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LANGUAGE STYLE
SEEN FROM FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE PERSPECTIVE
IN TAYLOR SWIFT’S RED ALBUM
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By NABILA WAHYUNINGTYAS
Student Number: 154214117
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA
YOGYAKARTA
2019
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
LANGUAGE STYLE
SEEN FROM FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE PERSPECTIVE
IN TAYLOR SWIFT’S RED ALBUM
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
Nabila Wahyuningtyas
Student Number: 154214117
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA
YOGYAKARTA
2019
ii
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Just because there’s a
hurricane going on
around you,
Doesn’t mean you have
to open the window and
look at it
(Taylor Swift)
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
For
MY life supporters
that HAVE NEVER BEEN
OUT OF STYLE
_ _ _ _
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Alhamdulillah, I was blessed with so much encouragement from so many
people to finish my study. First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude
to my thesis advisor, Arina Isti’anah S.Pd., M.Hum who provided me with
continuous, pertinent and much input as well as support to help me decide the path
for my educational journey at Sanata Dharma University. I thank her for her
guidance, wisdom, and patience throughout the whole period of this research. I
would like to also thank my co- advisor, Wedhowerti S.Pd., M.Hum for putting
valuable inputs for my thesis. Furthermore, I would like to be thankful for my
great lecturer who has never forgotten to support me no matter how high and how
low I was in the life phase, Harris Hermansyah Setiajid, M. Hum.
My special thanks goes to my precious mama, Yuyun Yulia, Ph.D, my life
advisor for the never ending support and prayers, also goes to my papa, Ir.
Bambang Wahyudi and my brother Logan Wahyu Fauzan who own my endless
love. I am also blessed that I am surrounded by amazing friends that I could not
mention one by one in 2015 batch. My sincere appreciation goes for their
encouragement and support to finish my study. Last but not least, I would
especially like to thank my significant other, who is impatiently waiting for me to
finish this study. I thank him for being my living diary, my support system
throughout my whole process.
Nabila Wahyuningtyas
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ............................................................................................................................. ii
APPROVAL PAGE ................................................................................................................iii
ACCPETANCE PAGE .........................................................................................................iv
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY .................................................................................. v
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH ............................................................................................vi
MOTTO PAGE ...................................................................................................................... vii
DEDICATION PAGE ........................................................................................................ viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................ix TABLE OF CONTENTS .....................................................................................................ix
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................ xii
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................ xiii
ABSTRAK ................................................................................................................................ xiv
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1
A. Background of the Study ............................................................................................ 1
B. Problem Formulation ................................................................................................... 3
C. Objectives of the Study ............................................................................................... 3
D. Definition of Terms ..................................................................................................... 4
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE .............................................................. 5
A. Review of Related Studies ......................................................................................... 5
B. Review of Related Theories ...................................................................................... 8
1. Stylistics ................................................................................................................... 8
2. Semantics ............................................................................................................... 10
3. Figurative Language ........................................................................................... 12
a. Simile ............................................................................................................... 12
b. Metaphor ......................................................................................................... 13
c. Personification ............................................................................................... 13
d. Metonymy ....................................................................................................... 14
e. Apostrophe ..................................................................................................... 14
f. Synecdoche..................................................................................................... 15
g. Symbol ............................................................................................................. 15
h. Allegory ........................................................................................................... 15
i. Paradox ............................................................................................................ 15 j. Hyperbole ....................................................................................................... 16
k. Understatement ............................................................................................. 16
l. Irony ................................................................................................................. 17
4. Female Language Style ...................................................................................... 17
C. Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................. 18
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CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................... 20
A. Object of the Study .................................................................................................... 20
B. Approach of the Study............................................................................................... 21
C. Method of the Study .................................................................................................. 22
1. Data Collection ..................................................................................................... 22
2. Data Analysis ........................................................................................................ 22
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS ............................ 25
A. The Figurative Language Types Found in Song Lyrics .................................. 25
1. Simile ..................................................................................................................... 27
2. Metaphor ............................................................................................................... 30 3. Hyperbole ............................................................................................................. 33
4. Symbol ................................................................................................................... 35
5. Paradox .................................................................................................................. 36
6. Irony ....................................................................................................................... 38
7. Personification ..................................................................................................... 38
8. Metonymy ............................................................................................................. 41
9. Understatement ................................................................................................... 42
B. The Language Style of Taylor Swift ..................................................................... 43
1. Comparative .......................................................................................................... 43
2. Exaggerating ......................................................................................................... 46
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ......................................................................................... 51
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 53
APPENDICES ......................................................................................................................... 55
Appendix 1: Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Figurative Expressions .............. 55
Appendix 2: Figurative Language Types .......................................................................... 60
Appendix 3: The Lyrics of “Red” ........................................................................................ 62
Appendix 4: The Lyrics of “Treacherous” ........................................................................ 64
Appendix 5: The Lyrics of “I Knew You Were Trouble” ............................................ 66
Appendix 6: The Lyrics of “22” ........................................................................................... 68
Appendix 7: The Lyrics of “Starlight” ............................................................................... 71
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
LIST OF TABLES
No. Table Page
1 Table 1. Levels of Language 9
2 Table 2. Summary of Figurative Language in Song Lyrics 23
(Example)
3 Table 3. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning (Example) 24
4 Table 4. Summary of Figurative Language in Song Lyrics 25
5 Table 5. Literal and Non Literal Meaning of Lyrics with 27
Simile
6 Table 6. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with 31
Metaphor
7 Table 7. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with 33
Hyperbole
8 Table 8. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with 35
Symbol
9 Table 9. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with 36
Paradox
10 Table 10. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with 38
Irony
11 Table 11. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with 39
Personification
12 Table 12. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with 41
Metonymy
13 Table 13. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with 42
Understatement
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ABSTRACT
WAHYUNINGTYAS, NABILA. (2019). Language Style Seen From Figurative Language Perspective in Taylor Swift’s Red Album. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Language is human property which is employed to communicate and to
express one’s feelings verbally. Figurative language is one of language forms that
is used in creating song lyrics. In composing lyrics, each songwriter has different
styles of using figurative language. Songwriters tend to use more figurative
language to be more expressive in conveying the meaning. Taylor Swift as a
famous awards-winning singer-songwriter prefers to use more figurative language
in her songs. Two problems are observed in this research; to (1) figure out what types of
figurative language used as well as (2) find out what language style concluded
based on the five selected songs in the Red album. The lyrics were focused in five selected songs from one album; “Red”, “Treacherous”, “I Knew You Were
Trouble”, “22”, and “Starlight”. Qualitative method was employed to collect and analyze the data through
observation and library study. Purposeful sampling was applied to collect the data. Stylistics was applied as the main approach to analyze the object of the study.
The findings show that Taylor Swift has typical styles of expressing her
ideas through song lyrics. Swift applies nine kinds of figurative language; simile,
metaphor, personification, metonymy, symbol, paradox, hyperbole,
understatement, and irony in the five selected songs from the album. Simile is
found to be the highest in frequency then followed by metaphor, hyperbole,
symbol, and the other figurative language types. It can be concluded that Swift’s
style in songwriting can be categorized to be more comparative and exaggerating.
Keywords: Figurative Language, Stylistics, Taylor Swift
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ABSTRAK
WAHYUNINGTYAS, NABILA. (2019). Language Style Seen From Figurative Language Perspective in Taylor Swift’s Red Album. Yogyakarta: Program
Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Bahasa adalah suatu perangkat manusia untuk berkomunikasi dan
mengungkapkan perasaan secara lisan. Ada beragam jenis bahasa, satu
diantaranya adalah bahasa kiasan. Bahasa kiasan dapat digunakan untuk berbagai
macam tujuan, salah satunya dalam penulisan lagu. Masing-masing penulis lagu
memiliki gaya yang berbeda dalam mengaplikasikan bahasa kiasan. Para penulis
lagu menerapkan bahasa kiasan guna menjadi lebih ekspresif dalam menyalurkan
sebuah makna. Taylor Swift, salah satu penyanyi dan penulis lagu ternama
memilih untuk menggunakan berbagai macam bahasa kiasan dalam jumlah yang
banyak.
Di dalam penelitian ini terdapat dua rumusan masalah yakni; (1) untuk mengetahui jenis bahasa kiasan dalam lima lagu Taylor Swift, dan (2) untuk
mengidentifikasi gaya bahasa berdasarkan hasil yang ditemukan dalam rumusan
masalah yang pertama. Penelitian ini terfokuskan dengan lima lagu Taylor Swift dari album Red yang berjudul “Red”, “Treacherous”, “I Knew You Were
Trouble”, “22”, dan “Starlight”. Metode kualitatif diterapkan untuk mengumpulkan dan menganalisis data
melalui observasi dan studi pustaka. Teknik pengumpulan data yang dipergunakan adalah purposeful sampling yang berarti pengambilan sampel yang disengaja.
Pendekatan stilistika diaplikasikan untuk menganalisis obyek penelitian. Hasil dari penelitian menunjukkan bahwa Taylor Swift memiliki gaya
yang khas untuk mengekspreksikan apa yang ia pikirkan melalui lirik lagu
ciptaannya. Ada sembilan jenis bahasa kiasan yang ditemukan di kelima lagu
yaitu: simile, metafora, personifikasi, metonim, simbol, paradoks, hiperbola,
understatement, dan ironi. Simile adalah jenis bahasa kiasan yang paling banyak
ditemukan, lalu disusul oleh metafora, hiperbola, simbol, dan tipe bahasa kiasan
yang lain. Dapat disimpulkan bahwa gaya bahasa Swift dalam menulis lagu
dikategorikan sebagai membandingkan dan melebih-lebihkan.
Key words: Bahasa Kiasan, Stilistika, Taylor Swift
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Language is human property that is used to communicate each other.
According to Jakobson (1995, p. 353), language can be used to express feelings
and feelings are sometimes expressed through artworks, one of those is song
lyrics. To make it more interesting, songwriters often express his/her feelings
throughout figurative language that reveals the uninterpreted meanings in the
songs. Figurative language can be observed using semantics theory describing
literal and non-literal meaning (Hurtford, 2013, p. 1).
In line with figurative language, the way of using figurative language can
be observed by applying stylistics. Stylistics is simply defined as the study of
style. The aim is to explain something, and in general, literal stylistics has the goal
of explaining the relation between language and artistic function implicitly or
expllicitly (Leech and Short, 2007, p. 4).
Accordingly, figurative language tends to be used in expressing feeling, in
particular, songs. Songwriters (female and male) express their feelings in the form
of songs. Female language style tends to be different from male language style.
Male and female songwriters use different expressions to show what they actually
mean to say. Many songwriters use their own experiences to be the matter of the
songs. According to Danet and Herring (2007, p. 250), female language is
assumed to be more hyperbolic rather than male language because the expressions
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2
are less direct. Taylor Swift’s style can be one of the representatives of female
songwriter’s style of using figurative language in a song.
