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METAPHOR CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS THEME

DEVELOPMENT ON SARA BAREILLES’ SONGS

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

ANITA SULISTIYAWATI

124214118

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2016

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis

METAPHOR CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS THEME DEVELOPMENTOF SARA BAREfi.,LES'S SONGS

ByANITA SULISTIYAWATI

124214118

Approved by

Dr. ernadine Ria Lestari M.Sc.Ad sor

Arina Isti'anah S.Pd, M.HumCo-Advisor

August 15,2016

August 15,2016


A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis

METAPHOR CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS THEME DEVELOPMENTOF SARA BAREILLES'S SONGS

ByANITA SULISTIYAWATIStudent Number: 124214118

Defended before the board of examinersOn August 31,2016

and declared acceptable

BOARD OF EXAMINERS

NameChairperson : Dr. FX Siswadi, M.A

Secretary : Sri Mulyani, Ph.D

Member 1 : Anna Fitriati, S.Pd, M.Hum

Member 2 : Dr. Bernadine Ria Lestari, M. S

Member 3 : Arina Isti'anah, S.Pd, M.Hum

~~~~IsAri Subagyo, M.Hum


STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

I celiify that this undergraduate thesis contains no material which has been

previously submitted for the awards of any other degree at any university, and

that, to the best of my knowledge, this undergraduate thesis contain no material

previously written by any other person except where due reference is made in the

text of undergraduate thesis.

/1Anita Su1 stiyawati

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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAHUNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma

Nama: Anita SulistiyawatiNomor mahasiswa: 124214118

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada perpustakaanUniversitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang beljudul:

METAPHOR CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS THEME DEVELOPMENTOF SARA BAREILLES' SONGS

Berserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian sayamemberikan kepada universitas sanata dharma dalam hak untuk menyimpan,mengalihkan dalam bentuk lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data,mendistribusikan secm·a terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau medialain untuk kepentingan akasemis tanpa perlu meminta ijin kepada saya maupunmemberikan royalti kepada saya selam tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagaipenulis.Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.

Dibuat di Yogyakarta

Pada tanggal 31 Agustus 2016

Yang menyatakan

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This page is written to offer my gratitude for Jesus Christ for His grace.

Without Him, I would never finish this thesis. The journey of this past 4 years has

been done with His blessing. I also thank my parents, Harun Satija, SE. and

Yuniarti Sulismiharti for the support verbal and financial. After everything that

my family has been trough in pain, finally I can make a new smile for my parents.

I also thank my sister Haniek Setiyawati for her support, Niendy Listiyawati for

never tired listening to my stories, and Renaldo Yosia Setianto for being the best

brother who can always cheer me up after I was stressed about something.

After that, I would like to thank Dr. B. Ria Lestari, M.S. as my beloved

thesis advisor in the making process of this thesis. I thank her for always helping

me and giving me the best suggestion. I also thank Arina Isti’anah S.Pd, M.Hum

for never being tired listening to my opinion and always giving her smile every time

I met her for consulting this thesis so that I could accomplish this undergraduate

thesis at the right time, and all the lecturer and staff of English letters department

of Sanata Dharma University who helped me a lot during accomplishing my study.

Last but not least, I want to thank my dearest dearest sister, Angelica

Chrestella Famila for her accompaniment during my ups and downs all of this year

in Sanata Dharma. Thank you for never tired giving me support and advice and for

showing the meaning of togetherness, happiness and real friendship. I also want to

thank E-United girls, Esthi, Lea, Selvy, Mentari, Stefi, and Anggi for sharing


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almost everything all of this year, for them who are never being tired to keep my

head up in my darkest time. I also want to thank to my dearest Babo, Raras Arum

Wulandari, Wijayanti Juniarti, Firda Yasmin Maimunah, and Novy Amalia

for showing me the sweetness of friendship and happiness that we shared for past 6

years. Thank you for Nur Fitriani who is always supporting and making me better

every time I got a problem even though we are miles away. Thank you to all of my

friend who I could not mention each of their names for the presence during my

college life, thank you for giving me happiness and support to keep up in this thesis.

The last one, I want to thank my dearest partner, Michael Aquila Machiavelli for

his patient supporting and encouraging me in the progress of making this thesis. I

am so lucky to have you.

Anita Sulistiyawati


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TABLE OF CONTENT

TITLE PAGE ......................................................................................................... i

APPROVAL PAGE .............................................................................................. ii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE ........................................................................................ iii

LEMBAR PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH ......................... iv

STATEMENT OF OGINALITY ......................................................................... v

MOTTO PAGE .................................................................................................... vi

DEDICATION PAGE ......................................................................................... vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................... viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................... ix

ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... x

ABSTRAK .............................................................................................................. xi

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study ............................................................................. 1

B. Problem Formulation .................................................................................. 5

C. Object of the Study...................................................................................... 5

D. Definition of Terms ..................................................................................... 5

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES

A. Review of Related Study ............................................................................. 7

B. Review of Related Theories ........................................................................ 9

1. Theory of Song ...................................................................................... 9

2. Semantics .............................................................................................. 9

3. Lexical Semantics ................................................................................. 9

4. Figurative Language............................................................................ 10

5. Pragmatics ........................................................................................... 11

6. Theory of Theme ................................................................................. 13

C. Theoretical Framework ............................................................................. 13

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study.................................................................................... 15

B. Approach of the Study .............................................................................. 16

C. Method of the Study .................................................................................. 16

1. Data Collection.................................................................................... 16

2. Data Analysis ...................................................................................... 17

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS RESULT AND DISCUSSION

A. The Metaphorical Expression and the Classification ................................ 18

1. Dead Metaphor ................................................................................... 22

2. Live Metaphor ..................................................................................... 23

B. Meaning of the Metaphor .......................................................................... 24

C. Metaphor Contribution to the Theme of the Song .................................... 50

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION .......................................................................... 56


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BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................... 58

