FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE FOUND IN POPULAR SONGS OF SECONDHAND SERENADE
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Philosophica Vol 4 No. 1, Juni 2021
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE FOUND IN POPULAR
SONGS OF SECONDHAND SERENADE
HANGGRAI DIFLAS DIAGA
Universitas PGRI Semarang
hanggraidiflas@gmail.com
First received: 1 October 2020
Final proof received: 12 Maret 2021
Abstract
This study focuses on figurative found in popular songs of Secondhand Serenade, they
are "Broken", "A twist in my story" and "I hate this song". The data were taken from the
three songs of Secondhand Serenade which consist of many types of figurative language
by using Perrine’s (1992) theory. The descriptive method was applied in this research,
the data source from the research is song lyrics from the three songs of Secondhand
Serenade. The writer found 17 sentences containing figurative languages in Secondhand
Serenade's songs. All of these terms are divided into six categories, They are, hyperbole,
personification, metonymy, simile, apostrophe, and symbol. The writer more often found
types of figurative language that contain hyperbole. Nine sentences are almost found
in every song from the three songs of Secondhand Serenade. By reading this study, the
writer hopes this research could give more understanding in the analysis of figurative
language to the reader. The writer hopes this paper inspires all students who want to
research in the same field. This study shows to the reader types of figurative language
found in popular songs of Secondhand Serenade.
Keywords: Figurative language, Song, Secondhand Serenade
INTRODUCTION fect to the listeners or readers. Mahmood
The song is a kind of art, either in (2014) stated that each figure of speech
the form of poetry or song lyric that ex- has its significance in making and descri-
presses many aspects of life. Song lyrics are bing ideas. Also, the song is sometimes
the same as poetry in terms of arranging used by the listeners or the readers to tell
the words of the lines, and song lyrics have the feeling or the messages to someone,
stanzas and lines like poems do. Songs are because some people are difficult to con-
appreciated for their linguistic, pedagogi- vey their feeling or willingness directly and
cal, cultural, and entertaining features and it becomes easier after they sing a song to
they are precious language learning materi- convey them.
als. They can be used to teach and develop Figurative language can be found in
every aspect of a language. written and spoken language. In written
The song is generally used figurative language, it can be found in the book, no-
language in the lyrics. The usage of figu- vel, short story, and advertisement while
rative language in a song is very important in spoken language, it can be found in the
as a tool to convey the messages as well as song, speech, and tv program. Because of
beauty and to give color and particular ef- that, Hamzah (2012:41) states that good36
Philosophica Vol 4 No. 1, Juni 2021
language users are supposed to be able to to analyze 3 songs “Broken, A Twist in My
express themselves in both written and Story, and I Hate This Song”, the songs
spoken language. which are written by Secondhad Serenade.
Creating song lyrics is not an easy job The very important reason is the writer
to do. The creator needs imagination and found many figurative languages in the ly-
figurative sense to create the lyrics of the ric of the song. By this research, the writer
song to make somebody listens to it, feel expects that this research has an important
interested in it. Therefore, very important role and could give some information for
for the listeners or readers to learn about the readers in learning a literary work es-
figurative languages because some people pecially a song. The writer also hoped that
are difficult to interpret the meaning of this research could be a reference for tho-
songs. It will be useless if just listening to se who will do similar research, especially
the song without understanding what the about figurative languages.
song wants to convey to us as the listeners.
Analyzing figurative language in song ly- Figurative Language
rics is important for some reasons. First, Figurative languages refer to words
singing a song and knowing the meaning and groups of words that exaggerate or al-
of the lyrics is better than singing without ter the usual meanings of the component
understanding the lyrics. We can also gain words. The most commonly used types of
some lesson learning and fruitful informa- figurative language are metaphor, simile,
tion when we understand the nonliteral personification, and hyperbole. In each of
meaning contained in song lyrics. Second, those types of language, the author imp-
analyzing figurative language provides us licitly or explicitly compares something to
more practice be better to understand the something else (Rhody & Lisa, 2012) figu-
non-literal expression. rative language means allowing for a similar
The writer found many songs espe- beautiful failure – not a failure of language,
cially love songs using figurative languages but a necessary inclination toward a form
in the lyric, One song that is recognized to that involves a diminishing of language’s
have used very much using figurative is Se- possible meanings.