Taylor Swift is one of many singer-song writers who uses various kinds of
figurative language to deliver various points through the songs. Taylor Swift has
released 6 studio albums: Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989 and
Reputation. Based on the researcher’s observation, her songs are mostly about
adolescence life, especially about love, heartbreak, and recklessness. Her songs
can be perceived as really romantic and cheerful at times but also sarcastic. She
wrote songs based on anecdotal experience. It was included commonly on the
song description page of her album about whom she was telling about the song.
The researcher uses song lyrics as the research object instead of other
sources because song lyrics seem to have literal and non-literal meaning. Songs
are also media to express feelings in a creative way. Taylor Swift’s songs are
appropriate to choose because Taylor Swift has her own style of using figurative
language. Taylor swift likes to talk about her past experiences in her songs by
applying figurative language. In the cover booklet of her albums she always
mentions whom she dedicates the song to. Moreover, her songs are easy listening
and well known in the music industry. She is also still very young, but she has
written over 40 songs by herself.
By conducting a research based on the object and the topic, hopefully the
findings of this research will give benefits to English students, English teachers,
other researchers and readers. This is expected to improve the linguistic
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3
knowledge about figurative language and stylistics in field of linguistics and used
as a reference in teaching and learning about figurative language and stylistics
This research limits on the expressions in the song lyrics in Red album that
has the elements of figurative language in order to find the types and also the
meanings of figurative language. To investigate the literal and non-literal meaning
in songs, the study focuses on 5 of Taylor Swift’s songs from the album Red
(2012) which are “Red”, “Treacherous”, “I Knew You Were Trouble“, “22”, and
“Starlight”.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the background, the research questions of this present study are
formulated as follows,
1. What types of figurative language are found in Taylor Swift’s selected songs
in the Red album?
2. What are the language styles revealed from the figurative language found in
the album?
C. Objectives of the Study
This study is aimed to answer the questions in the problem formulation.
Firstly, the study aims to find out the types of figurative language that are found
in Taylor Swift’s songs. The answer will help the researcher to investigate the
figurative language used by Swift. Secondly, it aims to figure out the style of
Taylor Swift’s language in song writing by means of figurative language. In
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4
further analysis, the writer will start to describe how Taylor Swift as a young pop
country female singer-songwriter composes a song.
D. Definition of Terms
In order to avoid misunderstanding on certain terms, the definition of
several words will be explained in this section. The first word is Language Style.
Language style is the particular variety of language used by different individuals
and in different situations (Simpson, 2004, p.3)
The second word is figurative language. According to Keraf (2009, p.
116), figurative language is a way of expressing typically through language that
shows the spirit and personality of the author or the language user. Figurative
language is language that uses expressions with meanings differ from the
interpretation.
The third word is Album. Album, in terms of music is the composition
of songs which is arranged in beautificial manner in order to develop the concept
of the songs grouping which is usually produced in CD’s (Gioia, 2015, p. 2).
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
In this chapter, there are three things that are presented. The first is review
of related studies. This part contains the review of previous studies done on the
similar topic. The second is a review of related theories. This part contains
theories which are used to provide foundation for the analysis. The source of
related studies and theories are taken from books, thesis, and journal articles that
support this study. The third is theoretical framework that explains the
contributions of those theories and reviews in solving the problem.
A. Review of Related Studies
In order to make this research more accurate and reliable, the researcher
considers that this research cannot stand without any references. This
consideration has brought the researcher to gather several theses and journal
articles which are related to this study. The related studies are presented one by
one.
The first related study is by Laksita (2017). Laksita’s thesis mostly
discusses the similar topic with this research, which is “Figurative Expressions in
Song Lyrics by Male and Female Songwriters”. The thesis focuses on figurative
language and the style that is shown throughout the use of figurative language by
male and female. Stylistics is employed as the main approach and combined by
the theory of semantic features to determine the literal and non-literal meaning of
figurative expressions, which is employed in this research.
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6
What is found different from this study is the writer compares the use of
figurative language between man and woman, while in this study, the figurative
language usage is only focused on Taylor Swift’s style. In addition, there are 4
different songs from 4 different singers used in the thesis while this study focuses
5 songs from a singer-songwriter. This thesis comes into conclusion that male
songwriter tends to use hyperbole more than female songwriter, while woman
tends to use simile more than man which identifies that female style is less direct
and more comparing.
The second related study is an undergraduate thesis entitled “Figurative
Languages in Adele’s Album 25”, by Rahmanto (2017). He formulates the
problems on types of figurative language found in Adele’s Album, 25 and the
frequency of figurative language’s types. The research findings are: There are ten
types of figurative language found in Adele’s album 25, which are metaphor,
simile, personification, apostrophe, synecdoche, metonymy, symbol, paradox,
hyperbole and irony. There were four metaphors, four similes, four
personifications, two apostrophes, one synecdoche, three metonymies, two
symbols, one paradox, ten hyperboles and four ironies. Hyperbole is the most
common figurative language type used in the songs.
The similarities between the related study and this research are the topic
about figurative language in songs and the gender of the singer songwriter chosen,
whereas the differences are the object of the study (the songs) and the main
approach of the study. In Rahmanto’s study, the object of the study is Adele’s
songs while in this research the object of the study is Taylor Swift’s songs. The
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main approach of the study is semantics while in this research the main approach
is stylistics. As well, this research further discusses what language style can be
concluded from the use of figurative language.
The third related study is a journal article by Setiawati (2018) entitled “An
Analysis of Figurative Language in Taylor Swift’s Song Lyrics” from IKIP
Siliwangi Cimahi. The journal focuses on the dominant figurative language and
the contextual meaning of the songs. The songs analyzed are “Red” and “22”.
What differs from the journal and this research is the approach used, in the journal
the approach applied is pragmatics. The conclusion of this journal is Taylor Swift
uses simile and hyperbole the most in two of her songs and based on the
contextual meaning of Taylor Swift tells about romance, treachery and conflict.
The fourth related study is a journal article by Marhamah (2018) entitled
“Figurative Language Portrayed in Rihanna’s Selected Songs” from Islamic
University of North Sumatera. The objectives of the study are to identify the types
of figurative language and to find out the meanings of figurative language in
Rihanna’s selected songs. Figurative language theory applied in this paper is
proposed by Perrine (1969, p. 60) stating that figurative language is another way
of adding extra dimension to language.
What differs the journal article and this study is in the journal article
semantics is applied as the main approach, while in this research the main
approach used is stylistics. The conclusion of this journal is that figurative
language in Rihanna’s selected songs are Hyperbole, Personification, Simile,
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8
Metaphor, Symbol, Repetition, Imagery, Alliteration, Metonymy, and Assonance
and the meanings of figurative language adapts the songs.
B. Review of Related Theories
To answer the research questions in this research, there are four major
theories applied, which are stylistics, semantics, figurative language, and female
language style.
1. Stylistics
Leech (2007, p. 11) defines stylistics as “the study of style” and relates it
as the study whose purpose is to “explain language and the artistic function”. It is
the study about linguistic nature of the expressive means of the language as well
as the characteristics and its functions. Simpson (2004, p. 2) asserts, stylistics is “a
method of textual interpretation in which primacy of place is assigned to
language”. Language is so important to stylisticians because the various forms and
levels which constitute linguistic structure are the important indices of the text
function.
As stated by Verdonk (2002, p. 215), the purpose of doing stylistic
criticism and analysis is to provide linguistic data that are objective to support
existing readings or intuitions about a literary work. In this research, the objective
linguistic data are taken from 5 songs of Taylor Swift whose purpose is to support
the intuitions of Taylor Swift’language style of writing her songs. Simpson (2004,
p. 5) notes that the major levels of language and their related technical terms in
language study are presented in the following table.
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Table 1. Stylistics: Levels of Language
Level of language Branch of language study
The sound of spoken language; the Phonology; phonetics
way words are pronounced.
The patterns of written language; Graphology
the shape of language on the page.
The way words are constructed;
words and their constituent Morphology
structures.
The way words combine with other
words to form phrases and Syntax; grammar
sentences.
The words we use; the vocabulary Lexical analysis; lexicology
of a language.
The meaning of words and Semantics
sentences.
The way words and sentences are
used in everyday situations; the Pragmatics; discourse analysis
meaning of language in context.
Table 1 shows the seven levels of language and brief explanation about the
levels. The first level of language is phonology, phonetics which is the level of the
set of possible human sounds, which constitutes the area of phonetics, and the set
of system sounds used in a given human language, which constitutes the area of
phonology. The second level is graphology which deals with the patterns of
written language and the actual shape of language on the page.
The third level is morphology which is the level of words and endings, to
put it in simplified terms. It analyzes minimal forms in language which are used to
construct words which have either a grammatical or lexical function. The fourth
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
level is lexical analysis; lexicology which deals with the use of language
vocabulary variation. The fifth level is syntax which is concerned with the
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
10
meanings of words in combination with each other to form phrases or sentences. It
furthermore deals with the relatedness of different sentence types and with the
analysis of ambiguous sentences.
The sixth level is semantics which is the area of meaning. This level needs
to be studied on its own to have a proper perspective on meaning in language. The
seventh or the last level of language is pragmatics which is concerned with the use
of language in specific situations. The area of pragmatics relies strongly for its
analysis of the speech’s notion which is concerned with the actual performance of
language.
The level employed for the analysis is lexical analysis which focuses on
the vocabulary of language object and semantics which focuses on the words
meaning.
2. Semantics
According to Hurtford (2013, p. 1), semantics is the technical term applied
for the study of meaning, and since meaning is a part of language, semantics is a
part of linguistics. It associates a message with a set of signs which can be seen by
the words. Shortly, Semantics is the study of the discussion of meanings. Based
on semantics, each of the language meaning will be discussed as literal meaning
and non-literal meaning.
The literal meaning of a sentence is just based on semantic information of
the knowledge of English that occurs in ‘everyday’ language (Griffiths, 2006, p.
6). While non- literal meaning use certain words to expose other image of its
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word, non literal language does not concern with the basic or usual meaning of a
word or phrase. Non- literal meaning is often called figurative meaning which is
not often used in ‘everyday’ language but used to beautify the language as in
poems.
To determine literal and non-literal meaning linguistically, semantic
properties were applied. Semantic properties is known as the information which is
already acknowledged by speakers. Semantic properties is represented by the
semantic features. According to Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams (2014, p. 578),
semantic features represent the basic conceptual components of meaning for any
lexical item. One of the attempts to analyze word meaning is by paying attention
to the information the word carries, for example, + and – symbols followed by the
information indicate the semantic features. + symbol presents validity of a quality
while - symbol points out invalidity of a quality. The example of using semantic
features is presented below.
