meaning of figurative language in Selected Alie Gatie song lyrics.
This part will present the analysis of types of figurative language and its meaning found in Alie Gatie’s selected songs. The authors found four types of figurative language from the song lyrics such as Metaphor, Irony, Hyperbole, and Paradox. The finding can be seen in the following table.
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Table 1. Types of Figurative Language Contained in BTS Selected Song | |
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No. |
Types of Figurative Language Total Percentage |
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1. 2. 3. 4. |
Metaphor 3 37,50 % Irony 1 12,50 % Hyperbole 3 37,50 % Paradox 1 12,50% Total 8 100% |
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a. Metaphor
Metaphor is the process to comparing two different things as if became one thing. Metaphor does not have connective words such as: like, as, then, similar to and seems determining them as figurative (Knickerbocker and Reninger (1963:367))
Data 1:
“You never meant to say”
“Your words are poison”
(Alie Gatie: Lost my Lover)
The lyric above is categorized as metonymy due to the usage of the word “Poison”. “Poison” in dictionary means a substance that is capable of causing the illness or death of a living organism when introduced or absorbed. “Poison” refers to a something painful or negativity. From this song, it can be seen that The songwriter is comparing two things which are his Songwriter’s Former lover’s words and “Poison”. It is said that the songwriter’s former lover’s words is painful to him therefore he is comparing a Poison to the words his former lover said. The Poison here is not meant to bake taken literally because the Poison refers to something painful. The meaning of the lyric is that the songwriter felt so hurt because of the spoken word of his former lover to him.
Data 2:
“But baby, I’m feeling you”
“You’re Heaven and Hell”
(Alie Gatie : Lost My Lover)
The lyrics above is using Metaphor because of the words “Heaven” and “Hell”. According to the dictionary Heaven means , a place regarded in various religions as the abode of God (or the gods) and the angels, and of the good after death, often traditionally depicted as being above the sky, while Hell has a meaning of a place regarded in various religions as a spiritual realm of evil and suffering, often traditionally depicted as a place of perpetual fire beneath the earth where the wicked are punished after death. It can be interpreted that the songwriter is talking about his former lover. Even that the songwriter is comparing his former lover with Heaven and Hell, the Words “Heaven” and “Hell” is not supposed to be taken literally. The word “Heaven” is to represent Happiness because heaven is also a symbol of peace and joy. Meanwhile, “Hell” on the other hand represents Sadness as it is also the symbol of misery and sufferings. By these, we could understand that the songwriter tells that all his lifetime when he was still be with his former lover, his former lover was his source of Happiness and Sadness. This indicates a figure of speech which is called Metaphor.
Data 3:
“You’re my worst nightmare and favorite dream”
(Alie Gatie : :Lost my Lover)
This lyric above is using Metaphor because it compares the songwriter’s former lover with a nightmare and a favorite dream. Firstly, Nightmare in dictionary means a
frightening or unpleasant dream while a Favorite dreams means the opposite. The lyrics above compare someone with two opposing things which means that the person that is being compared is very balanced. The songwriter tells that loving his former lover can be very stressful and depressing but also can be very joyful to him. There were so many twists and turns that make the songwriter felt emotional. Feeling scared and panic is normal. But so does feeling happy and delighted. However, if love has a positive impact, pain will be nothing to feel.
Irony is a statement whose real meaning is completely opposite to its professed. Irony is a figure of speech that gives the meaning which is not true and this is different between appearance and reality. (Knickerbocker and Reninger (1963))
Data 4:
“Since you left me every night, I go stare at the moon”
(Alie Gatie: Moonlight)
This lyrics is using Irony because the song lyrics is opposed of the surface meaning. It is said that every night when the songwriter’s partner or lover leaves him, he always go stare at moon. This indicates that when the songwriter hates the night, he instead keep looking for moon in the middle of the night sky. This indicates an Ironical situation. The songwriter went for the situation when he supposedly hate but in terms of Love, he is making himself finding something that has something to do with the night where every time the night time came to him, He felt sad.
According to Knickerbocker and Reninger (1963:367), Hyperbole is an exaggeration used for special effects. Hyperbole is figure of speech that found in everyday life. Hyperbole is deliberating overstatement that is not to be taken literally and seriously as it is used as a mean of highlighting the statement’s truth.
Data 5:
“Some days you make me feel so happy”
“Some days I feel blue”
(Alie Gatie: Say to You)
The underlined lyrics of the song above is using a Hyperbole because if we observe much more, the songwriter was exaggerating in creating this overstatement. There is better way to explain his past experience or feelings, for example; the songwriter could use better word to replace “Blue” with words such as; Sad, or depressed because “Blue” in dictionary has a meaning of melancholy, sad, or depressed which is not to be taken literally. But the songwriter chose to use this word therefore this data is labeled as Hyperbole.
Data 6:
“You are my sunshine”
“When my vision is cloudy”
(Alie Gatie : Sunshine)
The song lyrics above are categorized into Hyperbole. It can be seen that the underlined sentence above is an overstatement. The songwriter said that his vision is cloudy. “Cloudy” in dictionary means that covered with or characterized by clouds; overcast. Therefore, in this context, “Cloudy” should not be taken literally. What the songwriter meant by the lyrics means that the Songwriter is saying that his lover is his happiness when he felt sad with tears in his eyes.