condhand Serenade, almost in all of their The figurative language provides new
songs lyrics figurative language could be ways of looking at the world, it always ma-
found. Since Secondhand Serenade’s songs kes a comparison between different things.
are very interesting to listen to, it is conside- Figurative language affect attitudes positi-
red important to know what the meaning is vely across context (Kronrod, A., & Dan-
implied within the songs. That is the reason ziger, S. 2013) Figurative language compa-
for the study to analyze it more deeply. The res two things that are different in enough
writer wants to analyze the figurative mea- ways so that the similarities are interesting,
ning in Secondhand Serenade’s song lyrics. unique, and surprising.
Figurative languages make the songs inter- Masters of figurative language can
esting and many listeners enjoy the songs change an audience’s experience of a word
because they use so many kinds of figura- or an idea by comparing it with something
tive languages to express their feelings and else. Figurative language can improve so-
ideas. cial communication skills (Kalandadze, T.,
Based on the explanations and Norbury, C., Nærland, T., & Næss, K. A.
reasons stated above the writer is interested B. 2018).Philosophica Vol 4 No. 1, Juni 2021 37
They can also deepen the mood, tone, Secondhand Serenade, Awake in 2007 and
and complexity of their work by choosing A Twist in My Story in 2008. The debut
relevant comparisons. album used multitrack recording to create
Figurative languages sometimes can- the sound of a band using technology, whi-
not be translated literally, to translate them le the second album took a different path,
into different languages may cause misin- using a proper band and an orchestra to es-
terpretation. If it is translated word-for- tablish a more accomplished sound.
word, it will often be completely misun- In 2005, Vesely released his debut
derstood. Often linguistic devices such as album titled Awake. It was recorded as a
irony are used (Farías, D. I. H., Sulis, E., demo, after booking a few days at a San
Patti, V., Ruffo, G., & Bosco, C. 2015). Alt- Francisco studio earlier in 2005, “using just
hough, there are always possibilities for the an acoustic guitar and his multi-tracked vo-
readers to analyze, understand and transla- cals.” The album experienced tremendous
te it correctly. online support, and by the end of 2006 Se-
As an example, the sentence “The condhand Serenade had received millions
ground is thirsty”, this sentence is using of plays on Myspace and had been the
figurative language but to recognize the fi- social-networking site’s No. 1 Independent
gurative language in this sentences we need Artist for months. Financially, he was said
to know that the “ground” word has a lite- to be bringing in up to $20,000 a month
ral meaning because the ground is not alive from downloads and merchandise sales out
and therefore neither needs to drink nor of his home. He sold over 15,000 copies of
feel thirsty. For the people who understand the album on his own, and on the strength
the figurative languages, they will interpret of these sales and the support, naturally, the
this sentence that the ground is dry and labels came knocking. Secondhand Serena-
need water. de was signed by longtime label executive
Using figurative language is not only Daniel Glass, on his new label Glassnote
needs an interpretation but also familiarity Records, which is distributed through War-
between the speaker and listener or bet- ners Independent Label Group. In 2006,
ween the author and the reader because Rolling Stone announced Secondhand Se-
an example in the statement “When I first renade as #3 in the magazine’s reader’s poll
saw her, my soul began to quiver” this sen- for Best Myspace Artist.
tence could present some interpretations In early 2007, Awake was reissued by
to the reader or the listener, because these Glassnote Records with an additional two
sentences may describe infatuation, panic, songs. It was released on February 6 and
or something else. So, if the listener and gave Vesely his first chartings, debuting at
reader have a familiarity with the speakers’ #16 on Billboard’s Top Heatseekers chart.
feelings, they will get what the speakers or Added success lead to it peaking at #164
authors mean easily. on the Billboard 200, #3 on the Top Heat-
seekers, and #19 on the Top Independent
Secondhand Serenade Albums chart.