Woman Girl Kitten
+animate +animate +animate
+human +human -human
-young +young +young
The example shows that woman, girl, and kitten share similarities, all the
words above carry the same information that is animate. Woman and girl are both
human beings, while girl and kitten are both young.
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3. Figurative Language
Figurative language is a language that uses words different from their
proper definitions in order to achieve a deeper understanding. By using figurative
language, a meaning can be conveyed more vividly (Leech, 1991, p. 147).
Figurative language is mostly used to beautify and express feelings in literary
works such as drama scripts, novels, song lyrics and poems. Furthermore, Keraf
(2009, p. 113) states that figurative language is a way of expressing thoughts
typically through language that shows the spirit and personality of the author or
the language user. Figurative language is a media for writers to convey intended
meanings. To readers, the existence of figurative language gives emotional and
persuasive effects from towards the literary works.
It is often debated regarding types of figurative language, it depends on
whose perception on figurative language. According to Perrine (2004, p. 60), there
are 12 types of figurative language which are simile, metaphor, personification,
apostrophe, synecdoche, metonymy, symbol, allegory, paradox,
hyperbole/overstatement, understatement, and irony. The 12 types of figurative
language are listed in details in the following.
a. Simile
Simile is the explicit comparison of two things, indicates by the word or
phrase such as like, as than, similar to, resemble or seems (Perrine, 2004, p. 61).
Simile has the likely definition with metaphor but the the difference is the use of
connective word. Leech stated that “A simile, conversely, is generally more
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explicit than metaphor” (Leech, 1991, p. 156). Simile does not tell exactly what
one is compared to, there is a bunch of interrelated possibilities.
As an example, an author writes “she is like a glass of lemonade in a hot
summer day”, the connective word like is used to compare the two things, “a
glass of lemonade in a hot summer day” is associated with what is just needed. In
hot summer day, a glass of lemonade will help to refresh people from the hot
weather, so by saying that it means the “she” is just what the writer needs.
b. Metaphor
According to Perrine (2004, p. 61), metaphor is a type of figurative
language that compares one thing to another without using connective words.
Metaphor is similar to simile, the only distinction between them is the use of
connective words in simile. In other words, metaphor is a figure of speech which
is used to compare one to another without using connective word or phrase such
as like, as than, similar to, resemble or seems.
One of the metaphorical expression is “Life is a walking shadow”. It is a
metaphorical statement which shows a comparison between life and shadow.
According to Leech, it is claimed to be a series of definitioms of life; but they are
plainly not the definitions for the term which is expected to be found in a
dictionary (Leech, 1991, p. 151). “Life is a walking shadow” can be interpreted as
life is something that really lacks substance, depending on the context of the text.
c. Personification
According to Perrine (2004, p. 64), personification is an attribution of
human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract
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14
quality in human form. This is a close relative of metaphor, in which events
typically with obsecure or complex causes, are portrayed as being caused by a
human like agent. In some cases, the actual agent is personified, for example, a
volcanic eruption may be presented as the act of an angry subterranean giant or a
storm as the act of a vengeful, airborne fury. In some cases, as when death is
personified as a coachman, reaper, or thief, it is not so much the cause of death
(such as disease or famine) that is personified, rather than the event itself (Cruse,
2006, p. 127).
d. Metonymy
Metonymy is the use of something closely related to the thing actually
meant (Perrine, 2004, p. 67). The other definition is a figure of speech in which
the name of an attribute or a thing is substituted for the thing itself (Leech, 1991,
p. 152). Common examples are ‘The Stage’ for the theatrical profession; ‘The
Crown’ for the monarchy; ‘The Bench’ for the judiciary. To conclude,
metonymy is a figure of speech that thing is applied to another with which
becoming closely associated.
e. Apostrophe
Apostrophe is defined as the type of figurative language that addresses
someone absent or something non human as it was present and alive, and could
reply to what is being said (Perrine, 2004, p. 65). Apostrophe is also a form of
personification in which nonhuman or in animate thing is directly addressed as if
it were human or animate.The example is “Oh walls! Why are you here? You
are on my way!” talking to the walls is considered as apostrophe.
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f. Synecdoche
Synecdoche is the type of figurative language that uses the part for the
whole. Leech noted that Synecdoche is “abstract property for possessor of abstract
property” (Perrine, 2004, p. 67). As an example, using the term “ten hands” for
ten employees, or “a hundred sails” for ships.
g. Symbol
Symbol is defined as something that means more than what it is symbol
maybe best understood as an implied metaphor. (Perrine, 2004, p. 82). The
example of symbol is “you cannot teach an old dog new trick”. In the example it
is seen that the speaker does not only talk about dog itself, but about living
creatures of any species and therefore speaking symbolically. An old dog can be
understood as an old man that in his age he cannot think like when he was young.
h. Allegory
Allegory is a type of figurative language in which abstract ideas and
principles are described in terms of characters, figures, and events (Perrine, 2004,
p.88). According to Leech, allegory stands in the same relation to an individual
symbol as extended metaphor does to simple metaphor, in fact, an allegory may as
well be described as ‘extended metaphor’ (Leech, 1991, p. 163). The example of
allegory is “everyone is equal, but a few are more equal than others”. In the
example, the other way of saying some people are higher than others is shown.
i. Paradox
Paradox is an apparent contradiction that is nevertheless something true, it
maybe either a situation or a statement (Perrine, 2004, p. 101). Paradox is the
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16
statement seemingly self-contradiction to what is commonly held to be true but
nevertheless contains a truth. One example of it is “Deep down, you are really
shallow”. The contradiction (deep and shallow) is clearly shown in the statement
and the statement seems to be abstract.
j. Hyperbole/Overstatement
Hyperbole is simply exaggeration out in the service of truth (Perrine, 2004,
p. 102). Exaggeration can be perceived in either way, positively and negatively,
for instance, when someone says “I cannot live without you” it does not mean
he/she is going to die without their serenaded special person, it just means that the
person means a lot to him/ her so living without that person will be extremely
hard.
k. Understatement
Understatement is a type of figurative language employed to make a
situation seem less important than it really is intentionally (Perrine, 2004, p. 102).
Understatement is the opposite of hyperbole or overstatement. Overstatement is
saying more than what it actually means while understatement is saying less than
what it actually means. For example A borrows B’s new jacket and A returns it
with a large wine stain on the front of it and in response B makes an
understatement, “it does not look too bad”.
l. Irony
Irony is a statement in which words are used in such a way that their
intended meaning is different from the actual meanings of the words (Perrine,
2004, p. 103). The ironic statement usually involves the explicit expression of one
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17
attittude or evaluation, but with indications in the overall speech-situation that the
speaker intends a really different attitude. An example of irony is “the butter is as
soft as a slab of marble”. It is obvious that marble is a hard substance, by saying
it is as soft as a slab of a marble is being ironic because marble is not soft at all.
4. Female Language Style
Different gender has different behaviour and style. It is also connected to
the way they speak and make utterances. It happens because of the language and
social interaction that affect each other as language is “a multilectal phenomenon;
people write and speak differently depending on their social group, audience,
setting, and any other contextual factors” (Dancygier, 2014, p. 9). In the aspect of
language style, each gender presents specific style.
In daily conversation woman tends to use specific style of speaking.
According to Danet and Herring (2007, p. 250), man tends to speak explicitly and
say directly, while woman tends to speak in the opposite way. Woman speaks
implicitly, therefore, woman seems to be less direct and complicated in saying her
ideas as the listeners are made to guess the intention.
Woman speaks in order to “be cooperative and making connection”
(Cameron, 2006, p.68). Therefore, more implicit statements such as figurative
language are used by woman to imply thoughts and ideas and expect that it will be
accepted by others. Furthermore, Wright (2002, p. 17) conducts a discourse study
and finds out that woman talks more and is less assertive and direct. The
phenomenon of woman producing more words and become more indirect is
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supported by Mills (1995, p.4) who points out that the factor of woman’s language
production depend on cites, race, class, age, sexual orientation, and education.
Thus, woman’s language production such as in songwriting depends on various
factors. Whereas Cameron (2006, p. 68) asserts that women are more complex
while producing language. In other words, women’s language tend to be different
than men’s language. Therefore female writers, including female songwriters tend
to have specific language style.
C. Theoretical Framework
There are two main problems that were analyzed in this research. This
research focuses on the figurative language types used in the album and language
style of Taylor Swift seen from the use of figurative language.
The researcher applied stylistic approach to answer research questions.
Stylistics is the core to establish the point that Taylor Swift applies various
figurative language to reveal her language style in songwriting. The dominant
figurative language types determines Swift’s language style in the album.
The second theory is semantics, which is applied to analyze the literal and
non-literal meaning in words and phrases that Swift chose for the song lyrics.
Furthermore, levels of language are applied to analyze the data. The lexical level
is employed for analyzing the selected vocabularies, while semantics level is
utilized to determine the meanings of the figurative language listed in the song
lyrics. It helps the writer to analyze the deeper meaning of the lyrics.
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19
The third theory is figurative language which helps to analyze non-literal
meaning. It is to categorize the song lyrics into some types of figurative language
that can ease the analysis of lexical meaning.
The fourth theory is female language style which points out that woman
tends to be indirect in expressing her feelings. The findings of this research
strengthen the idea of female language style since the lyrics are created by a
female singer-songwriter.
Overall, the theory applied for the first research question, which is to find
the types of figurative language applied in Swift’s songs, is figurative language
theory, stylistics: levels of language and semantics. Meanwhile, the theory
employed in the second research question, which is to find the style of Taylor
Swift’s language in songwriting, is the theory of stylistics.
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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This chapter reveals three things. The first is object of the study which
explains the general idea about the object that has been researched. The second is
the approach of the study, which contains explanation about the approach that is
utilized in the study and the reason why the approach is selected. The third is the
method of the study which contains elaboration about the method of the study
which includes data collection and data analysis.
A. Object of the Study
In this part, the researcher presented the description of the study. It is
about the data analyzed and the linguistic elements contained. The object of this
study is the figurative language found, in particular, song lyrics. The data were
obtained from listening to the selected songs and websites that publish lyrics,
Azlyrics. The five songs chosen from the album Red by Taylor Swift (2012) are
“Red”, “Treacherous”, “I Knew You Were Trouble”, “22”, and “Starlight”.
All the selected songs in the album were closely related to Taylor Swift’s
personal experiences. All different emotions were put together in the album to
describe about the kind of insane, romantic, intense, and toxic relationships that
Swift had experienced in 2010-2012. In the cover booklet of her album, Swift
added that all those emotions spanned intense love, intense frustration, jealousy,
confusion, and she concluded that all those emotions are red.
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The researcher selected them because the songs contain various kind of
figurative language whose usage shows Taylor Swift’s language style in
songwriting. Morever, the Red album was selected among other albums because
as noted from Global Music Report (2013) it was a booming album which earned
Swift two Grammy Award nominations, for Best Country Album and Album of
the year. The songs were selected based on various topics representing love,
regret, recklessness, youth and dream.