APPENDICES ..................................................................................................... 60


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ABSTRACT

Sulistiyawati, Anita. Metaphor Contribution towards Theme Development on

Sara Bareille’s Songs. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of

Letters, Sanata Dharma University. 2016.

Metaphors are really common to be used in daily life. Metaphors can be

found in so many written texts and spoken language such as in television,

advertisement, and songs. Written texts in literature is the most often text that uses

metaphor toad aesthetic in it. Song is one of literature artworks that uses metaphors

quite often. The purpose of the metaphors in the song is to invite people imagination

to the song. Metaphors are often make confusion for people to define the meaning

because metaphors can be created by everyone. There is always a new metaphor

every day. Also, it is because the word that is used as metaphor has lexical meaning

or literal meaning that is fixed in dictionary.

The purpose of the study is to give enlightenments to people about the

meaning behind the metaphors that author created in the songs. This study answers

the problems which are the metaphors that the songs have and the classification, the

meaning of the metaphors, and how the metaphors contribute to make theme of the

song.

The semantic approach is used to define the meaning of the metaphors. The

first step is to find the metaphors and to classify them to dead and live metaphor

and the use lexical meaning to define the real or the literal meaning using fixed

source like English dictionary. The theory of metaphor is used to define the meaning

of the metaphorical expression. Context will have the contribution to find the

transferred meaning in the context. The study analyzes five Sara Bareilles’ songs

which are Brave, Manhattan, King of Anything, Gravity, and Love song. The study

found twenty one metaphors in the songs as the data.

Sara Bareilles’ songs mostly used free metaphors or live metaphor. There

are also dead metaphors in her songs or often called as idiom. This study concludes

that every live metaphor has different meaning one to another in the lyrics because

the meaning depends on the context of the songs. In addition, the classifications

also influence the meaning of the metaphors. This study is aimed to see the

contribution of the metaphors in creating the theme for the song.


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ABSTRAK

Sulistiyawati, Anita. Metaphor Contribution toward Theme Development on

Sara Bareilles’ Songs. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra,

Universitas Sanata Dharma. 2016

Metafor sangatlah sering penggunaannya di dalam kehidupan sehari-hari.

Orang-orang sudah sangat tidak asing the metaphor. Metaphor biasa ditemukan

dalam bahasa tulisan, dan bahasa lisan seperti di televisi, media periklanan, dan

lagu. Bahasa tulisan di sastra adalah salah satu yang paling sering meggunakan

metafor untuk memperindah karya tersebut. Lagu adalah salah satu karya sastra

yang sering menggunakan metafor. Tujuan dari penggunaan metafor adalah untuk

membuat orang berimajinasi tentang isi dari lagu tersebut. Metafor terkadang

membuat kebingungan bagi pendengar untuk mengartikannya. Ini disebabkan kata

kata dari metaphor tersebut memilik dua arti yang berbeda secara arti harafiahnya

di kamus.

Tujuan dari pembelajaran ini dalah untuk memberi pencerahan kepada

orang-orang tentang metafor yang penulis buat dalam lagunya. Penelitian ini

menjawab tiga rumusan masalah, yaitu: metapfor dan klasifikasinya, arti dari

metaphor, dan bagaimana metafor memberikan kontribusi untuk membuat tema

dalam lagu.

Pendekatan semantik digunakan untuk mencari arti metafor tersebut.

Langkah pertama adalah mencari metafor dalam lagu tersebut dan

mengklsifikasinya menjadi metafora mati dan metafora hidup dan menggunakan

arti leksikal untuk mencari arti secara harafiah menggunakan kamus bahasa Inggris.

Teori metafor digunakan untuk mencari arti dari ungkapan metafor tersebut. Dan

konteks dalam lagu tersebut membantu menentukan dari dari secara kiasan dalam

lagu. Pembelajaran ini menganalisis lima lagu Sara Bareilles dan menemukan dua

puluh satu metafor dalam lagu tersebut.

Sara Bareilles palings sering menggunakan metafor hidup. Ada juga

metaofr mati dalam lagunya dalam bentuk idiom. Pembelajaran ini menyimpulkan

bahwa setiap metafor memili arti yang berbeda dari yang lain karena arti tersbut

bergantung pada konteks dari lagu tersebut. Sementara itu, kalsifikasi juga

mempengaruhi arti dari metafor tersebut. Setelah menegtahui arti dari metafor,

studi ini berjuan untuk melihat bagaimana metafor memberikan kontribusi dalam

menyimpulkan tema untuk lagu tersebut.


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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Human use communication system different from any other species. They

create a lot of words to communicate with others. Creativity is a thing that shows

the unique characteristic of human language. This creativity is the speaker’s ability

to create infinity of sounds, words, sentences and even a language. Human language

helps people to have another information and also express their feeling as well. We

also use human language in our daily basis activity no matter where the place is and

what the situation is. Language is measured as the vital and the most important thing

because the language enables us to receive and give some information.

English is an international language in this world. English connects people

from across countries to share their own information and knowledge. English is

used in any literary works like poem, song, play, drama, and novel. However,

language style in literary works and in daily basis activity are different. Most of

literary works use non-verbal language, because they are written in the format of

text.

One kind of non-verbal literary works is song. A song is a short piece of

music with words that are sung. Songs contain 2 elements, they are music and

words. The combination of both elements make a harmony that we know as song.

People usually listen to the song when they feel either happy or sad. Songs denote

emotions. Song lyrics is one of important thing to attract the listener, song lyrics


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give certain vibe or feeling to the song and support the author to give the message

in the song. In another word song is a popular way to express the feeling, situation,

or experience to somebody. One of popular song writers in the U.S. is Sara

Bareilles.

Sara Bareilles is a singer that has so many hit songs in the United States.

Most of her songs are based on her experience of her love story. She released 6

albums in past 12 years. Her very first album was ‘Careful Confession’ that was

released in the U.S. in 2004 that contains “Love Song” in it, three years passed and

she released ‘Little Voice’ which a song titled “Gravity” was included in this album.

In 2010, she released ‘Kaleidoscope Heart’ which has 13 songs including “King of

Anything”. Gain a lot of successes, in 2012 she continued releasing her fourth

album (EP) titled “Once upon another Time” which has 5 songs in it. Within a year,

she released another album titled “The Blessed Unrest” which contains 12 songs

including “Brave” and “Manhattan”. “Brave” was a big hit for her career, this song

is certified as platinum in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. In 2015 she released

an album for her musical drama; “Waitress” titled “What’s Inside: Songs from

Waitress”. Sara Bareilles uses figurative language in order to attract the listener.

She uses the metaphor expression for of her songs to add deeper vibe to the listeners.

Her songs contain a lot of figurative language that can be analyzed in

Semantic approach. However, the limitation of the analysis only on Sara Bareilles

songs entitled “Love Song”, “Gravity”, “King of Anything”, “Brave” and

“Manhattan”.


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Sara Bareilles is known for her songs that use figurative language to

describe the meaning of the songs. There are so many types of figurative languages

that English language has, some of them are metaphor, personification, and idiom.

Therefore, the writer becomes interested in analyzing one of the figurative

language, which is metaphor and how it contributes in her songs. The descriptive

words of metaphor have a meaning in sense other than literal, even the words carry

precise meaning. Before this study goes further, Metaphor is going to be explained

first. Metaphor is one of figurative language that compares a thing to another thing

that has similar meaning. Metaphor is usually has a different meaning in lexical

meaning.

The first song that is going to be analyzed is “Love Song”. “Love Song” is

a song that tells about how love could be in bad and good condition at the same

time. This song is from Sara Bareilles 1st studio album titled “Careful Confession”.

The use of the words in this song is really interesting. This song contains a lot of

words as signs to deliver the main point and the story of the songs. This song

contains signs that make some speculation about the message that she wants to

deliver to the listeners.