Secondhand Serenade is an Ameri- Secondhand Serenade released only
can acoustic rock solo project fronted by one song as a single from the debut album,
vocalist and guitarist John Vesely. The solo “Vulnerable”. The song spawned a music
project began in 2004. Vesely has released video, which was created by Frank Borin
two studio albums to date under the name who was responsible for the Red Hot Chili38
Philosophica Vol 4 No. 1, Juni 2021
Peppers’ video for the hit single “Dani Ca- some technique of collecting data:
lifornia”. “Vulnerable” peaked at #83 on 1. The writer opened the website https://
the Billboard Hot 100, #64 on the Pop 100, www.azlyrics.com/s/secondhandserenade.
and #56 on the Hot Digital Songs charts. html. The writer thinks that the lyric web-
A Twist in My Story was released site is having complete lyrics.
on February 19, 2008, and features songs 2. The writer will choose the Secondhand
from Awake such as “Maybe” and “Your Serenade’s song lyrics from the website.
Call,” but reproduced with a full band. The 3. The writer downloaded popular songs
bulk of the album however is a list of new of Secondhand Serenade and listened on
songs written by John Vesely and recorded the digital platform.
with a full band. Two tracks on A Twist In 4. The writer chose sentences that contain
My Story were produced by famed produ- figurative language.
cer Butch Walker, while the others were
produced by former Nine Inch Nails mem- Method of Data Analysis
ber. (Wikipedia) After getting and collecting the data,
the writer took the next step which is to
METHODOLOGY analyze the data. The steps that the writer
In this study, the writer used desc- took in analyzing the data are as follows:
riptive qualitative. Qualitative research is a Identifying data from the song lyrics
research procedure that produces descrip- In this part, the writer identified
tive data in the form of written or spoken which utterances can be categories as the
text of the people and behaviors that can figurative language with neon-colored song
be observed. In this study, the writer will lyrics. After that, the writer gave a number
employ descriptive qualitative. Descriptive on song lyrics. The number is number one
research study concern with describing the until three on each song lyrics to facilitate
characteristics of a particular individual o the writer to identify. Then the writer made
a group whereas diagnostic research stu- the table to identify the data that contains
dies determine the frequency with which figurative language.
something occurs or its association with
something else (Kothari, 2004). Classifying the data from the song lyr-
ics
Method of Data Collection The writer classified the song lyrics
The method of data collection is that contained figurative language based on
an important step in the research becau- Perrine’s theory (1992). And then, the wri-
se the main goal of the research is to get ter used the table to make it easier for the
the data. There are two ways to collect the reader to understand.
data. Those are interactive way and non-
interactive ways. The interactive way con- Explaining the data from the song lyr-
sists of interviews, observation, and focus ics
group discussion. Whereas, non-interactive After the writer identifying and clas-
way consists of a questionnaire, document, sifying the types of figurative language, the
and non-participant. Based on the source next step is the writer explained the result
of data in this study, the writer used a non- of the identification and classification by
interactive way to collect the data. analyzing the meaning of figurative langu-
In this research, the writer displays age in Secondhand Serenade’s songs basedPhilosophica Vol 4 No. 1, Juni 2021 39
on Perrine’s theory of figurative language when we are waiting for a city bus for an
(1992). The classifications of data put into hour and after a long wait for the bus and
the table of frequency to make the pie chart finally, the bus came, we often scream “I
have been waiting for this bus like forever”.
DISCUSSION The two examples show that the speaker is
After analyzing the data and classi- the person who impatient.
fying figurative language on Secondhand The classification of figurative langu-
Serenade song lyrics, in this chapter, the age use in the Broken song by Secondhand
writer discusses the findings of data analy- Serenade. It explained which position the
sis. The writer found out six types of figu- figurative language occurs in the song. The
rative language they are hyperbole, meton- figurative languages found are 2 similes, 1
ymy, personification, simile, apostrophe, hyperbole, 2 metonymies, 1 apostrophe,
and symbol. From the analysis above, the and 1 personification. For example:
writer found that hyperbole is the most of- In the moonlight, your face it glows like a
ten apparent, figurative language that oc- thousand diamonds
curs 9 times in the three of Secondhand The example of a simile is found
Serenade’s songs. It is used to express so- in “Broken” song line 1, 2, 3. The lyric is
mething or state of condition in a bigger “In the moonlight Your face it glows like a
way than the real condition. thousand diamonds”. This song describes
The songwriter from the three songs the listeners about the feeling of the sin-
was broken, a twist in my story, and I hate ger that amazed about his girlfriend’s face.
this song wants to express all of his fee- He praises his girlfriend’s face because his
lings in the songs that he wrote, and also girlfriend is beautiful, he said “Your face
he wants everyone to knows about the hy- it glows like a thousand diamond”, it con-
perbole that he wrote at every song in the tains figurative language, that is, simile be-
three of songs. The feeling of happiness, cause the singer uses a comparison “In the
sadness, and disappointed feelings are all moonlight Your face it glows like a thou-
the feelings that exist in the mind of the sand diamonds” and uses “like” as part of
songwriter when he created the song lyrics. simile as a comparison.