B. Approach of the Study
This study comes under the area of stylistics which is explained as the
study of style. It can also be explained as a method of textual interpretation in
order to explore creativity in language use by literary text as its object (Simpson,
2004, p. 42). Thus, stylistics approach is suitable to be used as the foundation of
the data analysis.
Moreover, according to Verdonk (2001, p. 3), language style is the choice
of words used by someone or specific group of people when they speak or write.
In writing song lyrics, language styles of the songwriters reveal the different
expressions to convey the content of the song. Therefore, this study is aimed to
reveal the idea of Taylor Swift’s style that distinguishes her songs from any other
singer songwriters and strengthen the idea of female language style.
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C. Method of the Study
In the purpose of making the process of analysis more detailed, the method
applied to conduct this study is divided into two parts. The first part is data
collection and the second part is data analysis. Those methods are described as
follows.
1. Data Collection
The data were collected by applying purposeful sampling. According to
Creswell (2007, p. 125), purposeful sampling is used in qualitative research and it
is employed for the identification and selection of information for the most
effective use of limited resources. It is a method which the researcher purposely
chose the limited numbers of selected research objects that can be served as
primary data source. Purposeful sampling is applied because the researcher chose
the selected songs based on the different emotions and different situations of each
song.
The data were obtained from five songs which are “Red”, “Treacherous”,
“I Knew You Were Trouble”, “22” and “Starlight”. First, the researcher listened
to the song while looking at the lyrics. Second, the researcher put the lyrics
containing figurative language in bold then arranged the data.
2. Data Analysis
The first purpose in analyzing the data was to classify the figurative
language found in the lyrics. It was done in order to clarify the figurative language
types which were used in the songs. After the classification was done, the analysis
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could be started. The analysis began
language that was found in each song.
formed as in the following.
23
by counting the number of figurative
The example of the Table analysis was
Table 2. Summary of Figurative Language in Song Lyrics (Example)
No Types of Figurative Language Frequency
Total
Table 2 shows the writer’s purpose to answer the two research questions
which were written in the problem formulation. The table was used to answer the
first research question which was to know what types of figurative language that
were used in Swift’s song lyrics. The first research question was elaborated under
sub-topics based on the type of figurative language that was found and explained
in a form of paragraph. The song lyrics that contained figurative language were
also concluded in the elaboration. Moreover, to make the clearer understanding of
the literal and non-literal meaning, the table of literal and non-literal meaning is
inserted and it consists of number, figurative expression, type of figurative
language, literal meaning, non-literal meaning and shared semantic feature. The
shared semantic feature is written with the symbol + / -. The following is the
example of the table followed by the explanation.
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Table 3. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with Metaphor
(Example)
No Song Figurative Literal Non-Literal Shared
Title Expression Meaning Meaning Semantic
Feature
1 I knew You I knew you Difficulties A [+problem]
Were were problematic
Trouble trouble… person
Table 3 reveals that trouble literally means difficulties, while in the song it
indicates a problematic person. The shared semantic feature is [+problem]. The
second problem was to know how figurative language showed the style of Taylor
Swift’s songwriting based on five selected songs of her booming album, Red. The
style of the songwriter was found by analyzing which figurative language type
was foregrounded. Each figurative language type was presented different style. If,
for example, simile is foregrounded, it means that the style of Taylor swift’s
songwriting is comparative because simile is a type of figurative language which
compares one to another by using connective word such as like or as.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In this chapter, the researcher discusses the answers of the research
questions which were presented in Chapter I. The parts below show the kinds of
figurative language found in the song lyrics and how the use of figurative
language shows the language style of Taylor Swift.
A. The Figurative Language Types Found in the Song Lyrics
Twelve types of figurative language expressions were discussed in the
previous chapter. In the five songs that were analyzed, nine types of figurative
language types are found in the data. They are simile, metaphor, personification,
metonymy, symbol, paradox, hyperbole, understatement, and irony. Table 4
shows the summary of figurative language expressions which were found in the
five selected songs.
Table 4. Summary of Figurative Language in Song Lyrics
No Types of Figurative Language Frequency
1 Simile 14
2 Metaphor 10
3 Hyperbole 7
4 Symbol 6
5 Paradox 3
6 Irony 2
7 Personification 2
8 Metonymy 1
9 Understatement 1
Total 45
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Table 4 reveals the quantity of each figurative language type found in the
five selected songs in the album. There are nine types of figurative language that
are found in the songs and forty five lyrics with figurative language. It is shown
from the table that simile is the most dominant figurative language type in the
songs. It is then followed by metaphor, hyperbole, symbol, paradox,
personification, irony, metonymy, and lastly understatement.
The figurative language found in the songs points out the application of
lexical analysis which is the fourth level of language. As mentioned in the second
chapter, this level deals with the use of variation in language vocabulary
(Simpson, 2004, p.5). The use of figurative language in the songs indicates
vocabulary variation. Swift selects to use numerous types of figurative language
to deliver her intention throughout her songs.
The figurative language found are followed by the meaning of lyrics with
figurative language since the semantic level is used. According to Simpson (2004,
p.5), semantic level, which is the sixth level of language needs to be studied on its
own to have a proper perspective on meaning in language. The meaning of
figurative language found in the songs gives a deeper understanding of the
figurative language types utilized by Swift.
To make the literal and non-literal meaning clearer, tables of literal and
non-literal meaning found in the lyrics are conducted and arranged under each
figurative language type. The literal meaning is based on the definition on
Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2018). The explanation and examples of figurative
language types found also the figurative meanings are in the following.
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1. Simile
Simile is a comparison of one thing to another by using connective words
like or as (Leech, 1991, p.153). Simile is similar to metaphor, the difference is
only the use of connective words. Table 5 is the literal and non-literal meaning of
lyrics containing simile.
Table 5. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with Simile
No Song Figurative Literal Non-Literal Shared
Title Expression Meaning Meaning Semantic
Feature
1 Loving him is A very Enjoyment, [+valuable]
like driving a expensive and Pleasure
Red new Maserati... luxurious car
2 ... passionate as A discgraceful Something [-good]
sin manner wrong but
addictive
3 Keep dancing In the age of Feeling [+youth]
22 like we’re 22 twenty two youthful
4 You look like Unpleasant Something [+problem]
bad news news that very
brings trouble challenging
5 Starlight And we’re The light Something [+beauty]
dancing like emitted by the dreamy and
we’re made of stars beautiful
starlight
Table 5 shows that Maserati literally means a very expensive and
luxurious car and in the song it can be associated with enjoyment or pleasure. The
semantic feature shared is [+valuable]. Sin is defined as disgraceful manner while
in the song it refers to something wrong but addictive. The semantic feature
shared is [-good]. 22 means in the age of twenty two, while in the song is
indicated as feeling youthful. The shared semantic feature is [+youth]. Bad news
literally means unpleasant news that brings trouble, while in the song it is
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28
associated as something very challenging. The shared semantic feature is
[+problem]. Starlight means the light emitted by the stars, while in the song it
actually points out something dreamy and pleasing. The shared semantic feature is
[+beauty]. Below is the first example of lyric which contains simile.
(1) Loving him is like driving a new maserati down a dead-end street
The first simile is found in “Red” song in the first line of the verse. It is
considered as simile because Swift compares the feeling of loving someone to
maserati by using like as the connective word. The word maserati refers to a
luxurious sport car which can be related to the songwriter’s feeling. When it is
related to something that is luxurious, it is implied as something that provides
pleasure and satisfaction. Dead-end street is known as an end of a street without
an exit.
In this lyric, Swift implies her feeling of loving someone which feels like
driving a new maserati, which gives her a big pleasure and satisfaction. The
following term shows the contrast, dead-end street refers to a situation that even
the songwriter loves the man so much and that it gives her so much pleasure, it
will end soon as there is nothing she can do more than races a dead-end street. The
following lyric is the next example of lyric which contains simile.
(2) Faster than the wind, passionate as sin, ending so suddenly
The second example of lyric containing simile is found in “Red” song in
line 2 which is the continuity of the first lyric example. It is included as a simile
since the songwriter compares how she loves the man that is passionate to a sin by
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29
using as as the connective word. Sin is defined in Merriam-Webster Dictionary
(2018) as an action that is or is felt to be extremely disgraceful. It is related to the
passionate feeling. When the passionate feeling is compared to a sin, it implies a
feeling which is desirable and erotic. What Swift tries to convey is the situation
when someone does a sin. It is usually addictive and irresistible. As shown in the
complete lyrics, the songwriter explains about her feeling of loving the man in the
song which ends so suddenly as if it is faster than the wind as passionate as doing
a sin. Below is the next example of lyric containing simile.
(3) Keep dancing like we’re 22
The third example of lyric containing simile is found in the last line of the
chorus, just before the pre-chorus in “22” song. Dancing is associated with
something fun and 22 is the age that Swift thinks is the most fun. Swift feels that
being in the age of 22 is the best because she keeps on relating 22 to matters that
are full of enjoyment and freedom. In the lyric it shows that eventhough they are
not in the age of twenty two, they should have just pretended that they are 22
years old.
(4) You look like bad news, I gotta have you
The fourth example of lyric which contains simile is found in the last line
of “22”. It is considered as simile because of the comparison of you and bad news
by using look like as the connective word. Bad news is known as news that is not
pleasant or will bring negative emotions. Comparing someone to bad news means
that the person compared to bring badness or even badluck. Meanwhile, in the
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30
song it means that the guy Swift compares to bad news and it brings challenging
experiences because the phrase is followed by I gotta have you. It indicates that
Swift is willing to be with this guy because he brings such an interesting
challenge. The following lyric is the fifth example of lyric containing simile.
(5) And we’re dancing like we’re made of starlight
The lyric is found in the last lines of the chorus. The bold phrase is repeated
to indicate the actual highlight of the song. Starlight is the light emitted by stars. It
literally refers to visible electromagnetic radiation from stars other than the sun
which is observable from earth during the night time (Robinson, 2002, p. 38).
Starlight is associated with something dreamy, shiny, and beautiful. By saying
someone is made of starlight means that they are born to shine.
Moreover, it is summarized in the album cover booklet that the song is
about romantic adventure of Swift which is inspired by the grandparents of her
boyfriend at the time. It can be concluded that using the word starlight indicates
the dreamy relationship moment Swift has with her significant other at the time.
2. Metaphor
Metaphor is defined as a figurative expression that uses comparison without
any connective words such as ‘like’ and ‘as’ (Leech, 1991, p.150). It compares
one thing to another or more in order to show their similarity. Table 6 shows
literal and non-literal meaning of lyrics with metaphor.