The second song is titled “Gravity”. “Gravity” is Sara Bareilles 2nd album.

This song tells about a girl who cannot get freed from her boyfriend. The interesting

part is the lyrics that is really deeply poetic. This song describes a girl who really

wants to forget the boy but she cannot, because the boy keeps give his affection to

the girl, so that the girl stuck in the middle of her in between feeling.


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The third song is entitled “King of Anything” from Sara Bareilles 3rd studio

album called “Kaleidoscope Heart”. This song tells about a man that is dominating

the girl’s life. However, the girl just wants to be free to choose anything that she

wants in her life.

The fourth song is “Brave”. This song tells about how someone cannot be

brave because of some fears of the surroundings. This is the song in her latest 6th

album called “The Blessed Unrest”. This album was well-known because this song

became a hit single in the U.S. and certified as platinum for a couple times.

The last song is called “Manhattan”. This songs tells about how a girl and a

boy finally end up their relationship for chasing after their own dreams. This song

is also one of a song that is contained in her latest album.

Referring to the explanation above, the writer is interested in analyzing

figurative language focused on metaphor used on five Sara Bareilles songs which

are Love song, Gravity, King of Anything, Brave, and Manhattan. Semantic

approach is used in this study because the semantic approach focuses on the

meaning of the language. This study expects to give clearer meaning of the song

lyrics, so the listener will be able to find out the clearer message from the song.


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B. Problem Formulation

To analyze the topic the researcher has mentioned before, the researcher has

formulated three research problems:

1. What metaphors are found on Sara Bareilles songs?

2. What are the metaphor interpretations from the Sara Bareilles songs?

3. How do the metaphors give contribution to the theme of her song?

C. Research Objective

This paper has been made to analyze five songs written by Sara Bareilles in

order to reveal the meaning of her songs. The aim is achieved by first explicating

the metaphor of the songs to get the meaning of the songs. The next step is

identifying the figurative language which is metaphor employed in the songs.

Further analysis will be revealing the contribution of the metaphor for the theme of

her songs.

D. Definition of Terms

To avoid misunderstanding in reading this thesis, the specific terms to this

study are defined as some theories. Semantics is the technical term used to refer to

the study of meaning (Palmer 1967: 1), in another hand the sematic branch that this

study used is figurative language and lexical semantics.

Lexical meaning is meaning that is based on common dictionary

(Djajasudarma 1993: 34). Lexical meaning shows the literal meaning of the word.


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In another hand, metaphor is a word which appears with literal meaning and

transferred meaning (Palmer, 1976: 103).

Figurative language is a way to say a language using figures of speech. A

figure of speech is assumed as a way to saying a thing and meaning another (Perrine,

1969: 65). Figurative language is one of characteristic of any literature text. Perrine

says that figurative language consists of metaphor, personification, metonymy,

symbol, allegory, paradox, overstatement, understatement, and irony. In this study,

the figurative language that is going to be used is only metaphor.

Metaphor is a word has two meaning; literal meaning and ‘transferred’

meaning (Palmer 1976: 103). This word is mentioned quite a lot in previous part.

Basically, metaphor is part of linguistic in semantic field that is really common of

its usage in daily life.


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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Review of Related Studies

Figurative language is one element in poetry to deliver the message to the

reader, nowadays it is also the element that is also used in another literary work like

songs and novels as well as means of communication. Most of literary works use

figurative expression like idiom, personification and metaphor. The study carried

by Maria Maya Sylvia entitled Metaphorical of Coldplay’s song lyrics (2015) is

focused on figurative language in specific way which is metaphor. Sylvia analyzes

19 metaphor expressions from 15 Coldplay’s songs. She reveals the metaphor

expressions that Coldplay has in their songs. She classified each metaphor used in

the lyrics and then explained the meaning of the metaphoric expressions with the

classifications.

As the result of her thesis, she divided the metaphor into two kinds of

metaphor, they are dead metaphor and live metaphor. In the end of her study, she

concluded that every metaphor contained in the songs is different. The different

meaning in each metaphor is influenced by the context of the songs and also the

classification. In her study, she said that the metaphor that the Coldplay’s songs

used is to express the feeling and describe the person.

The second study is from Maria Godeliva Rettob entitled ‘The Metaphor

Analysis of Selected Eminem’s Rap Song Lyrics’ (2015). She also focused on the


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metaphor on the lyrics. She analyzed the meaning of several lyrics of Eminem’s

song. In her study she chose four rap songs, they are White America, Without me,

Superman, and Cleanin’ Out My Closet.

As the method of the study, she used library research. Formalist approach

and biographical approaches are used in order to answer the problem formulation

of her research. In the end of her study, she found 17 metaphors in four selected

Eminem’s rap song lyrics. She classified the metaphor based on connotation

classification. After she found the metaphor and its meaning, she aimed to explain

the function of the connotation meaning on the metaphor that the lyrics have.

This present study has the same aim of seeking the meaning of the metaphor

in song lyrics. This study also uses the same method of study which is library

research. Rettob and Sylvia theses give some enlightenments in order to find the

meaning of the metaphor. In addition, the study gives brief information on Sara

Bareilles explicit way in delivering idea and meaning through her songs. Although

the review gives some useful insight for the analysis the songs meaning occupied

in this thesis, the revise has not answered the third problem formulation. Based on

consideration, this study will be focused on the study of the metaphor employed in

the poems to reveal the contribution of the metaphor on Sara Bareilles’ songs

towards the theme.


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B. Review Related Theories

1. Theory of Song

A piece of music is a continuous progress of harmony and melody for a

duration. Those elements usually develop within a section of the song, before

turning to the very end of the section. The basic knowledge about song is that song

has 4 basic section which are verses, choruses, bridges, and other structural devices.

The structure of a song is a way a sections arranged by the author and usually it

comes with repetition to create a good artwork

(http://www.howmusicworks.org/910/Writing-Songs/Song-Structure). A proper

song structure will be creating musical experience for the listener.

2. Semantics

Semantics is a study of meaning. This study is focusing on sign and signifier

as the mark of what meaning that they stand for. According to Palmer semantics is

a study of linguistics that has a focus on the meaning of word, phrases, and

sentences. Meaning of a phrase, sentence or word is not only determined by

dictionary. It can be determined by the aspect like how they are formed. In the study

of semantics, there is a scope called naming (Palmer, 1967: 17). Naming is a process

of giving a name or labeling an object. This process usually happens when children

learn a language in their earlier age.

a. Lexical Semantics

In a simple way, lexical semantics is a study based on dictionary. Lexical

semantics is one of semantics terms that focuses on literal meaning of sentences,

phrase and words. Lexical meaning is simply taking dictionary as the ‘real’ meaning


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of the word, sentence, or phrase without include any influence of any context. For

example, the word red. Based on Longman dictionary, red means ‘having the color

of blood’, but if red is being used in another context it would have different

meaning.

Saussure explains about how meaning is being analyzed by signifier and

signified (Palmer 1976: 24). Signifier is the word that our brain says and known

daily and signified is what the word stands for. Here are the table to show how

meaning will be analyzed in this study:

b. Figurative Language

Figurative language can be found in literature, poetry, and songs. Where the

writing entreaties to the minds. It can do this by gives a word or phrase an exact

meaning that may be different from the literal meaning or definition. Sometimes

figurative language compares two things in a way that someone finds the