Data 7:
“Yeah, I just want to hold you”
“Baby, you the one I want”
(Alie Gatie : Moonlight)
These lyrics can be categorized into Hyperbole. It can be seen that the statement was created exaggeratingly by the songwriter. It is said in the lyric that the songwriter as the first person perspective would only want one thing in this world, which is his lover. This statement is an overstatement because it is most unlikely to happen because there are some things in the world more precious than his lover such as; a dream house, sports cars, etc. However, even if it is possible that the songwriter only wants his lover, the statement is still exaggerating or in figure of speech would be called Hyperbole.
According to Knickerbocker and Reninger (1963: 367) Paradox is a statement which is contradicting itself but it has obvious meaning that seems illogical, and might sound absurd but still creating senseful upon closure examination.
Data 8:
“It’s difficult to see the light when life is feeling dark”
(Alie Gatie : Used to You)
The lyric above is labeled into Paradox because the sentence is contradicting itself. The songwriter tells that it is difficult to see the light when his life is feeling dark. Light and Dark here is contradicting each other. “Light” has the definition of the natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible, while “Dark” has the definition of little or no light. This indicates that the lyric is contradicting each other. Figuratively, the meaning behind the lyric is that the songwriter tells that it’s difficult to see the positive things in life when his life is feeling negative by losing his lover.
Figurative language is very important to a Literature. It is an important aspect even to a music industry. Music does need a figure of speech to make the song more entertaining to all listeners. The Novelties from this study is the Analysis of Figurative Language in the “You” Album by Alie Gatie. Alie Gatie is currently known for his masterpiece in music. His music is most likely concerning about relationship and heartbreaking stories. His songs can inspire many people because most of his songs is containing suitable figure of speeches. His particular song entitled “It’s You” has entered the Billboard Hot 100 USA and becoming his first Hot 100 entry. His songs does provide lessons for us all to become more cautious to our surroundings and not to fully trust someone we don’t really know, but most important thing is to love ourselves before we love anything or anyone. Songs are helping us to understand our emotion and feelings especially if the songs do using the Figurative language to make the song more dramatic. This study shows how Important Figurative language usage in the world of music. This study also discovers the actual meaning behind the figure of speech that Alie Gatie used in his selected songs.
According to the discussion above, there are four Figurative language type found in the Alie Gatie’s selected songs which are Metaphor, Irony, Hyperbole, and Paradox. Figurative language has a great effect for the listeners. Figurative language changes the song into a slight sort of puzzle that is not hard to figure. It also makes the song more emotional and simultaneously beautiful. Figurative language does create the lyric message more effective than a direct statement. Comparison for examples Metaphors and Similes are easier to understand for public listeners. Needless to say, Figurative Language is a fresh future for any composer who would like to create a career in music industry.
References
Arifah, K. 2016. An Analysis of Figurative language used in the Five John Legend’s Song.
Malang: English Letters and Language and Department Faculty of Humanities Maulana Malik Ibrahim state Islamic University.
Gatie, A. 2019. Alie Gatie’s Official Website. Retrieved January 06, 2020.
Genius, (2020) Holding On. Retrieved May 14 2021, from https://genius.com/Ali-gatie-holding-on-lyrics
Genius, (2020) How Things Used to Be. Retrieved May 14 2021, from https://genius.com/Ali-gatie-how-things-used-to-be-lyrics
Genius, (2020) It’s You. Retrieved May 14 2021, from https://genius.com/Ali-gatie-its’s-you-lyrics
Genius, (2020) Lost My Lover. Retrieved May 14 2021, from https://genius.com/Ali-gatie-lost-my-lover-lyrics
Genius, (2020) Love You Like That. Retrieved May 14 2021, from https://genius.com/Ali-gatie-love-you-like-that-lyrics
Genius, (2020) Moonlight. Retrieved May 14 2021, from https://genius.com/Ali-gatie-moonlight-lyrics
Genius, (2020) Say To You. Retrieved May 14 2021, from https://genius.com/Ali-gatie-say-to-you-lyrics
Genius, (2020) Sunshine. Retrieved May 14 2021, from https://genius.com/Ali-gatie-sunshine-lyrics
Genius, (2020) Used to You. Retrieved May 14 2021, from genius.com/Ali-gatie-used-to-you-lyrics
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Biography of Author
Stefanus Dendy Prasetya Bere S,S. was an English student that had graduated from Mahasaraswati Denpasar University with a bachelor degree. He was born in Yogyakarta on October 13th, 1998 and now currently working in his hometown in Yogyakarta. He is now planning to pursue Master degree in Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. He is interested in Poets and the analytical of sentences,
Dr. Desak Putu Eka Pratiwi, S.S., M.Hum. is a lecturer of English Study Program, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Mahasaraswati Denpasar University. She graduated from Udayana University in 2007 with bachelor degree in English Literature. She got her Master degree in 2009 and Doctoral degree in 2015 from Linguistics Department, Udayana University. In 2013, she got Sandwhich scholarship from Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education of the Republic Indonesia and attended a short study in the Linguistics Department of Sydney University, Australia. She actively attends national and international conference and presents her articles which generally discusses about the language of advertisements. She also published her articles in national and international journals. She is interested in Semantics, Semiotics, Pragmatics and Linguistic Anthropology.
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