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Table 6. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with Metaphor
No Song Figurative Literal Non-Literal Shared
Title Expression Meaning Meaning Semantic
Feature
1 Red Loving him Color of blood Intense [+bold]
was red
2 Treacherous And all we Outer thin layer Something [+pair]
are is skin and hard whitish completely
and bone… tissue of different but
humans/animals bounded
body
3 22 …but I’m The age of twenty Young, wild, [+youth]
feeling 22 two years old and free
It is shown in the table that Red is defined as the color of blood, while in
the songs it is indicated to be intense. The shared semantic feature is [+bold]. Skin
and bone means outer thin layer and hard whitish tissue of humans/ animals body,
while in the song it seems to be something completely different but bounded. The
shared semantic feature is [+pair]. 22 means the age of twenty two years old,
while in the song it seems to be young, wild, and free. The shared semantic
feature is [+youth]. Below is the first example of lyric that contains metaphor.
(6) Loving him was red
The lyric above is the last metaphor shown in “Red”. It is grouped into
metaphor group because it also has a comparison between the feeling of losing
him and the color of red. Loving literally means feeling love and affection, while
red is used to evoke the erotic feelings. It leads to the idea of love that is
passionate, affectionate, and desirable (Wright, 2011, p.5) As added by Khan
(2015, p.360), the color red also means happiness and warmth. The meaning of
affection is shown by the comparison between a feeling of loving someone and
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the color of red. Red is also associated with erotic feelings, it might be because
red roses symbolize the romantic yet attached feelings of a lover. By showing this
comparison, the songwriter wants to show how it feels when she is loving
someone which is affectionate, warm, and erotic as the color of red. It also shows
the contrast between the previous lyrics that use colors that have the meaning of
sadness. The following lyric is the second example of lyric containing metaphor.
(7) “I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling 22”
The lyric found in the chorus of “22” is categorized as metaphor. There is
only one metaphor found in the song which is the number 22. The subject I is
compared to a number, 22. The word I is seen as Taylor Swift. Meanwhile, the
number 22 has both connotation and denotation meaning. The number presented
in the song shows an age. The connotation meaning of 22 is how happy Swift is at
the age of 22 because it is the age when she feels young, energetic, free, creative
and full of life. She has a lot of energy and enjoys her life. Moreover, the
metaphor explains that 22 is a middle-young phase where Swift finds so much
fun. Below is the third example of lyric containing metaphor.
(8) And all we are is skin and bone trained to get along
This metaphor is found in verse 1, line 8 of the song “Treacherous”. It is
classified as metaphor because there are two different things being compared in
the lyric which are we and skin and bone. In this metaphor, the word we is
identified as ‘skin and bone’. Both of the words in this metaphor have literal
meaning. The word skin is known as thin layer of tissue covering the body of
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33
human or animal and the word bone is any of the pieces of hard tissue that makes
up human’s or animal’s skeleton. Meanwhile, skin and bone are bounded together,
so by comparing one and another to skin and bone means that they are meant to be
together.
3. Hyperbole
Hyperbole is known as the figurative language which uses exaggerated
statement to express strong feelings (Leech, 1991, p.167). The hyperbolic
expressions can be found by the exaggeration in some part of the lyrics which are
done by the songwriters in order to create a stronger or deeper meaning of the
song. The following is the Table of literal and non-literal meaning of lyrics with
hyperbole.
Table 7. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with Hyperbole
No Song Figurative Literal Non-Literal Shared
Title Expression Meaning Meaning Semantic
Feature
1 Red …he’s Turning Remains on [+continu-
spinning around the mind ous]
around my repeatedly
head
2 Treacherous And I’ll do Doing Doing things [+action]
anything you everything to make
say someone someone
basically says happy
Table 7 shows that spinning refers to turning around repeatedly where in
the song it seemingly remains in the mind. The shared semantic feature is [+bold].
Do anything you say means doing everything someone basically says and it is
pointed out that doing things is to make someone happy. The shared semantic
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feature is [+action]. The first lyric that uses hyperbolic expression is presented as
follows.
(9) That’s why he’s spinnin’ round in my head
Spinning is known as a verb that shows a movement of turning around
repeatedly, as defined in Merriam-Webster dictionary (2018), yet the song lyric
does not literally refer to it. The song lyrics are included as a hyperbole as the
song writer adds the extravagant statement spinning around in my head to express
her feeling. It refers to the time when the songwriter cannot stop thinking about
the man whom she mentions as if the man is spinning around her head. The
following lyric is the next lyric which contains hyperbole.
(10) And I’ll do anything you say
The lyric is found in the song “Treacherous” in the third line of the bridge.
It is stated as hyperbole because the speaker says that she is willing to do anything
the guy she loves saying. It does not matter whether the thing he says is reckless
or harmful, she will do it. Moreover, when a girl or a guy is truly in love with
someone, they will do anything, even the stupidest thing just to be with the person
they love. This line is such a famous line and it is often heard even in everyday
life, in fact, in the lyric the word ‘anything’ will not really be literally anything, it
indicates to mean she will do things to make the guy happy. Moreover, the phrase
is applied to make the phrase or sentence more convincing and romantic just like
the flow of the song.
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4. Symbol
As discussed in the second chapter, symbol is defined as something that
means more than what it is. Symbol might be best understood as an implied
metaphor (Perrine, 2004, p. 82). Symbol is said to be different from metaphor
because in symbol there is no comparison included. Table 8 is the literal and non-
literal meaning of lyrics with symbol
Table 8. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with Symbol
No Song Figurative Literal Non-Literal Shared
Title Expression Meaning Meaning Semantic
Feature
1 Red Burning red A vibrant red Intimate [+bold]
color
2 Starlight Don’t you see The light Something [+beauty]
the starlight? emitted by dreamy and
the stars pleasing
Table 8 shows that burning red refers to a vibrant red color, while in the
song it is associated as intimate. The shared semantic feature is [+bold]. Starlight
means the light emitted by the stars and it is indicated in the song as something
dreamy and pleasing. The shared semantic feature is [+beauty]. The following
lyric is the first example of lyric which contains symbol.
(11) Burning Red
The lyric is found in the last line of the chorus and it keeps on being
repeated. It is repeated because it strengthens the symbol of the song. The color
red is often associated with heat, so the term red in the lyric indicates the intensity
of the feeling of love. By adding the word burning in front of ‘red’ symbolizes the
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intense and highly passionate act of loving. Below is the second example of lyric
with symbol.
(12) Don’t you see the starlight?
The lyric is found in the last line of the chorus of Starlight. Starlight is
associated with astronomy phenomenon, but in the lyric the meaning of starlight is
not the actual literal meaning. The term starlight here means fantasy or something
dreamy and pleasing. The next lyric is Don’t you dream impossible things? so it
suits the presence of starlight as the symbol of fantasy of romantic relationship that
is considered to be dreamy or fairy tale like.
5. Paradox
Paradox is an apparent contradiction that is nevertheless something true, it
maybe either a situation or a statement (Perrine, 2004, p. 101). The lyric contains
paradox makes a contrast. The following Table shows the literal and non-literal
meaning of lyrics with paradox.
Table 9. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with Paradox
No Song Figurative Literal Non-Literal Shared
Title Expression Meaning Meaning Semantic
Feature
1 For breakfast Having Having fun and [-time
down midnight morning meals forgetting time manage-
22 at very early ment]
morning
2 And end up Having dreams Ignoring the [-time
dreaming without falling time because manage-
instead of asleep of happiness ment]
sleeping
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It is shown on the table that breakfast down midnight refers to having
morning meals at very early morning while it is associated in the song as having
fun and forgetting time. The shared semantic feature is [-time management].
Dreaming instead of sleeping means having dreams without falling asleep, while
in the song it seems ignoring time because of happiness. The shared semantic
feature is [-time management]. The following lyric is the first lyric with paradox.
(13) For breakfast down midnight
This lyric is found in the second line of the third verse of “22”.
Breakfast is known as meal in the morning. If breakfast is down midnight it
means that it is not breakfast. The lyric above does not mean literally, it means
unusual behaviour to be done in such exciting situation. In an exciting situation
such as party, people tend to forget time and do things without thinking about
the time. The following lyric is the next lyric with paradox.
(14) And end up dreaming instead of sleeping
The lyric is found in the same song as the first example which is “22”. It is
located in the last just before the second pre chorus of the song. As known
generally, sleeping is associated with dreaming as well. A person will not really
have a dream if they are not sleeping. Dream in this lyric means the actual dream
from sleeping, so the phrase is supposed to mean ignoring the time because of full
enjoyment of the situation.
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6. Irony
Irony is a statement in which word are used in such a way that their
intended meaning is different from the actual meanings of the words (Perrine,
2004, p. 103). The irony found in the songs points out that what is said is not what
is meant. In the selected songs, two irony expressions are found and they are both
in the first and second verse of the song “I Knew You Were Trouble”. The
following table presents literal and non-literal meaning of lyrics with irony.
Table 10. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with Irony
No Song Figurative Literal Non-Literal Shared
Title Expression Meaning Meaning Semantic
Feature
1 I Knew You found Unexpectedly Get/trap [+notice]
You Were me discover
Trouble
2 He’ll never Have not or will Will not be [-action]
see you cry not see someone responsible
cries
Table 10 shows that found literally means unexpectedly discover, while in
the song it is pointed out as get or trap. The shared semantic feature is [+notice].
Will never see you cry means have not or will not see someone cries and in the
song it is indicated as will not be responsible. The shared semantic feature is [-
action]. The irony found in the songs are listed and explained in the following.
(15) You found me
The lyric above shows that the word found brings an ambiguous meaning.
It means being trapped, because the previous lyric is I was in your sight, you got
me alone. It points out the irony of being found. The word found in love songs
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39
usually brings the romantic vibes, or it indicates something lost that comes back
while in this song it is not the same. Below is the second irony found in the songs.
(16) He’ll never see you cry
The lyric is found in the the second verse of “I Knew You Were Trouble”.
The lyric shows that the phrase will never see you cry involves an explicit
expression. It means the guy in the song will not be responsible for the mistakes
he does. He will just walk away and does not mind a thing. It does not mean the
guy will not literally see the girl cries because he will never let her down. Usually
the phrase will never see you cry is associated as making someone happy
continuously. The lyric shows that what is said is not what is meant. The phrase
chosen suits the whole idea of the song because the song is about a guy who is a
kind of troublemaker.
7. Personification
Personification is a human characteristics attribution to something
nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form (Perrine,
2004, p. 64). In the songs, two lyrics mean something immortal to be given the
abstract human quality is included in. The following Table is literal and non-literal
meaning of lyrics with personification.
Table 11. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with Personification
No Song Figurative Literal Non-Literal Shared
Title Expression Meaning Meaning Semantic
Feature
1 Treacherous This path is Careless and Dangerous [-good]
reckless thoughtless
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2 I Knew You …saddest fear Comes in a Disturbs [-please]
Were Trouble comes disturbing way
creeping in or manner
Table 11 shows that reckless refers to careless and thoughtless, while in
the song it is associated as dangerous. The shared semantic feature is [-good].