comparison interesting and descriptive. There are so many kinds of figurative

language such as metaphor, personification and idiom.

i. Metaphor

According to Bradford metaphor is the comparison of two things without

using the words “like” or “as”. According to Christopher, metaphor is figure of

speech that is comparing one thing to another directly. In another words, metaphor

Lexical Semantic

Signifier word

Signified representative image of the word


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is words that establish an analogy between objects without actually saying.

However, it directly suggests comparison of two things by creating as equation.

The use of metaphor in a song is to explain and elucidate emotion, feelings, and

relationship between other elements that probably cannot be explained directly in

usual language. Metaphor is when a word has two meaning; literal meaning and

‘transferred’ meaning (Palmer 1976: 103). Here are the analysis of metaphor.

Metaphor

Literal meaning transferred meaning

For example, red, in literal meaning is a word to describe a color. When

someone mentions the word red, people will know exactly what it is in mind. If

red is mentioned in another term like in a song, it will have different meaning. Red

probably will have ‘transferred’ meaning. For example ‘…but loving him was red’

(Taylor Swift – Red). Red in here has a different meaning, red in this sentence has

transferred meaning because the writer uses ‘red’ to compare something. Red in

this context has meaning as the description of loving someone. “…but loving him

was red” this lyric means, loving him was so intense and usually the emotion of

‘intense’ is symbolized with red.

Red

Color emotion of ‘intense’


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For this example, the word ‘Red’ has no relation between literal meaning and

transferred meanings. The transferred meaning usually pervades our conceptual

system. It means that, the transferred meaning could be interpreted from

experience and knowledge in daily life. Most of the evidence of interpreting the

meaning of the metaphor has come from the human experience and sense (Lakoff

1980: 115).

Larson, in her book, she divides metaphor into two classifications that are

dead metaphor and live metaphor. Dead metaphor is a figurative language that the

usage of it is already well-known among people. Usually, when people state one

of dead metaphor, they will know it for sure the meaning of its metaphor because

the expression is a kind of familiar and used in daily life. People will have no

concern how dead metaphor is formed because it is already common and they often

use it as daily conversation (Larson, 1998: 249). It’s time to face the music is one

of the example of dead metaphor. This metaphor has meaning ‘to face the

punishment’. In the literal meaning music is harmony of an instrument. There is

no relation between music and punishment. This metaphor is really common

among people in daily life. Dead metaphor is also known as idiom. Idiom is

considered as dead metaphor and vice versa. In the usage of idiom, people would

not think about the comparison in literal meaning nor transferred meaning.

Live metaphor can be categorized as a new term or classification of

metaphor. Live metaphor is made by author and usually the meaning of this

metaphor could be known by explaining the meaning of the word. Live metaphor

is made by an author to give implicit message toward the audience. Live metaphor


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can give a lesson to the audience by an expression. Everyone can make a new live

metaphor because live metaphor is free, it is not bounded to any expression. Live

metaphor is usually used to make the audience of the artwork have their own

imagination towards the metaphor. In a simple way live metaphor is a figurative

language that is made in an event and able to be understood without any additional

information. Live metaphor is really common to be used in lyrics. The author will

create new metaphor (live metaphor) or use dead metaphor to deliver a message

through song.

3. Pragmatics

Pragmatics is a study about meaning in the context. According to Teun A

Van Djik, pragmatics is dealing with the context in order to get clearer meaning in

a situation or in the text (Djik 1977: 191). Pragmatic is subfield of linguistics and

semiotic. In pragmatic, context is used to get the meaning or the transferred

meaning behind a word. Pragmatics also used dictionary to get the literal meaning

and compared both of context and literal meaning.

a. Context

According to Teun A Van Dijk, context is place that the acts of a word is

placed and formulate the conditions which a words are acceptable in which

situation and the technical terms that is used for such a situation is context (Djik

1977: 191)

4. Theory of Theme

Theme is one element that literary work has is giving the difference between

one to another literary artwork in the ‘atmosphere’ of the literary works. According


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to Norton Dudeque, theme in music is the summarized of the idea of basic outline

from every variation in structured song (2005: 194). Theme is the meaning of a

story that may be the discovered story (Kenney 1966: 91). It means the theme is a

central idea that dominates in a word where all elements in a work are focused.

C. Theoretical Framework

In this analysis, the writer uses four theories which are theory of song,

semantics, theory of figurative language, pragmatics in context and theory of

theme. The first one, which is the theory of song, is used to give the understanding

of the nature of song. Also, the first theory is used to give strategies in

comprehending the songs. The second theory which is the semantic, is beneficial

in examining some features from the songs and also the basic understanding of the

topic which is discussed in the study. The third theory is used to give brief

explanation of the meaning of the words that the metaphor has and also give the

comparison to find the transferred meaning. Using the figurative language theory,

the writer also uses the theory to find the meaning behind the figurative language

that the song writer by study of dictionary. The theory of context is used to imply

the transferred meaning after being compared with semantics terms in lexical

meaning. The last theory is used to summarize the metaphor in a word that clarifies

the theme of the song. It is estimated that the meaning of metaphor can clarify how

they contribute creating theme of the songs.


15

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

A. Object of The Study

Sara Bareilles is an American song-writer. She has sold more than one million

records for the past 5 years and been nominated for Grammy awards. She has

written over 70 songs and has released 5 albums from 2004 until 2015. Her first

albums “Careful Confessions” contains 11 songs. This is her debut album for indie

singer. The album was made and released when she was attending college in The

United States. Her second album named “Little Voice”, contains 13 songs,

including her hit song “Love song“ and “Gravity”. This album became her official

debut album in The United States and was nominated for 51st Grammy Awards.

“Kaleidoscope Heart” is her third album which was released on September 7th,

2007. This album contains 13 songs, including “King of Anything” as single of the

album. Her latest album; The Blessed Unrest has been nominated in Grammy

Awards for album of the year. “Brave” become her lead single for the album that

lead her into a nomination for 56th Grammy Awards. This album contains 12 songs

including “Brave” and “Manhattan”. Dealing with the songs, the writer wants to

find the meaning behind the metaphor in the song lyrics and also how they

contribute to make the theme of the song.


16

B. Approach of The Study

In analyzing the songs, semantic approach is applied. In specific terms,

these songs will be analyzed in terms of figurative language, which is metaphor, to

analyze the sentence that Sara Bareilles uses in writing the songs. The semantic

approach is used to determine the meaning of the metaphorical expression that Sara

Bareilles used in her songs. In Semantics, we could conduct meaning of a written

text. This study uses printed lyrics of Sara Bareilles songs as the object of study of

the analysis. The semantics approach helps find out the contribution of the metaphor

in terms of creating the theme for the songs. The following metaphors use lexical

semantic in order to find the literal meaning of the word, then after the literal

meaning is found, the research will compare the literal meaning in order to find the

transferred meaning. In the end of this study, it will reveal how the metaphor give

the contribution the theme of the song.

C. Method of The Study

1. Data Collection

In conducting the research, some steps were taken. For the first step, the

writer randomly picked songs from Sara Bareilles. The method that is used in

order to find the data is random sampling. The writer chose 5 songs that are

popular in each of the Sara Bareilles album. The works and choices are “Love

Song”, “Gravity”, “King of Anything”, “Brave”, and “Manhattan”. The second

