The Analysis of Figurative Language in Linkin Park’s Song Lyrics
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ISSN: 2302-920X
Jurnal Humanis, Fakultas Ilmu Budaya Unud
Vol 21.1 Nopember 2017: 19-23
The Analysis of Figurative Language in Linkin Park’s Song Lyrics
Nyoman Triguna Aditya1*, Ida Ayu Made Puspani2
English Department, Faculty of Arts, Udayana University 1[[email protected]], 2[[email protected]]
*Corresponding Author
Abstrak
Skripsi ini berjudul Analisis Bahasa Figuratif Dalam Lirik Lagu Linkin Park. Penelitian ini di lakukan untuk mengetahui jenis-jenis bahasa figurative dan juga untuk mengetahui jenis-jenis makna yang terdapat di dalam lirik lagu Linkin Park. Ada lima lagu Linkin Park yang dipilih sebagai sumber data, yaitu; Crawling, From The Inside, Burning In The Skies, Waiting For The End, and Burn It Down. Data-data tersebut dikumpulkan dengan menggunakan metode dokumentasi dan dianalisis dengan menggunakan metode kualitatif dan kuantitatif. Setelah data dianalisis dan didiskusikan, ditemukan ada lima jenis bahasa figuratif yang terdapat di kelima lagu Linkin Park, yaitu; Paradok, Personifikasi, Metafora, Hiperbola, dan Simile. Dari kelima bahasa figuratif yang ditemukan, Metafora adalah yang paling sering digunakan. Dalam penelitian ini juga ditemukan empat jenis makna, yaitu; Makna Konseptual, Makna Konotatif, Makna Affektif, dan Makna Kolokatif. Dari semua jenis makna yang ditemukan, Makna Konseptual adalah yang paling sering digunakan. Kelima lagu yang dianalisis memiliki makna yang sama yaitu tentang kesedihan yang disebabkan karena konflik emosional yang terjadi di dalam diri seseorang maupun dengan hubungannya dengan orang lain.
Kata Kunci: Figuratif, Lirik, Makna
Literature is the art of language; it means that a literary work is created to entertain people. Literature is personal expression based on the experience, thought, feeling, faith, and imagination of a person. Literary work can be in the form of prose, drama, and poetry.
Poetry is a kind of literature which is a piece of writing that expresses emotions, experiences, and ideas, especially in short lines using figurative language and sometimes with rhyme. It triggers the imaginative sense that gives a deeper understanding to make the reader feel the same emotion as the writer. Poetry can also be turned into a song
which is called a Music Poetry that is usually performed in theaters. It can be said that song is a poetry that is sung.
Most people nowadays are likely to define song as the part of music art, but in fact song is also the part of literary work and closely related to poetry. In music industry many songwriters use figurative languages in making their song lyrics just the same way like making poetry. By using figurative language, the songwriter conveys the meaning with feeling that makes it sound special and beautiful, so the people who listen to the song and read the lyric will have a deeper understanding of the song because not only do they understand the song but also feel what the song is about.
There are two problems formulated in this study based on the background:
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1. What kinds of figurative language are employed in Linkin Park’s song lyrics?
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2. What kinds of meaning are
expressed in Linkin Park’s song lyrics?
After formulating the problems of the study, the aims of the research are:
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1. To find out what kinds of figurative language are employed in Linkin Park’s song lyrics.
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2. To find out what kinds of meaning are expressed in Linkin Park’s song lyrics.
Research method is very important in doing research because it will help the readers understand the aim of the research. The research method itself is the way of explaining how the work was conducted. The data were collected by using Documentation Method. After the data were collected they were analyzed using the qualitative and quantitative method. This study uses the theory of figurative language proposed by Knickerbocker and Reninger (1963:367) and the theory of meaning proposed by Leech (1974:10).
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5. The Analysis of Figurative Language in Linkin Park’s Song Lyrics
This analysis presents the types of figurative language found in Linkin Park’s song lyrics.
