ANALYSIS OF PERSONIFICATION EXPRESSION USED IN THE BLINK 182 SONGS
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ANALYSIS OF PERSONIFICATION EXPRESSION
USED IN THE BLINK 182 SONGS
By:
I GEDE JANA UTAMA
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT, FACULTY OF ARTS, UDAYANA UNIVERSITY
Abstract
Jurnal ini berjudul "Analysis of Personification Used in the Blink 182 Songs". Jurnal ini difokuskan untuk menemukan dan mengidentifikasi jenis ekspresi personifikasi dan menjelaskan pada lirik yang ditemukan di lagu-lagu.
Personifikasi adalah ketika Anda menetapkan kualitas seseorang untuk sesuatu yang bukan manusia atau, dalam beberapa kasus, untuk sesuatu yang bahkan tidak hidup. Ada banyak alasan untuk menggunakan personifikasi. Salah satunya adalah untuk mempercantik kata-kata atau kalimat.
Data diambil dari lagu Easy Target di album "Self-Titled" (2003) dan lagu This is Home di album "Neighborhoods" (2011) yang ditulis oleh band punk Amerika Serikat, Blink 182. Proses dalam mengumpulkan data adalah dengan mendengarkan lagu dengan jelas, membaca lirik lagu, menandai data, dan menggaris bawah kalimat asli yang berisi contoh data. Dipilihnya lagu tersebut karena mengandung ekspresi personifikasi dengan makna yang dapat diidentifikasi dan dianalisis sebagai sumber data.
Kata kunci: language, personification, song, lyric, connotative meaning.
Language is the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way. This is a system of words or signs that people use to express thoughts and feelings to each other.
Language is used every day by people to gain an understanding. Therefore, language is very important for human life. Language is often seen in speeches, letters, public speaking, magazine or even the songs.
Language plays a significant role in song. Nowadays, song has been part of everyone’s life. Song is a kind of art that expresses a lot of aspects of life. It is created based on human consciousness and imagination. It is a relatively short musical composition and it contains vocal parts that are performed by human voice and generally featured words, called lyric. Lyric is the words which are used to compose a song. Some lyrics are typically of a poetic. A lot of song lyric reflects the reality, fact of life, or experiences of the writer. Song lyrics are the same as poetry in terms of arranging the words of the lines and song lyrics have lines like poems do.
However, from the lyrics of the song ever created, at least there are some lyrics that contain words that are difficult to be interpreted literally. Those lyrics are sometimes caused misunderstanding in those music lovers. Most of the lyrics contain figurative language, such as personification expression.
Personification expression is the use of words that go beyond the ordinary meaning. This expression is the use of language which has a deep meaning, which is different from the literal meaning. It needs or requires imagination to understand the point conveyed by the author.
This study is aimed at finding out the type personification expression and its meaning in six songs written by American punk-rock band, Blink 182, taken from the album “Self-Titled” (2003), “Neighborhoods” (2011) and “Dogs Eating Dogs” (2012).
Based on discussion above, the problem can be formulated as follows:
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1. What are the types of personification expressions used in the Blink 182’s songs?
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2. What are the meanings of personification expressions used in those songs?
Here, the expected results of this study are based on the problem mentioned above. The aims wanted to be achieved related to this analysis are as follows:
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1. To identify the types of personification expressions used in the song lyric of Blink 182, especially in the album “Self-Titled”, “Neighborhoods” and “Dogs Eating Dogs”.
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2. To analyze the meaning of personification expression used in those songs.
Research is a careful study of object, especially in order to discover new facts or information about it (Hornby, 2005:1290). This study is also considered research since it attempts to discover the fact and information about personification expression. In this research, method is very important in doing a research because it helps the readers understand the aims of the research. The research method in this study is classified into three parts, they are: data source, technique of collecting data, and technique of analyzing data.
The data of this study were taken from the Blink 182’s song album entitled “Self-Titled” in year 2003, “Neighborhoods” which released in 2011 and from the
song album “Dogs Eating Dogs” in year 2012. Six songs were chosen to be analyzed in this study. Those songs are Easy Target, Love is Dangerous, Snake Charmer, This is Home, Pretty Little Girl, and When I Was Young. Since the research focused on the lyric of the songs, certainly the data were downloaded from the internet (Downloaded from: http://www.azlyrics.com/b/blink.html). They were chosen because their lyric contains enough kinds of personification expression.
The data of this study were collected through documentation method. They were collected randomly and then comparing the data which were obtained in this study. This method was implemented in the following ways:
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1) Listening to the six songs and reading the song lyric script carefully several times to find and identify the data samples.
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1) Finding out and then giving marks or underlining each words indicating the personification expression used in the songs.
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2) Finally, recording the data by note taking to make them easier to be analyzed.
The collected data were analyzed using qualitative method based on the theories applied in this study. There were some steps taken in analyzing data. First, the type of personification expressions used in the data were identified. The last step, the meaning of those expressions in the song lyrics were identified and analyzed. The data were analyzed based on the theory proposed by James J. Paxson (1994) and K.L. Knickerbocker & H. Willar Reninger (1963).
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5. Analysis of Personification Expression in Blink 182’s Songs
5.1 Analysis of Personification Expression in the Song: Easy Target
Personification expressions are found in the second stanza of the song lyrics.
Holli's looking dry looking for an easy target
Let her slit my throat give her ammo if she'll use it Caution on the road lies lies and hidden danger. Southern California is breeding mommy's little monster.
(Second stanza)
The stanza above consists of four lines. From the stanza above, the personification expression is seen in the last line. The expression is seen in line ‘Southern California is breeding mommy's little monster’. It shows an abstract idea. It is impossible if a place like Sothern California breeds something. This line is a reference to the Social Distortion song "Mommy's Little Monster" about a girl who was an all-around screw up.
The expression ‘Southern California is breeding mommy's little monster’ is a type of prosopopeia because it was representing an abstract quality or idea as a person or creature.
Personification expression is found in the second stanza of the song lyrics.
Don't stop, the band is coming on
Rude boys and punks will shout along
Police cars bring cuffs and loaded guns
Kids scream but laughing as they run
From the stanza above, the personification expressions is seen in third line ‘police cars bring cuffs and loaded guns’. It shows an abstract idea. This sentence categorized as personification expression because the word ‘car’ act like a human or animal which brings something. Logically, it is impossible if a car, non-human, or inanimate objects said to bring something. In this case, the car is a road vehicle with an engine and four wheels that can carry a small number of passengers inside. But it cannot ‘bring’ something. The personification expression used to make the lyric more beautiful and interesting.
The line above has a connotative meaning. The writer wants to convey that there are several cops are ready to carry out their duties. This personification expression is a type of prosopopeia. Because, ‘police cars’ in the lyric has a human quality.
In the analysis above, there are two personification expressions found in two songs from Blink 182. Those songs were taken from two latest albums of them. The sentence that was marked above has a connotative meaning. The use of personification expression in the song lyric is used to make the effect of beauty and avoid the rigid lyric. On the other hand, those expressions used in to the song just because the writer wants to beautify and make the lyric more interesting in order to the listeners are interested to listen those songs.
And, the lyrics in those Blink 182’s songs above are intended to make the
listeners enjoy the songs imaginatively rather than literally.
Knickerbocker K.L. & Renigne H.W. 1963. Interpreting Literature. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Wilson.
Leech, G. N. 1974. Semantics. Auckland: The Penguin Books
Paxson, James J. 1994. Poetics of Personification. Cambridge University Press.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/blink-182
http://www.azlyrics.com/b/blink.html
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