step, the writer will collects the metaphors that contained in the songs. The theory

of metaphor helps the writer to find and group the metaphor.


17

2. Data Analysis

After collecting all metaphor, the data analysis is done. The data analysis

consisted of three steps. First, all metaphors are categorized and grouped based on

the title of the songs. Second, determining the meaning of the metaphor by defining

the metaphors with literal meaning to make comparison. Here is the example:

Drug a thing to heal

A word that is aimed to encourage and advice someone

The example is taken from the song entitled “Brave”. In this song, drug has

a meaning word to encourage someone. Drug can have metaphorical meaning by

comparing with the lexical meaning of drug itself. After knowing the literal

meaning, next is using the meaning of the metaphors to analyze. The context puts

the meaning and finally can make a new transferred meaning based on the context

of the song. The last step is taken to draw the conclusion by comparing the meaning

and the context of the songs from the analysis. The conclusion is the summary of

the answer for the questions formulated.

Lexical Semantics

Signifier Drug

Signified A thing to heal someone


18

CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

This chapter is the discussion to answer the problem formulation that the

researcher made which has been mentioned in the first chapter. This study will

provide the metaphor of Sara Bareilles songs to answer the question of the problem

formulation.

A. The Metaphorical Expression and the Classification

The writer has analyzed five songs from Sara Bareilles. The researcher has

found that Sara Bareilles uses metaphors into her song lyrics. Metaphors allow us

to know about an experience in another terms and definitions (Lakoff 1980: 117).

This study deals with 5 songs which are “Love Song”, “Gravity”, “King of

Anything”, “Brave”, and “Manhattan”. The writer has been done sorting out the

lyrics which contain the metaphors. In order to sort the lyrics, the writer compared

the literal meaning with the transferred meaning of the lyrics. All of the literal

meaning are taken from the Longman Dictionary 5th Edition. All song lyrics are

taken from internet source. There are 21 metaphors that are found in the lyrics

which are taken from 5 different songs. Here are the data:

Table 4.1 List of Metaphors in “Brave”

No. Metaphor in the lyrics

1. You can turn phrase into weapon or drug

Dictionary meaning: [n] something that you use to fight with or attack

someone with, such as a knife, bomb, or gun

[n] a medicine, or a substance for making medicines


19

Metaphorical meaning: to intimidate or to heal someone

2. Bow down to the mighty

Dictionary meaning: [adj] very strong and powerful, or very big and

impressive

Metaphorical meaning: respect the powerful one

3. Don’t run, stop holding your tongue

Dictionary meaning: [v] to speak up

Metaphorical meaning: to speak up

4. Maybe there’s a way out of the cage where you live

Dictionary Meaning: [n] a structure made of wires or bars in which

birds or animals can be kept

Metaphorical Meaning: a place to keep someone.

Table 4.2. List of Metaphors in “Love song”


1. I’m not gonna write you a love song

Dictionary Meaning: [n] a short piece of music with words that you sing

Metaphorical Meaning: a good and nice experience in love

2. Hello to high and dry

Dictionary Meaning: [adj] measuring a long distance from the bottom

to the top

[adj] without water or liquid inside or on the surface

Metaphorical Meaning: To be stranded; to be left out of things.

3. Is that why you wanted a love song?

Dictionary Meaning: [n] a short piece of music with words that you sing

Metaphorical Meaning: a good and nice experience in love

4. I’ll walk the seven seas

Dictionary meaning: [n] seven salty water that covers earth surface

Metaphorical meaning: to do everything to gain something

Table 4.3. List of Metaphors in “King of Anything”


1. Who made you king of anything

Dictionary Meaning: [n] a man who rules a country because he is from

a royal family

Metaphorical Meaning: the one who ruled someone’s life

2. Ride off into your delusional sunset

Dictionary Meaning: [n] the time of day when the sun disappears and

night begins

Metaphorical Meaning: false hope


20

3. You’re so busy making maps with my name on them in all caps

Dictionary Meaning: [n] a drawing of a particular area for example a

city or country, which shows its main features, such as its roads, rivers,

mountains etc.

Metaphorical Meaning: planning for future

Table 4.4. List of Metaphors in “Gravity”


1. You hold me without touch

Dictionary Meaning: [n] the action of putting your hand, finger, or

another part of your body on something or someone

Metaphorical Meaning:Permission

2. You keep me without chain

Dictionary Meaning: [n] a series of metal rings which are joined

together in a line and used for fastening things, supporting weights,

decoration etc

Metaphorical Meaning: Tie in status

3. Drown in your love, not feel your rain

Dictionary Meaning: [n] a strong feeling of caring about someone,

especially a member of your family or a close friend

[n] water fall from clouds in the sky.

Metaphorical Meaning: Intense affection feeling.

Cannot have it

4. I don’t wanna fall another moment into your gravity

Dictionary Meaning: [n] technical the force that causes something to

fall to the ground or to be attracted to another

Metaphorical Meaning: The affection given by someone

5 I stand so tall

Dictionary Meaning: to support yourself on your feet or be in an

upright position:

Metaphorical Meaning: to act in a proud and confident way

6 All my fragile strength is gone

Dictionary Meaning: [adj] easily broken or damaged

Metaphorical Meaning: weakness or uncertainness

7. I live on my knees

Dictionary meaning: [v] living inside the knee

Metaphorical Meaning: The period after a break up when depression sets

in and you want him/her back.


http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/act

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/proud

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/confident

21

Table 4.5. List of Metaphors in “Manhattan”


1. You can have Manhattan

Dictionary Meaning: [n] an island and Borough of New York City in

New York Bay, between the Hudson River and the East River. It is the

business and cultural centre of New York City. When people say that

they have visited New York, they often mean that they have been to

Manhattan.

Metaphorical Meaning: good future

2. I’ll gather up the avenues and leave them on your doorstep

Dictionary Meaning: [n] used in the names of streets in a town or city

Metaphorical Meaning: chance

3. That holding us in place is simple fear of what’s already change

Dictionary Meaning: [n] the feeling you get when you are afraid or

worried that something bad is going to happen

Metaphorical Meaning: the bad past

4. When I was one half of two

Dictionary Meaning: [adj] one of two equal parts of something

Metaphorical Meaning: alone

The following metaphor are classified into dead metaphor and live metaphor

in order to narrow the scope of classification of the metaphor. According to Larson

(Larson 1998: 249), there are two types of metaphor, they are dead metaphor and

live metaphor. Classification of discussion and division of the type of lyrics as

follow:

1. Dead Metaphor

According to Larson, dead metaphor is a metaphor that is part of idiomatic

construction of the lexicon of the language (Larson 1998: 249). When people hear

about dead metaphor, they will surely understand about the meaning of the dead

metaphor because it is commonly used in society. They will not think about every

word, but instead the whole idiomatic expression that the metaphor has. In a simple

way, dead metaphor is an idiom of a word that a language has that the speakers

already know about the meaning.


22

This study finds some dead metaphors in Sara Bareilles songs. The writer

compares the literal meaning and the context in the lyrics. In the previous table, the

study is showing the comparison of literal meaning based on only one dictionary.

In order to gather the meaning and compare the literal meaning and transferred

meaning, the writer uses several dictionary. The result is based on several English

dictionaries. Here are the metaphor:

Table 4.6. Dead Metaphors in the 5 Chosen Sara Bareilles’s Songs

no Song Title Dead Metaphor Meaning

1. Brave Don’t run, stop holding

your tongue

Not to speak (Cambridge

English Dictionary

Online)

2. Brave Bow down to the mighty

Respect the powerful one

(Cambridge English

Dictionary Online)

3. Love Song Hello to high and dry

Difficult situation which a

person enable to do

anything about. (Collins

Cobuild Dictionary of

Idioms)

To be stranded; to be left

out of things (Dictionary

of idioms and their

origins)

4. Gravity I stand so tall

to act in

a proud and confident way

(Cambridge Dictionary

Online)

5. Gravity I live on my knees Cannot move on (Urban

Dictionary)


http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/act

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/proud

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/confident

23

2. Live Metaphor

Unlike dead metaphor, live metaphor is a metaphor that is not common in