Comes creeping in means coming in a disturbing way or manner, while it indicates
disturbance in the song. The shared semantic feature is [-please]. The following
lyric is the first lyric with personification.
(17) This path is reckless
The lyric is found in the second line of the chorus of “Treacherous”. The
term reckless is an adjective of a person or their actions without thinking or caring
about the consequences, while the term ‘path’ is an immortal thing, path is known
as a walkway. Meanwhile, by saying this path is reckless meaning the way of
having the relationship is careless. The personification of the song suits the whole
intention of the song. The song is about a girl falling for someone but she knows
and realizes that it could be dangerous. She realizes that the relationship will not
work out but anyway she keeps going with it. Below is the second lyric with
personification.
(18) And your saddest fear comes creeping in
The lyric is found in the first line of the bridge of “I Knew You Were
Trouble”. the act of human of coming in disturbing way or manner. Meanwhile, the
phrase saddest fear is known as the worst unpleasant emotion of being
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41
threatened. By putting both phrases together in the song means the stage when
someone is feeling threatened and disturbed by something unpleasant. The
personification supports the idea of the song because the song presents such a
negative idea as well as the meaning.
8. Metonymy
Metonymy is the use of something closely related to the thing actually
meant (Perrine, 2004, p. 67) as listed in Chapter II of this research. A metonymy is
chosen because it is such a well-known characteristic of the concept. There is only
one metonymy found in the song and album. The metonymy is found in the second
line of the fourth verse of the song “I knew you were trouble”. The following Table
shows the literal and non-literal meaning of lyrics with metonymy.
Table 12. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with Metonymy
No Song Figurative Literal Non-Literal Shared
Title Expression Meaning Meaning Semantic
Feature
1 I Knew …from Mumbles People’s [+speak]
You Were whispers on on the street street
Trouble the street talk/gossip
Table 12 shows that whispers on the street refers to mumbles on the street,
while it is indicated as people’s street talk/gossip in the song. The shared semantic
feature is [+speak]. The following lyric is the lyrics with metonymy found in the
songs.
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(19) I heard you moved on from whispers on the street
The lyric shows that the speaker gets information about this guy from
people’s talk on the street or may also be said as gossip. Swift chooses the term
whispers on the street because the word whispers can replace the word talk. So,
the metonymy of this song means people’s street talk which, in this case, is an
unpleasant talk to be heard.
9. Understatement
As discussed in the second chapter of this research, understatement is a
type of figurative language employed to make a situation seem less important than
it really is intentionally (Perrine, 2004, p. 102). Understatement is the antithesis of
hyperbole or overstatement. In the selected songs, there is only one
understatement found. The understatement is found in the bridge of “I Knew You
Were Trouble”. Table 13 shows literal and non-literal meaning of lyrics with
understatement.
Table 13. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Lyrics with Understatement
No Song Figurative Literal Non-Literal Shared
Title Expression Meaning Meaning Semantic
Feature
1 I Knew Cause you never Have not Heartless [-good]
You Were loved me or her or loved anyone
Trouble anyone or or anything
anything
It is shown on the table that never loved me or her or anyone or anything
means have not loved anyone or anything, while it is associated as heartless in the
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song. The shared semantic feature is [-good]. The following lyric is the
understatement lyric found.
(20) Cause you never loved me, or her, or anyone, or anything
The lyric means the man does not have love-feelings because it is said in
the lyric that he never loved ayone or anything. The word never in this lyric
indicates understatedness, underemphasis, and negativeness of the meaning. The
presence of this understatement lyrics supports the idea of the song. The song is
about a bad man who brings problems to his surroundings. So, it is suitable to use
understatement to strengthen the idea of the song that the guy in this song is
heartless and is deserved to be put down.
B. The Language Style of Taylor Swift Based On Selected Songs
Stylistic approach is used throughout this study. This study is aimed to
find the style of Swift by analyzing her album “Red”. The style that has been
found in the song is comparative and exaggerating; it is concluded from the
frequency of figurative language types applied in the lyrics.
1. Comparative
Taylor Swift applied a lot of figurative expressions in composing her
songs, especially in the Red album. Nine types of figurative language were found
in forty five figurative expressions. Using figurative language in a song can be
depicted as being more romantic in a way because figurative language has sense
of art. The facts that Swift tend to speak implicitly and use more complicated
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44
expressions lead to the vagueness which is caused by the use of figurative
language.
It is shown in Table 4 that the most dominant figurative language type is
simile. Out of forty five figurative expressions, there are fourteen similes and ten
metaphors. Furthermore, twenty four out of forty six figurative expressions are
written to compare, which gives an idea that the style of Swift based on the five
selected songs in the album is comparative. The following lyric is the first
example of the comparison using simile.
(21) Forgetting him was like trying to know somebody you never met
The lyric is found in the third line of “Red” song’s chorus. Forgetting
someone’s love is compared to a matter such as trying to know somebody one that
she never met. Trying to know somebody we never met is very complicated
because there are no clues of it. It is difficult because when we try to know
somebody we haven’t met yet it brings uncertainty and questions to our mind
because we cannot really know somebody without seeing them in person. To
really know someone, we have to meet them and know their behaviour. Below is
the second example of comparison using simile.
(22) Memorizing him was as easy as knowing all the words to your old
favorite song
The example is found in the second line of the second chorus of the song
“Red”. As known, memorizing someone means keeping someone in mind, by
comparing with knowing all the words to ones’ old favorite song means it will be
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easily done without any hurdles to memorize. Memorizing an old favorite song is
considered to be very easy because when ones like a song so much usually they
will keep on listening to it and the lyrics will be remembered. Swift chooses the
phrase to reveal the romantic vibes of the song. The “Red” song also presents an
idea of an intense romance.
Apart from simile, metaphor also takes a big proportion in the songs, since
nine metaphors are revealed. Metaphor is in the second place, right after simile.
What differs metaphor from simile is metaphor does not need connective words to
compare. Below is an example of comparison using metaphor.
(23) Missing him was dark grey all alone
The lyric was found in the second line of the chorus of the song “Red”.
Generally, what is usually described by using the word dark relates with sorrow or
bad things. Grey means a color intermediate between black and white or
associated with the color of ashes, as defined in Merriam-Webster Dictionary
(2018). The color dark grey represents pain and sorrow, so it means that missing
someone ones have feelings for brings sadness. In the song, Swift chooses colors
in relation to her emotions about a relationship. Swift chooses the dark grey color
to express how she feels when she misses the man she loves. It can be concluded
that when Swift misses the man she loves she feels gloomy. The following lyric is
another example of comparison using metaphor.
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(24) I knew you were trouble when you walked in
The lyric is in the first line of the first chorus of “I Knew You Were
Trouble”. Trouble is defined in Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2018) as a cause of
distress, annoyance, or inconvenience. In the lyric, you is being compared to
trouble. It is noted in her cover album that this song is about a toxic man. Hence,
Swift expresses how bad this man is by comparing him to trouble. It gives a
deeper understanding to the listeners that this man Swift means is a real toxic.
Swift feels that she has been trapped by this man. The rest of the lyrics of the song
also direct to negative connotation.
Although all types of figurative language are non-literal, metaphor and
simile requires more clues to disassemble the real meaning and it depends on what
is being compared to. It needs clues to figure out what dark grey color actually
means in term of psychology and emotion, how the word trouble depicts someone,
how trying to know somebody ones never met feels like and how easy to
memorize an old favorite song.
2. Exaggerating
In Table 4, it can be seen that hyperbole and symbol are in the next order
after simile and metaphor. The frequency of hyperbole and symbol marks
exaggeration. There are thirteen out of forty five expressions written to
exaggerate, consisting of 7 hyperbole and 6 symbol. Hyperbole is known as
extravagant statement while symbol is known as something that means more than
what it is. In hyperbole the literal meaning is added by the extravagant statement
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which can make the meaning goes deeper. Roberts and Kreuz (2006, p. 164)
assert hyperbole is used to emphasize something. The question that should be
asked upon hearing a hyperbolic statement is whether or not it's actually a true
statement. Hyperbole would have people believe so, and that is what makes it an
effective and strategic stylistic choice. Therefore, hyperbole is considered to be
persuassive. The following lyric is the first example of exaggeration using
hyperbole.
(25) Your name has echoed through my head
The example is found in the third line of the bridge of the song
Treacherous. The lyric is supposed to indicate that the addresser says that the
addressee cannot be forgotten. Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2018) defines that
echo is a sound caused by the reflection of sound waves from a surface back to the
listener. Meanwhile, in the song lyrics, the use of echo means being repeated and
kept in mind. Looking at the context of the whole song, it means swift cannot take
the guy she serenades out of her mind. The use of echo gives persuassive effect to
make the listeners think that she really cannot take this man out of her mind or
cannot stop thinking about him. The following lyric is the second example of the
exaggeration using hyperbole.
(26) We could get married and have ten kids and teach them how to
dream
The hyperbole above is found in the last lyric of the bridge of the song
“Starlight”. It shows that having ten kids and teach them how to dream is an
exaggeration. The example is supposed to show that Swift is being persuassive
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about dreamy things. She persuades that dreaming is allowed and it also brings
hope. Having ten kids is considered as hyperbolic statement because it is such an
outrageous statement. Some people wish to have many kids because they think
having as many kids will bring luck. Moreover, having many kids is not easy, it
will cost a lot for the education, health, and many more. In the song, it means that
Swift wants to have future with this guy she addresses in the song to face beautiful
moments together.
The phrase teach them how to dream is actually a clue of being in life with
full of hope. The phrase matches with the general idea of the song. It is said in
The Wall Street Journal (2013) that the song “Starlight” is actually a song about a
beautiful relationship inspired by Bob and Ethel Kennedy who were the
grandparents of Connor, the man she was dating at the time. She added that she
liked their black and white picture when they were dancing because she thought it
was adorable and she would like to experience a sweet moment.
Besides hyperbole, symbol also comes after simile and metaphor. In the
songs, there are five symbols found. Symbol exists whenever something is meant
to represent something else. Symbol is a type of figurative language which is used
when an author wants to create a certain mood or emotion in a literary work
(Perrine, 2004, p. 82). The symbols used in the songs also suits the general idea of
the song. The song “Starlight” gives an idea that people have their own criteria of
dreaming. Another example of exaggeration using symbol is in the following.
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(27) You’ll spend your whole life singing the blues
The lyric above is found in the second line of the pre chorus of the song
“Starlight”. In the lyric, Singing the blues does not really mean singing blues
songs, it means being melancholist instead. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defined
that blues in informal way is the feeling of melancholy, sadness, or depression
(2018). The term blues is an African-American music that traverses a wide range
of emotions and musical styles as defined in Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2018).