As the three songs mostly are themed about And your hair flows like the ocean breeze
love songs and sacrifice for love, there are The example of a simile is found in
so many hyperboles expressed on the three “Broken” song lines 5, 6. This song desc-
songs to add the beauty of the expressions. ribes the listeners about the feeling of the
Hyperbole is a device that we emp- singer that amazed about his girlfriend’s
loy in our day-to-day speech. For instance, hair. The sentence “Your hair flows like the
when we meet a friend after a long time, ocean breeze” contains figurative langu-
we say, “Ages have passed since I last saw age, that is, simile because the singer uses a
you”. We may not have met him for three comparison “Your hair flows like the ocean
or four hours or a day, but the use of the breeze” and uses “like” as part of simile as
word “ages” exaggerates this statement to a comparison.
add emphasis to your waiting. Therefore, Not a Million Fights could make me hate
a hyperbole is an unreal exaggeration to you
emphasize the real situation to put a high This symbol is found in “Broken”
effect on the listeners. (http://literaryde- song. Line 7, 8 “Not a million fights could
vices.net/hyperbole/). Another example is make me hate you” This sentence contains40
Philosophica Vol 4 No. 1, Juni 2021
a symbol because the singer symbolized guage use in A Twist My Story song by a
the “fights” as a problem in this lyric. And Secondhand Serenade. It explained which
the meaning is the singer will never hate position the figurative language occurs in
his girlfriend, even though there are many the song. The figurative languages found
problems in their relationship. are 3 hyperboles, 1 personification, and 1
It’s in your eyes where I find peace metonymy. For example:
The writer found hyperbole in the Slow down, the world isn’t watching us bre-
eleventh and twelfth sentence in the song ak down
“Broken” and the lyric is “It’s in your eyes, This sentence is found in “A twist
where I find peace”. This lyric exaggerates in my story” song line 9. “Slow down, the
words and makes the readers imagine that world isn’t watching us break down”. The-
the singer can find peacefulness by just see se lyrics categorized into personification
his girlfriend’s eyes, but in the reality, it is because the songwriter makes the senten-
impossible. The writer interprets that the- ce “the world isn’t watching us” a human
se lyrics describe that the singer feels very characteristic. This sentence said that the
happy when he sees his girlfriend’s eyes. world is not watching, it means anytime the
Let’s light up the town, scream out loud world can watch them, whereas the world
The next figurative language is found can not watch, but a human can. The sin-
in “Broken” song. Line 15 “Let’s light up ger wants to entertain his girlfriend with
the town, scream out loud”. This senten- the words.
ce contains metonymy because the singer I can’t take my eyes off of you
change “surrounding the town” into “let’s The next figurative language that the
light up the town”. And the meaning is, writer finds in “A twist in my story” song
the singer invites his girlfriend to surround is hyperbole, the lyric “I can’t take my eyes
the town to entertain themselves or forget off of you”. This lyric exaggerates words
about problems. because life is not just our couple, and our
Time, I just need one more day life is just not to see our girlfriend.
The writer finds apostrophe in “Bro- I’ll give up all I had just to breathe the
ken” song that can be found in lines 34, same air as you till the day that I die
35. “Time, I just need one more day”. It The next figurative language is found
contains apostrophe because the songwri- in the “A twist in my story” song. Line 11,
ter talks to time, whereas time is something 12 “I’ll give up all I had just to breathe the
that can not understand. same air as you till the day that I die” This
And time you’ve been crying too long time sentence contains metonymy because the
This sentence is found in the “Bro- singer change “our live” into “the same air
ken” song line 36, 37, 38. The sentence as you”. And the meaning is, the songwriter
“And time, You’ve been crying too long wants to give everything that the songwri-
time” contains personification because the ter had to their togetherness.