society. It needs to be explained to know the meaning of the live metaphor. Live

metaphor is usually used by the author to represent the message of the author’s

artwork such as in the songs, poems, or novel to the audience in another word or

in another concept. In some occasion, live metaphor is used by the author to create

imagination for the audience, so the audience can know the relation between the

metaphor and the context of the song. In the other hand, live metaphor is

understandable after the audience paying special attention to the comparison which

is being made (Larson 1980: 249). Most of Sara Bereilles songs contain live

metaphor. She created the metaphor in order to give brief message to the audience.

This study finds some live metaphors in Sara Bareilles songs. The study

uses several dictionaries as well in order to search the meaning behind the live

metaphor. Unlike the first table, in this table, the words of the live metaphors are

already in the transferred meaning. Here are the metaphors:

Table 4.7. Live Metaphors in the 5 Chosen Sara Bareilles’s Songs

no Song Title Live Metaphor Meaning

1. Brave You can turn phrase into

weapon or drug

A thing to intimidate a

person (Penguin

Dictionary of Symbol)

A thing to heal someone

or encourage. (Longman

Dictionary of

Contemporary English)

Maybe there’s a way out

of the cage where you live

A place that is kept

someone. (Longman

Dictionary of



24

3. Love Song I’m not gonna write you a

love song

A good love experience

(Penguin Dictionary of

Symbol)

I’ll walk the seven seas

Do everything for

someone (Longman

Dictionary of


5. King of Anything Ride off into your

delusional sunset

A false hope (Penguin


You’re so busy making

maps with my name on

them in all caps

Planning with the lover

(Longman Dictionary of


Who died and made you

king of anything

The ruler of someone’s

life (Encarta Webster

College Dictionary)

8. Gravity You hold me without

touch

Permission (Encarta

Webster College

Dictionary)

You keep me without

chain

To tie two beings in a

status (Penguin


Drown in your love, not

feel your rain

Intense affection feeling

(Penguin Dictionary of

Symbol)

A thing that she cannot

have (Encarta Webster

College Dictionary)

I don’t wanna fall another

moment into your gravity

The affection given by

someone (Encarta

Webster College

Dictionary)

All my fragile strength is

gone

Weak or uncertain



13. Manhattan You can have Manhattan

Good future (Longman

Dictionary of


I’ll gather up the avenues

and leave them on your

doorstep

Something to be gained

(Encarta Webster

College Dictionary)


25

That holding us in place is

simple fear of what’s

already change.

Bad past experience



When I was one half of

two

Alone (Longman

Dictionary of


B. Interpretation of Metaphors

1. Metaphor in “Brave”

Brave tells about a person who is encouraging the outcasts to speak up about

their minds or perception. It is proved with the phrase contained in the song. The

line “Say, what you wanna say, and let the words fall out” is one of the way the

author encouraged the audience. This song contains 4 metaphors. The metaphor are

written in italic bold. The table in each discussion of the metaphors is the conclusion

in the end of the discussion. Here are the following metaphor and the discussion

about the meaning of the metaphor:

a. “You can turn phrase into weapon or drug”

A metaphor is defined way of comparing two things which are unlike but

they share similar characteristic (Perrine, 1969: 65). In this line, the author used

‘weapon’ and ‘drug’ to represent the message. The use of word is very specific. In

lexical semantic which means meaning in literal by dictionary, weapon is used to

attack the enemy. Weapon could be anything made of metal like knife and gun, or

it can be invisible like words. Words are like them, the attack can caused pain for

someone. In this song, along with the weapon there is also drug. Drug can be good


26

and bad in one condition as well. Drug can be healing someone in good way. In the

bad way, drug can also kill someone by the wrong use of its drug.

Those metaphor are used for giving the result how word can cause

something to someone. The word drug has two results which are healing and killing.

In this song the word drug refers to the meaning of healing. The reason is because

the word ‘or’ in the middle of the weapon and drug. According to Longman

Dictionary, the word ‘or’ is used between two words or phrases to show that either

of two things is possible. The possibilities of the result of the words that someone

has been spoken are good or bad. Weapon is as the cause of the ‘word’ that can

harm or attack someone and make someone hurts. Weapon is the bad cause of the

word.

Unlike weapon, drug in here is supposed to heal. In this lyric, weapon and

drug are in contrast, which mean they have different significant meaning

In this song, the weapon is aimed to insult someone. The word is the thing

that is used by someone to insult other people. It caused bad result as the weapon

can cause in literal meaning. In different case drug is aimed to heal someone by

advice or tips for someone to encourage someone.

i. Table 4.8. Lexical Semantics of the Word Weapon and Drug

Lexical Semantic

Signifier Weapon

Signified a thing to attack someone


27

ii. Metaphor

Weapon a thing to attack such as gun or knife

A word that is aimed to insult a person

Drug a thing to heal

A word that is aimed to encourage and advice someone

b. “Bow down to the mighty”

The metaphorical expression of “bow down to the mighty” is classified as

dead metaphor which means everyone who hear this metaphorical expression will

know the meaning of this. “Bow” in literal meanings means bend the body to

respect or greet someone. According to Longman Dictionary, “bow” means to bend

the top part of your body forward in order to show respect for someone important,

or as a way of thanking. In this song, “bow” is followed by “down” that gives

another meaning in literal as well. According to same dictionary, “bow down” is a

dead metaphor or often called as idiom which means to let someone give you orders

or tell you what to do.

In the context of the song, “bow down” is followed by “the mighty” which

shows that someone has to obey the orders of someone who is more powerful. In

society this thing always happens because usually society is ruled by someone. If

the word “bow down” are separated, they would have different meaning. In the

Lexical Semantic

Signifier Drug

Signified A thing to heal someone


28

dictionary “bow down” can be also bend over to show respect or greet someone.

This has same meaning with the word “bow” by itself. In the other hand, the word

“down” means a lower place or position or a feeling of sadness.

So, if “bow down to the mighty” is elaborated literal meaning, it will

become to bend over to lower position to the mighty. Metaphorically, they will have

a meaning as to obey to someone's orders without offering confrontation from the

one who is more powerful.

i. Table 4.9. Lexical Semantics of the Word Bow Down

ii. Metaphor

Bow Down to bend over

Obey the powerful one

c. “stop holding your tongue”

Hold your tongue is classified as dead metaphor. This dead metaphor is

really common used in any text and context. This metaphorical expression is idiom

or in another meaning it cannot be separated or they will have different meaning

word by word.

According to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, “hold your

tongue” means to tell someone to stop talking or to not tell someone about

something. In order to find the significant meaning of this popular dead metaphor,

the writer compares the meaning with another dictionary. According to Cambridge

Lexical Semantic

Signifier bow down

Signified to bend over to show respect or greet someone


29

English Dictionary “hold your tongue” means to not speak. Both of the dictionaries

state that hold your tongue is an informal way to make someone stop talking. This

metaphor is usually used in informal situation ore sometimes in rude way. In the

song, “hold your tongue” comes after “stop”. The word stop change the meaning to

be “speak up about your mind”. So, if it is combined, it will become to not just keep

in silent.

“Hold your tongue” has 3 words that has different meaning in literal if they

are staying together. Lexically, if “hold your tongue” in literal meaning means

holding tongue with hands. It is has significant different meaning if literal meaning

is being compared with the metaphorical meaning. According to Longman

Dictionary of Contemporary English the word “hold” has meaning as to have

something in your hand, hands, or arms and tongue has meaning as the soft part

inside your mouth that you can move about and use for eating and speaking.

In the context of the song, “stop holding your tongue” is stated in the verse

2. In the context of the song this has meaning that we have to speak up to show that

we are brave enough to express our self because this metaphor came up after the

word “don’t run”. The word “don’t run” strengthen the meaning of the metaphor

itself.

i. Table 4.10. Lexical Semantics of the Word Hold Your Tongue

Lexical Semantic

Signifier hold your tongue

Signified holding the tongue with hands


30

ii. Metaphor

Hold your tongue holding the tongue with hands