The lyric before is he says Look at you, worrying so much about things
you can’t change. Therefore, the bold phrase indicates the effect of worrying too
much is feeling down or becoming very melancholist. Actually, the lyric above is
not complete, the bold phrase there is followed by if you keep thinking that way,
so it means that if the girl keeps on worrying or over thinking, she will be trapped
in sorrow. It is said to be a way of exaggeration because Swift emphasizes the
feeling of dreamy with the words with poetic effect such as singing the blues. The
second example of exaggeration using symbol is in the following.
(28) Once upon a time, a few mistakes ago
The lyric found in the first line of the first verse of “I know You Were
Trouble”. Usually what is more common to be heard is once upon a time, a few
moments ago. Once upon a time is generally used to introduce a narrative of past
events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales (Konnikova, 2012, p. 3). Meanwhile a
few moments ago is used to indicate the time when the story was set. In the lyrics,
Swift applies mistakes instead of moments or any other words that usually
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specifies time because she tends to symbolize something. Merriam-Webster
Dictionary (2018) defines mistake as an action or judgment that is misguided or
wrong or simply something incorrect. Swift chooses mistakes to show that she
considers the time the story happens as a fault that she regrets.
Moreover, the song tells about a toxic relationship so Swift’s choice of
using mistakes seems to be appropriate. It strengthens the point that she regrets
being in a relationship with this guy she addresses the song to. The symbol shows
exaggeration because Swift emphasizes hatred and shame through the choice of
words. If she does not exaggerate she will not emphasize the unpleasant feeling
through words that have negative connotations.
Generally, women speak in order to “be cooperative and making
connection” (Cameron, 2006, p.68). Therefore, women use more implicit
statements such as figurative language in order to imply their thoughts and ideas
and expect that it will be accepted by others. The two styles found in Taylor
Swift’s songs based on the choice of figurative language reflects on female
language. It is said that women tend to hide the literal meaning by saying
something implicitly to let the listeners think and take a guess for their aim (Danet
and Herring, 2007, p. 250). Both styles, comparative and exaggerating show that
Swift applies indirect way of expressing herself through songs she writes.
Furthermore, the more figurative language is used, the more vagueness is
created. Swift applies nine figurative language types in her five selected songs in
the album, but there are four types of figurative language that have considerable
amounts so the style is concluded to be in two kinds only.
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CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION
This chapter presents the conclusion based on the analysis which has been
done in the previous chapter. The data of the analysis are taken from five songs
from a singer-songwriter, Taylor Swift. The songs are “Red”, “Treacherous”, “I
Knew You Were Trouble”, “22”, and “Starlight”.
This research finds that Taylor Swift uses various types of figurative
language in creating song lyrics. Out of twelve types of figurative language, there
are nine types of figurative language found in forty five expressions. The nine
types of figurative language are simile, metaphor, personification, metonymy,
symbol, paradox, hyperbole, understatement, and irony.
This research reveals that the most used figurative language type is simile
with the frequency of thirteen, metaphor with the frequency of nine, hyperbole
with the frequency of seven, and symbol with the frequency of six. Three
paradoxes, two ironies, two personifications, two metonymies, and one
understatement are noted as well.
The language style of Swift in songwriting is determined by the number of
figurative language types in the five selected songs in the Red album. Simile and
metaphor are the most dominant figurative language types found in the songs. The
high frequency of simile and metaphor points out that the style applied by Swift is
comparative, since both simile and metaphor are the types of figurative language
which are used to compare one to another.
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Apart from simile and metaphor, it is listed in Table 4 that hyperbole and
symbol are put in the third and fourth place. It can be concluded from these two
figurative language types that the style revealed is exaggerating. Hyperbole is a
type of figurative language which is applied to state an extravagant statement. The
quite high frequency of hyperbole brings the style of exaggeration. Meanwhile,
symbol is a figurative language type that means more than what it is. Symbol also
conveys exaggerating style because it emphasizes the meaning of the song with
the choice of words that match the song and it persuades the listeners to be in the
situation of the song.
The two styles found in the study also reflect on female language style
which can be noted that woman tends to be indirect when expressing her feelings.
Woman, in this case is female songwriter, is considered to hide her actual purpose
and make riddles to be guessed. In the future research, the researcher argues that it
needs more reliable resources to find more language styles. In the end of the
conclusion, it is hoped that the readers can be able to understand language style
based on figurative language.
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APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Figurative Expressions
found in the Lyrics
a. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Red
No Figurative Figurative Literal Non Literal Shared
Expression Language Meaning Meaning Concept
Type
1 ... like driving a A very Enjoyment, [+valuable]
new Maserati... expensive and Pleasure
luxurious car
2 ... passionate as A discgraceful Something [-good]
sin manner wrong but
addictive
3 ... like... flying Downward Final [+action]
through the free movement under decision
fall the force of
gravity
4 Like the colors in Briliant shades Colors suit [+variation]
autumn... Simile of orange, every the feelings
shades of
brown, gold and
yellow
5 ... like trying to Getting to really Doing an [+effort]
know somebody know someone extremely
you never met we haven’t met difficult task
yet
6 ...like realizing Finding out that Being [+Feeling
all you ever what is wanted grateful happy]
wanted was is in front tof us
there...
7 ...as easy as A song that has Something [-forget]
knowing... old been favorited that has
favorite song for such a long alwas been
time memorized
8 ...like trying to A puzzle of A [+problem]
solve a words arranged challenging
crossword... in grid of matter
squares
55
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9 ...like wishing... Love could be Unbelievably [+feeling in
that love could be very deep and in love love]
that strong strong
10 Losing him was Color of sky and Sad, painful [-bright]
blue... sea
Metaphor
11 Missing him was Color of ashes Gloomy [+darkness]
dark grey...
12 Loving him was Color of blood Intense [+bold]
red...
13 ...he’s spinning Turning around Remains on [+continu-
around my head Hyperbole repeatedly the mind ous]
14 Moving on from Not able to Very difficult [+problem]
him is impossible occur or be done to be done
15 When I still see it Seeing Stays in the [+remain]
all in my head everything in the mind
mind
16 Burning red Symbol A vibrant red Intimate [+bold]
color
b. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Treacherous
No Figurative Type of Literal Non Literal Shared
Expression Figurative Meaning Meaning Concept
Language
1 ... you’re quick A mass of wet Something that [+hold]
sand sand that yields traps and hard to
easily to pressure resist
Metaphor anything falling
into it
2 And all we are is Outer thin layer Something [+pair]
skin and bone... and hard whitish completely
tissue of different but
humans/animals bounded
body
3 ... but you’re a The resistance An opposite will [+contrast]
friction that one object
encounters when
moving over
another
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4 Your name has A sound being Remains in [+continu-
echoed through repeated after the mind, cannot be ous]
my mind Hyperbole original sound has forgotten
stopped
5 I’ll follow you Following until Keeping [+loyal]
home home someone safe
6 And I’ll do Doing anything Doing things to [+action]
anything you someone basically make someone
say says happy
7 This path is Personificat Careless and Dangerous [-good]
reckless -ion thoughtless
c. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of I Knew You Were Trouble
No Figurative Type of Literal Non Literal Shared
Expression Figurative Meaning Meaning Concept
Language
1 Once upon a Symbol Something Something [-right]
time, a few Incorrect that has been
mistakes ago regretted
2 I knew you Difficulties A problematic [+problem]
were Metaphor person
trouble....
3 Now I’m lying A solid surface of An unpleasant [-pleasant]
on the cold the earth which is phase
hard ground cold and hard
4 A new notch An indentation on Someone who [+mark]
on your belt is a surface will just be a
all I ever be memory
5 You found me Irony Unexpectedly Get/trap [+notice]
discover
6 He’ll never see Have not or will Will not be [-action]
you cry not see someone responsible
cries
7 ...from Metonymy Mumbles on the People’s [+speak]
whispers on street street talk /
the street gossip
8 ...saddest fear Personification Comes in a Disturbs [-please]
comes disturbing way or
creeping in manner
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9 Cause you Understatement Have not loved Heartless [-good]
never loved anyone or
me or her or anything
anyone or
anything
d. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of 22
No Figurative Type of Literal Non Literal Shared
Expression Figurative Meaning Meaning Concept
Language
1 ...but I’m Metaphor The age of 22 Young, wild, [+youth]
feeling 22 years old and free
2 For breakfast Having Having fun and [-time
down Paradox morning meals forgetting the management]
midnight at very early time
morning
3 And end up Having dreams Ignoring the [-time
dreaming, without falling time because of management]
instead of asleep happiness
sleeping
4 ...to dress up Someone who Very [+style]
like hipsters tries hard to fashionable and
follow the stands out
Simile latest trend and
fashion
5 Keep dancing In the age of 22 Feeling [+youth]
like we’re 22 youthful
6 You look like Unpleasant Something [+problem]
bad news news that challenging
brings trouble
7 ...when we Time limits Burdens [+responsi-
forget about the bility]
deadlines Symbol
8 We ditch the A sequence of Real life [+situation]
whole scene continuous circumstances
action in a
movie
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e. Literal and Non-Literal Meaning of Starlight
No Figurative Type of Literal Non Literal Shared
Expression Figurative Meaning Meaning Concept
Language
1 We could get Hyperbole Having many Having big [+expectatio
married and children ambitions n]
have ten kids...
2 ...like we’re Simile The light Something [+beauty]
made of emitted by the dreamy and
starlight stars beautiful
3 ...like we dream Simile Dreams or hope Something [+thought]
impossible that will never that remains
dreams come true as wishful
thought
4 Pretending to be Metaphor A royal couple An [+pair]
a duchess and a from a kingdom impressive
prince couple
5 ...your whole life Singing blues Being [-happiness]
singing the (sad) songs melancholist
blues Symbol
6 Don’t you see The light Something [+beauty]
the starlight? emitted by the dreamy and
stars pleasing
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Appendix 2: Table of Figurative Language Types Found in the Songs
No Types Lyrics Title
1 “Loving him is like driving a new Red
Maserati..”
2 “.. Passionate as sin ending so
suddenly”
3 “Loving him is like trying to change
your mind once you’re already flying
through the free fall”
4 “Like the colors in autumn, so
bright..”
5
Simile
“Forgetting him was like trying to
know somebody you never met”
6 “Touching him was like realizing all
you ever wanted was right there in
front of you”
7 “Memorizing him was as easy as
knowing all the words to your old
favorite song”
8 “Fighting with him was like trying to
solve a crossword and realizing there’s
no right answer”
9 “Regretting him was like wishing you
never found out that love could be that
strong”
10 “It feels like a perfect night to dress up 22
like hipsters”
11 “Keep dancing like we’re 22”
12 “You look like bad news”
13 “And we’re dancing like we’re made Starlight
of starlight”
14 “Losing him was blue..” Red
15 “Missing him was dark grey..”