The lyric below was taken from the song entitled “Waiting for the End”:
(Fifth Stanza)
What was left when that fire was gone(1) I thought it felt right but that right was wrong(2)
All caught up in the eye of the storm(3) And trying to figure out what it’s like moving on(4)
And I don’t even know what kind of things I said(5)
My mouth kept moving and my mind went dead (6)
Picking up the pieces now where to begin(7)
The hardest part of ending is starting again(8)
The fifth stanza is the summary of the entire song. The first sentence is a metaphorical expression, “what was left when that fire was gone” means that he realizes that only the regret that he got after the “fire was gone” which means after the problems or the conflict was ended. The words “that right was wrong” is a paradox expression which means that he never expects that what he had done in the past that he thought that was right, in fact, it brought his life to a sorrowful situation. Now he lives his life hopeless just like everything that has gone in a blast of “the eye of the storm”. His mind is so confused that it feels like his “mind went dead” that even he does not know what he was talking about. But even though he stuck in the bad feelings in his current life, he is still looking for hope whether he can change his life to be better. He really wants to start a new life
even though it means that he needs a great effort to make it happened. This stanza consists of eight sentences. The first sentence expresses the use of metaphor because this sentence replaces the real situation with another similar situation. The third and the sixth sentences express the use of hyperbole because they exaggerated the real situation. The second and the eighth sentence express the use of paradox because they create a contrary expectation between the real situation and what is stated. All of these sentences are considered having connotative meaning because they are showing figures of speech. The rest of the sentences are considered conceptual meaning because it is a primary meaning.
The lyric below was taken from the song entitled “Crawling”:
(Fourth Stanza)
Discomfort, endlessly has pulled Itself upon me distracting, reacting (1) Against my will I stand beside my own reflection (2)
It’s haunting how I can’t seem (3)
All the bad feelings have become the discomfort inside him. In the first sentence it is shown through the personification expression how the discomfort has “distract” him from the inside and how it becomes a thing that “haunting” his life. This stanza consists of three sentences in which the first sentence is a connotative meaning because it shows the use of personification in which it applies human attribute to a thing. The second and third
sentences contain conceptual meaning because it is a primary meaning.
The lyric below was taken from the song entitled “Burn it Down”:
(First Stanza)
The cycle repeated as explosions broke in the sky(1) All that I needed
was the one thing I couldn’t find(2) And you were there at the turn waiting to let me know(3)
The song tells about a broken relationship between people. This stanza tells that in a relationship sometimes the conflict can happen repeatedly like a “cycle”, and when it happens it is just like an “explosion broke in the sky”. But in reality the person in the song does not want the conflict to happen again and again. He needs a good relationship, but in contrary, their relationship always finds many problems. This stanza consists of three sentences. The first sentence is considered having connotative meaning because it is showing the use of simile that compares things with the help of the word “as”. The second and the third sentences are considered having conceptual meaning because it is a primary meaning.
The lyric below was taken from the song entitled “From the Inside”:
(First Stanza)
I Don’t know who to trust No surprise (1)
Everyone feels so far away from me (2) Heavy thoughts sift through dust
And the lies (3)
This stanza tells about a person who feels so lonely because of the loss of trust to everyone around him. In the second sentence it is shown through a hyperbole expression that even though many people stay close around him, but none of them that he feels appears close by heart that makes he thinks that everyone stay so far away from him. In the third sentence, the words “heavy thoughts” is a personification expression that expresses how the lonely feeling has become something that makes him suffer. This stanza consists of three sentences, the first sentence is considered having conceptual meaning, the second sentence has connotative meaning, and the third sentence is considered containing connotative meaning and collocative meaning because “heavy thought” is a collocation of words that creates a new meaning.
The lyric below was taken from the song entitled “From the Inside”:
(Fifth Stanza)
I won’t trust myself with you (1)
I won’t waste myself on you (2) Waste myself on you (3)
The last stanza expresses the anger of the person in the song of being betrayed. He realizes that all the time that he uses to trust them is such a waste of time. This stanza consists of three sentences in which all of them are considered having affective meaning because all of these sentences are conveying personal emotion toward another person.
There are five kinds of figures of speech found in all the five songs of Linkin Park that were analyzed; they were Paradox, Personification,
Metaphor, Hyperbole, and Simile. All the five songs which are analyzed here have the same main theme in which they are about sadness caused by emotional conflicts whether within the person itself or within the relation to other people. From all figures of speech found here, Metaphor is the figure of speech that is commonly used to express the theme of the songs.
There were four types of Meaning found in this study; they are Conceptual Meaning, Connotative Meaning, Affective Meaning, and Collocative Meaning. From all the types of meaning found, conceptual meaning is the type of meaning that is commonly used.
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