To not speak

d. “Maybe there’s a way out of the cage where you live”

Lexically, cage means a place to keep an animal. In this lyrics, the author

wants to state that there is a way for someone to free them for something that hold

someone for so long. In literal meaning, cage is used to keep animal (pet) so the

animal will stay and obey the owner. “Maybe there’s a way out of the cage where

you live” is classified as live metaphor. In general, cage can hold so many meaning

in some context. As a metaphor in the lyrics, cage has significant meaning in if it is

transferred in literal meaning. It is supported by the context of the song. The author

puts a word that represent about something that makes someone cannot speak up

about their mind in public. As the cage keeps the pet in its place, “cage” in the

context of the song keep someone to not speak up. If it is described as a literal

meaning of the cage, it will be there is no way to get out of the cage that a person

lives in. It is almost impossible that person will live in cage for any reason. Even

though cage in real life has so many different size, a person will not live in there

because it is made of a metal bar like jail.

In conclusion, Cage in the lyrics “Maybe there’s a way out of the cage where

you live” means something that hold someone to not be brave enough to speak up

about their own opinion.


31

i. Table 4.11. Lexical Semantics of the Word Cage

ii. Metaphor

Cage A place to keep an animal

Something that hold someone to speak up

2. Metaphor in “Love Song”

Love song is Sara Bareilles debut song in the North America. It is released

in June 2006. According to her profile, she made this song when she attended

UCLA in 2004 as her very first album was released. This song tells about a girl

thought about her relationship that her boyfriend expects her to be what he wants

in relationship. He wants to have a good relationship with the girl and the girl wants

the man to accept her as she is. In this song, there are 4 metaphors. The table that

shown in the end of the discussion of every metaphor is the compartion between

signifier and signified. Here are the metaphor:

a. “Hello to high and dry”

“High and dry” is classified as dead metaphor. It is an idiom which means

if it is separated, it will have different meaning, compared if they are staying

together. According to Dictionary of idioms and their origins, “high and dry” is

Lexical Semantic

Signifier cage

Signified a place to keep an animal


32

difficult situation which a person enable to do anything about. In another

dictionary, Collins Cobuild Dictionary of Idioms, “high and dry” means to be

stranded; to be left out of things. The meaning of “high and dry” can be also as to

be under the influence of marijuana, but not alcohol according to Urban

Dictionary. In the context of the song, the metaphor “high and dry” means left

helpless in a situation because someone does not give something that they have

promised before.

In literal meaning, the word “high” and “dry” are adjective. They are used to

modify a noun, but in this metaphor they become a noun. “High” means position

that is longer than usual above the ground according to Longman Dictionary. In

another hand, “dry” means without water or liquid. If they both are together, in

literal, they will mean a position that is longer than usual and without water or

liquid.

In the context of the song, the metaphor “high and dry” means, to be left

helpless because the lover has left with false hope. The girl expects something that

the man has promised before, but the man does not give the girl the words. So, the

girl will be left in place with nothing from the men. The line before the metaphor

comes up, which is “you are not what I thought you were” is proving that the girl

was expecting something from the man.

i. Table 4.12. Lexical Semantics of the Word High and Dry

Lexical Semantic

Signifier high and dry

Signified position that is longer than usual and without water or

liquid


33

ii. Metaphor

High and dry position that is longer than usual and without water or liquid

To be left helpless because the lover has left with false hope

b. “I’m not gonna write you a love song”

The metaphor “love song” is classified as live metaphor, which means it

needs to be compared with the literal meaning and the context in order to find the

meaning of “love song” in the song. In literal meaning, according to Longman

Dictionary of Contemporary English “love” means an affection felling toward

someone and “song” means a short piece of music with words that is sung by a

singer. “Love song” means a piece of music with written love story sung by a

singer. “Love song” can be a theme of a song in general.

In the context of the song, “love song” means a good love story or

experience. It is supported by several phrases in the song. In the lyrics, the author

wrote “I’m not gonna write you a love song, cause you asked for it, cause you need

one, you see”. This means, the man expects a good relationship with the girl, but

the girl disagrees with him because she thinks, the man rules everything in the

relationship. It is supported in second chorus which is “if you’re on your way” that

describes the man in his own ego.

In daily life, “love song” in common use, tells about how love is beautiful

or a great love experience. Referring to the daily experience, in this song, “love

song” represents as a good relationship. The author used the word “love song” to


34

say about the expectation of the man towards the girl. Therefore, the girl thinks

that she does not have a good relationship with the man, it is stated in the third

chorus in the line 3 which is “I’ma need a better reason to write you a love song

today”. This line support that the girl seemed forced to be in the relationship and

she does not think she has a beautiful relationship with the man as a real “love

song” in general. The metaphor “love song” is stated so many times in the song. It

is stated 10 times.

i. Table 4.12. Lexical Semantics of the Word Love Song

ii. Metaphor

Love song a short piece of music about love

A good love relationship

c. “I’ll walk the seven seas”

In literal, “seven seas” means the seven seas that the world have. Earth has

seven big seas that covers its surface. If they are separated, “seven” means number

after six and “sea” means the large area of salty water that covers much of the

earth's surface according to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.

“Seven seas” is classified as live metaphor which means they have to be compared

by the context and the literal meaning in order to find the meaning of the metaphor

its self.

Lexical Semantic

Signifier Love song

Signified a short piece of music about love


35

In literal meaning, the lyric “I’ll walk the seven seas” means someone will

walk in one sea to another sea until he or she reached the seventh sea. This is

impossible, since no one can walk in the water like Jesus did. In the context of the

song, the lyric means the girl is willing to do everything she could if she is really

in love with the man. It is supported by the following words that come up after the

metaphor, which is “I’ll walk the seven seas when I believe that there’s a reason

to write you a love song today”. The words “…when I believe that there’s a reason

to write you a love song today” support that she does not really fall in love with

the man.

In conclusion, the metaphor “I’ll walk the seven seas” is like a promise to

the man that the girl will do everything if she really does love the man.

i. Table 4.13. Lexical Semantics of the Word Seven Seas

ii. Metaphor

Seven Seas salty water that covers much of the earth's surface

An act to do everything for the one that someone loves

3. Metaphor in “King of Anything”

King of anything is Sara Bareilles third single in the album “Kaleidoscope

heart”. This song is released on May 10th, 2010. This song is nominated for 53rd

Lexical Semantic

Signifier Seven Seas

Signified salty water that covers much of the earth's surface


36

Grammy awards 2011. This song tells about a girl’s mind about her partner that is

ruled everything in her life. The man has many plans for a girl, but all of his plan is

made by him without the girl contribute her own plan. In this song, there are three

metaphors. Here are the metaphor:

a. “Ride off into your delusional sunset”

As a live metaphor, “delusional sunset” needs to be compared with literal

meaning and the context to know the real meaning of the metaphor. In literal,

“delusional sunset” means impossible the time of day when the sun disappears and

night begins, according to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. The

word “delusion” can be also a false belief about yourself or the situation someone

is in. This means that someone think that the world will not have sunset in literal.

In the context of the song, “delusional sunset” means a false hope.

According to Penguin Dictionary of Symbol, “sunset” is the symbol of hope or

expectation of someone. Sunset is described as the turnover of one thing to another

thing. In daily life, sunset often describe as a time that is beautiful in the evening

before the sky changed to dark. In the song, “sunset” comes along with “delusional”

that change the meaning into something bad. It becomes someone that is promised