sentence personified like a human. Time
cannot cry, but humans can. It has a mes- The classification of figurative lan-
sage about the feeling of the singer that he guage use in I Hate This Song song by
is waiting for someone too long. This ma- Secondhand Serenade. It explained which
kes his heart hurt so badly and he expresses position the figurative language occur in
this like that. the song. The figurative language found is
The classification of figurative lan- 5 hyperboles. For example:Philosophica Vol 4 No. 1, Juni 2021 41
Your tears come from inside theory of Perrine (1992) gives support for
The writer also finds hyperbole in the analyzing the data and there was a connec-
“I hate this song” song and the lyric “Your tion between the song and figurative langu-
tears come from inside ”. This includes hy- age used in popular songs of Secondhand
perbole because it exaggerates words. The Serenade. So this theory has its function to
best meaning according to the writer is that analyze the data. Perrine explains kinds of
the tears of the singer’s girlfriend come figurative language of personification, me-
from the heart. The tears come from the taphor, symbol, irony, simile, and hyperbo-
eyes. This lyric is found in line 8. le.
The most types of figurative langu-
age that found in Lestari (2015) thesis that REFERENCES
is from Maria Claire, she found three me- Hernández Farías, D. I., Sulis, E., Patti, V.,
tonymies and from Gentlemen’s of the Ruffo, G. F., & Bosco, C. (2015). Va-
Quartery Advertisements, she found three lento: Sentiment analysis of figura-
metonymies and three hyperbole as the tive language tweets with irony and
most figurative language that often found sarcasm. In 9th International Work-
in her thesis. shop on Semantic Evaluation (SemEval
2015) (pp. 694-698). Association for
CONCLUSION Computational Linguistics.
From the finding and analysis that Hamzah, H. (2012). An analysis of the writ-
has been done, the writer finds that 19 sen- ten grammatical errors produced by
tences are containing figurative languages freshment students in english writ-
in the three songs of Secondhand Serena- ing. Lingua Didaktika: Jurnal Bahasa
de. All of these terms are divided into six dan Pembelajaran Bahasa, 6(1), 17-25.
categories. There are hyperbole, meton- Kalandadze, T., Norbury, C., Nærland, T.,
ymy, personification, symbol, apostrophe, & Næss, K. A. B. (2018). Figurative
and simile. Based on the theory of Perrine. language comprehension in individu-
The writer only found figurative languages als with autism spectrum disorder: A
from Perrine’s (1992) finding because tho- meta-analytic review. Autism, 22(2),
se terms are the common kinds of figura- 99-117.
tive language mostly used to analyze the Kothari. (2004). Research Methodology. Meth-
lyrics of songs to make them sound more ods and Techniques. New Delhi: New
beautiful. Age International (P), Ltd.
The songwriter uses these figurati- Kronrod, A., & Danziger, S. (2013). “Wii
ve languages to show that the lyrics of the will rock you!” The use and effect
song are not used as daily language and it of figurative language in consumer
will make the hearer/reader create his/her reviews of hedonic and utilitarian
interpretation. It is important as it gives consumption. Journal of Consumer Re-
people a nice sense of imagery when they search, 40(4), 726-739.
are reading something. The songwriter also Lestari, M. (2015). Figurative Meanings in
wants to show the hearer that the language Secondhand Serenade’s Song Lyrics (Doc-
that she/he hears for the song is on the or- toral dissertation, UNIMED).
dinary language that people usually use in Mahmood, R., Obaid, M., & Shakir, A.
daily life. (2014). A Critical Discourse Analy-
Moreover, the writer found that the sis of figurative language in Pakistani42
Philosophica Vol 4 No. 1, Juni 2021
English newspapers. International Stewart Mason. Online at https://www.
Journal of Linguistics, 6(3), 210. allmusic.com/artist/secondhand-
Rhody & Lisa M. (2012). Topic Modeling serenade-mn0000623567/biography
and Figurative Language. CUNY Ac- [accessed 25/04/20]
ademic Works. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Online
Self-Evaluation Kit. Online at https:// at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
www.azlyrics.com/s/secondhandser- SecondhandSerenade [accessed
enade.html [accessed 15/04/20] 25/04/20]
Self-Evaluation Kit. Online at https://
literarydevices.net/hyperbole/ [ac-
cessed 15/05/20]You can also read