16 “Loving him was red”
17 “I knew you were trouble when you I Knew You
walked in” Were Trouble
18 “Now I’m lying on the cold hard
Metaphor ground”
19 “A new notch on your belt is all I ever
be”
20 “...but you’re quick sand” Treacherous
21 “And all we are is skin and bone
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trying to get along”
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22 “...but you’re a friction”
23 “Pretending to be a duchess and a Starlight
prince”
24 “..he’s spinning’round my head” Red
25 “Moving on from him is impossible”
26 “When I still see it all in my head”
27 “Your name has echoed through my Treacherous
Hyperbole mind”
28 “I’ll follow you home”
29 “And I’ll do anything you say”
30 “We could get married and have ten Starlight
kids and teach them how to dream”
31 “Burning red” Red
32 Once upon a time, a few mistakes ago I Knew You
Symbol
Were Trouble
33 “Tonight’s the night when we forget 22
about the deadlines”
34 “We ditch the whole scene”
35 “You’ll spend your whole life singing Starlight
the blues...”
36 “Don’t you see the starlight?”
37 “For breakfast down midnight” 22
Paradox
38 “And end up dreaming, instead of
sleeping”
39 “It’s miserable and magical”
40 Irony “You found me” I Know You
Were Trouble 41
“He’ll never see you cry”
42 Personification “This path is reckless” Treacherous
43 “And your saddest fear comes I Knew You
creeping in” Were Trouble
44 Metonymy “And I heard you moved on from
whispers in the street”
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45 Understatement “Cause you never loved me, or her, or
anyone, or anything”
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Appendix 3: The Lyrics of “Red” by Taylor Swift
[Verse 1:]
Loving him is like driving a new Maserati down a dead-end street
Faster than the wind, passionate as sin, ending so suddenly
Loving him is like trying to change your mind once you're already flying
through the free fall Like the colors in autumn, so bright just before they lose it all
[Chorus:]
Losing him was blue like I'd never known
Missing him was dark grey all alone
Forgetting him was like trying to know somebody you never met
But loving him was red
Loving him was red
[Verse 2:]
Touching him was like realizing all you ever wanted was right there in front of
you
Memorizing him was as easy as knowing all the words to your old favorite song
Fighting with him was like trying to solve a crossword and realizing there's no
right answer Regretting him was like wishing you never found out that love could be that
strong
[Chorus:]
Losing him was blue like I'd never known
Missing him was dark grey all alone
Forgetting him was like trying to know somebody you never met
But loving him was red
Oh, red
Burning red
[Bridge:]
Remembering him comes in flashbacks and echoes
Tell myself it's time now, gotta let go
But moving on from him is impossible
When I still see it all in my head
In burning red
Burning, it was red
[Chorus:]
Oh, losing him was blue like I'd never known
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Missing him was dark grey all alone
Forgetting him was like trying to know somebody you never met
'Cause loving him was red
Yeah, yeah, red
We're burning red
[Post-Chorus:]
And that's why he's spinnin' 'round in my head
Comes back to me, burning red
Yeah, yeah
His love was like driving a new Maserati down a dead-end street
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Appendix 4: The Lyrics of “Treacherous” by Taylor Swift
[Verse 1:]
Put your lips close to mine
As long as they don't touch
Out of focus, eye to eye
Till the gravity's too much
And I'll do anything you say
If you say it with your hands
And I'd be smart to walk away
But you're quicksand
[Chorus:]
This slope is treacherous
This path is reckless
This slope is treacherous
And I, I, I like it
[Verse 2:]
I can't decide if it's a choice
Getting swept away
I hear the sound of my own voice
Asking you to stay
And all we are is skin and bone
Trained to get along
Forever going with the flow
But you're friction
[Chorus:]
This slope is treacherous
This path is reckless
This slope is treacherous
I, I, I like it
[Bridge:]
Two headlights shine through the sleepless night
And I will get you a—get you alone
Your name has echoed through my mind
And I just think you should, think you should know
That nothing safe is worth the drive
And I would follow you, follow you home
I'll follow you, follow you home
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[Chorus:]
This hope is treacherous
This daydream is dangerous
This hope is treacherous
I, I, I... I, I, I... I, I, I...
[Post chorus:]
Two headlights shine through the sleepless night
And I will get you, I'll get you alone Your name has echoed through my mind
And I just think you should, think you should know
That nothing safe is worth the drive
And I would follow you, follow you home
I'll follow you, follow you home
I'll follow you, follow you home
I'll follow you, follow you home
This slope is treacherous
I, I, I like it
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Appendix 5: Lyrics of “I Knew You Were Trouble” by Taylor Swift
[Verse 1:]
Once upon a time, a few mistakes ago
I was in your sights, you got me alone
You found me, you found me, you found me
I guess you didn't care, and I guess I liked that
And when I fell hard you took a step back
Without me, without me, without me
[Pre chorus:]
And he's long gone when he's next to me
And I realize the blame is on me
[Chorus:]
'Cause I knew you were trouble when you walked in
So shame on me now Flew me to places I'd never been
'Til you put me down, oh
I knew you were trouble when you walked in
So shame on me now
Flew me to places I'd never been
Now I'm lying on the cold hard ground
Oh, oh, trouble, trouble, trouble
Oh, oh, trouble, trouble, trouble
[Verse 2:]
No apologies. He'll never see you cry,
Pretends he doesn't know that he's the reason why
You're drowning, you're drowning, you're drowning
Now I heard you moved on from whispers on the street
A new notch in your belt is all I'll ever be
And now I see, now I see, now I see
[Pre chorus]
He was long gone when he met me
And I realize the joke is on me, yeah!
[Chorus:]
I knew you were trouble when you walked in
So shame on me now
Flew me to places I'd never been
'Til you put me down, oh
I knew you were trouble when you walked in
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So shame on me now
Flew me to places I'd never been
Now I'm lying on the cold hard ground
Oh, oh, trouble, trouble, trouble
Oh, oh, trouble, trouble, trouble
[Bridge:]
And the saddest fear comes creeping in
That you never loved me or her, or anyone, or anything, yeah
[Chorus:] I knew you were trouble when you walked in
So shame on me now
Flew me to places I'd never been
'Til you put me down, oh
I knew you were trouble when you walked in (you were right there, you were
right there)
So shame on me now
Flew me to places I'd never been
Now I'm lying on the cold hard ground
Oh, oh, trouble, trouble, trouble
Oh, oh, trouble, trouble, trouble
I knew you were trouble when you walked in
Trouble, trouble, trouble
I knew you were trouble when you walked in
Trouble, trouble, trouble
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Appendix 6: Lyrics of “22” by Taylor Swift
[Verse:]
It feels like a perfect night to dress up like hipsters
And make fun of our exes, uh uh, uh uh.
It feels like a perfect night for breakfast at midnight
To fall in love with strangers, uh uh, uh uh.
[Pre chorus 1:]
Yeah,
We're happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time
It's miserable and magical.
Oh, yeah
Tonight's the night when we forget about the deadlines
It's time
[Chorus:]
Uh oh!
I don't know about you
But I'm feeling 22
Everything will be alright
If you keep me next to you
You don't know about me
But I'll bet you want to
Everything will be alright
If we just keep dancing like we're
22, ooh-ooh
22, ooh-ooh
[Verse 2:]
It seems like one of those nights,
This place is too crowded.
Too many cool kids, uh uh, uh uh (who's Taylor Swift anyway, ew?)
It seems like one of those nights,
We ditch the whole scene and end up dreaming
Instead of sleeping.
[Pre chorus 2:]
Yeah,
We're happy, free, confused, and lonely in the best way
It's miserable and magical.
Oh, yeah
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Tonight's the night when we forget about the heartbreaks
It's time
[Chorus:]
Uh oh! (hey!)
I don't know about you
But I'm feeling 22
Everything will be alright
If you keep me next to you
You don't know about me
But I'll bet you want to
Everything will be alright (alright)
If we just keep dancing like we're
22, ooh-ooh (oh, oh, oh)
22, ooh-ooh
I don't know about you
22, ooh-ooh
22, ooh-ooh
[Post chorus:]
It feels like one of those nights,
We ditch the whole scene.
It feels like one of those nights,
We won't be sleeping.
It feels like one of those nights,
You look like bad news.
I gotta have you,
I gotta have you.
[Chorus:]
Ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh, ye-e-e-e-eah, hey
I don't know about you (I don't know about you)
But I'm feeling 22
Everything will be alright
If you keep me next to you
You don't know about me (you don't know about me)
But I'll bet you want to
Everything will be alright
If we just keep dancing like we're
22, ooh-ooh
22, ooh-ooh
22, ooh-ooh, yeah, yeah
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22, ooh-ooh, yeah, yeah, yeah
[Post chorus:]
It feels like one of those nights,
We ditch the whole scene
It feels like one of those nights,
We won't be sleeping
It feels like one of those nights,
You look like bad news,
I gotta have you,
I gotta have you.
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Appendix 7: Lyrics of “Starlight” by Taylor Swift
[Chorus:]
I said, "Oh my, what a marvelous tune"
It was the best night, never would forget how we moved.
The whole place was dressed to the nines,
And we were dancing, dancing
Like we're made of starlight
Like we're made of starlight
[Verse 1:]
I met Bobby on the boardwalk, summer of '45
Picked me up late one night out the window,
We were 17 and crazy, running wild, wild
Can't remember what song it was playing when we walked in
The night we snuck into a yacht club party
Pretending to be a duchess and a prince
[Chorus:]
And I said, "Oh my, what a marvelous tune."
It was the best night, never would forget how we moved.
The whole place was dressed to the nines,
And we were dancing, dancing
Like we're made of starlight, starlight
Like we're made of starlight, starlight
[Pre chorus:]
He said, "Look at you: worrying too much about things you can't change.
You'll spend your whole life singing the blues if you keep thinking that way."
He was tryna skip rocks on the ocean, saying to me,
"Don't you see the starlight, starlight?
Don't you dream impossible things?"
[Chorus:] Like "Oh my, what a marvelous tune."
It was the best night, never would forget how we moved
The whole place was dressed to the nines,
And we were dancing, dancing
Like we're made of starlight, starlight
Like we're made of starlight, starlight
[Bridge:]
Ooh, ooh, he's talking crazy
Ooh, ooh, dancing with me
Ooh, ooh, we could get married
Have ten kids and teach them how to dream
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[Chorus:]
Oh my, what a marvelous tune
It was the best night, never would forget how we moved
The whole place was dressed to the nines,
And we were dancing, dancing
Like we're made of starlight, starlight
Like we're made of starlight, starlight
Like we're made of starlight, starlight
Like we dream impossible dreams
[Post chorus:]
Like starlight, starlight
Like we dream impossible dreams
Don't you see the starlight, starlight?
Don't you dream impossible things?
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