a big thing so other but they keep their own words.

“Delusional Sunset” is coming up after “ride off into” which represents that

the girl should come with the boy. “Ride off into your delusional sunset” means the

girl should be with the man to do something that is impossible in the future for their

relationship. It is supported with the lyrics that come up before the metaphor. In the

previous lyric it is stated that the girl thinks that the man knows everything that is


37

good in his own way that the girl has to come up with by the lyric “you sound so

innocent, all full of good intent, swear you know the best”. The lyric “But you expect

me to….” proves that the man force the girl to obey whatever he wants.

i. Table 4.14. Lexical Semantics of the Word Delusional Sunset

ii. Metaphor

Delusional Sunset impossible time of day when sun fades and night begins

False Hope

b. “You’re so busy making maps with my name on them in all caps”

Lexically, maps is a drawing of a particular part of the such as city or

country, or even world according to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

5th Edition. In daily experience people make a map to making a plan to build a city

or find a place near them. As what have been classified, “You’re so busy making

maps with my name on them in all caps” is an example of live metaphor. This

metaphor was created by the creativity of the author in making a lyric and composed

it in to a song. People can easily make a new metaphor in a context because live

metaphor is unlimited to everyone.

In the context of the song, “maps” means plans to someone’s future. The

man has plans in his relationship this is proved by the word “you” in the lyrics.

Lexical Semantic

Signifier Delusional Sunset

Signified impossible the time of day when the sun disappears and

night begins


38

“You” is aimed to the lover of the author. Since the author is a woman, it is really

obvious that the lover is a man. “You’re so busy making maps with my name on

them in all caps” means the man is making plan for their future that are need to be

happened but the girls does not have the contribution on making the “maps” itself.

It is supported by the lyrics “I’m not the one who’s lost, with no direction, oh, but

you’ll never see”.

In literal, “you’re so busy making maps with my name on them in all caps”

means someone is busy making a drawing of a city or a country with his girlfriend

name in capital letters. The meaning in literal and when it is transferred have

significant difference. There are no connection between the meaning in dictionary

and meaning in metaphor. Thus, maps is not represent a drawing of a city or a

country, but more like it represents plans for couple future.

i. Table 4.15. Lexical Semantics of the Word Maps

ii. Metaphor

Maps a drawing of city or country

A plan for the couple’s future

Lexical Semantic

Signifier Maps

Signified a drawing of a city or a country


39

c. “Who died and made you king of anything”

There are so many versions of this metaphor. In this lyric, the metaphors are

“died” and “king of anything”. The rest is common phrase that is people to show

sarcasm. This phrase is commonly used to show hatred towards someone.

According to The Big Apple, this phrase is an old phrase, it has been used since at

least 1940. There are so many versions of this according to the site, but this is a live

metaphor because there is no idiom dictionary or other source that has specific and

exact meaning of this phrase. In dictionary “died” mean no longer exist while “king

of anything” means the ruler of anything. As the “king” and followed by “of” itself

means someone or something that people think is the most important or best of a

particular type of person or thing according to Longman Dictionary of

Contemporary English. Lexically, the metaphor means who is replacing the ruler

of anything.

In the context of the song, “who died and made you king of anything” means

person that is ruling someone’s life too much. In the song, the girl is tired of the

man that pushed her to do whatever his orders are. The context of the song supports

the meaning of the metaphor. The line “so you dare tell me who to be” is supporting

that the man is ruling the girl too much.

In addition, the literal meaning and transferred meaning are a bit different.

They both have same mean in terms of “a person who rules” but they has different

subject. The word “king” becomes the significant word that the girls must obey

since the man rules way too much in her life. In the daily context, everyone must


40

obey the rule from the king. The comparison conclude that they both used in

informal situation and they both are sarcasm to show dislike to someone.

i. Table 4.16. Lexical Semantics of the Word King of Anything

ii. Metaphor

King of anything a ruler of everything

Someone that rules someone life too much

4. Metaphor in “Gravity”

Gravity is one of Sara Bareilles’s most popular songs. This song was

released on February 3, 2009. This song is actually included in her very first album

entitled “Careful Confession”, but later on when she released her second album, she

included this song and this song become her single to promote the album. This song

tells about the girl who wants to move on from her ex-lover but she cannot do that.

She keeps remembering about her lover by the thing that she does. This song has

seven metaphors. Here are the metaphors:

a. “I stand so tall”

“Stand stall” is one of dead metaphors that is really common in use. This

dead metaphor or idiom is in chorus of the song in the third line. According to

Cambridge Dictionary Online, “stand tall” means to act in confident way. In

addition, according to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, “stand tall”

Lexical Semantic

Signifier King of anything

Signified a ruler of everything


41

means to be proud and feel ready to deal with anything. In comparison of both

meaning from two dictionaries, this metaphor is used to show that the speaker is

confident about herself.

In literal meaning, if the idiom is separated and defined in literal meaning,

“stand” itself is defined as to be support yourself on feet in upright position while

“tall” means a a person, building, tree, etc., that has height than normal according

to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. Consequently, if they are

combined and translated into literal meaning, they will be “to support body on feet

in unusual height”. The meaning in literal meaning is non-sense since they both

have different direction.

As the “stand tall” is a metaphor, the meaning of this words is transferred

into “to act in confident way”. In the context of the song, “stand stall” is used to

show that the author of the song is confident that she will be okay without the ex-

lover. It is supported by the lyrics which appeared before. The line “set me free,

leave me be” is the supported line to make the meaning of the metaphor in the

context of song. This line support that the girl wants to be free without the ex-lover.

So, “I stand so tall” to act in very confident way according to the context of the

lyric.

i. Table 4.17. Lexical Semantics of the Word Stand so Tall

Lexical Semantic

Signifier stand so tall

Signified to be on the feet in great high than normal


42

ii. Metaphor

Stand so tall to be on the feet in great high than normal

Someone that rules someone life too much

b. “You hold me without touch”

As the “touch” is classified as live metaphor, the meaning of this metaphor

is transferred into “the feeling of presence”. In the context of the song, “touch”

shows that the author feels that the lover is still with her and she still can feel the

presence of the lover even though the lover is not there. The word “hold me” means

that the lover is used to be in relationship with the author. In addition, touch is

classified as dead metaphor that has to be explained by the context to know about

the appropriate meaning.

Lexically, “touch” means the sense that you use to discover what something

feels like, by putting your hand or fingers on it according to Longman Dictionary

of Contemporary English. Sense that human being has is practically can be in many

terms. In comparison, the literal meaning contribute to make the metaphor make

sense in its context. “hold me” in dictionary means to make something stay in its

place according to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. “Hold me” is

supporting the word “touch” to have the transferred meaning.

Consequently, “you hold me without touch” means that even though the

lover was not there, the author can feel his presence.


43

i. Table 4.18. Lexical Semantics of the Word Touch

ii. Metaphor

Touch the sense when someone put light hand or finger

The feeling of someone presence

c. “You keep me without chain”

Lexically, “chain” means a thing to hold something or to put something to

prevent them for being stolen according to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary

English. “You keep me without chain” is one of metaphor that is classified as live

metaphor. The literal meaning and the context of the song support to create the

transferred meaning. Chain is metal rings that is joined together. It is really strong

to tie something. In literal, it would be “to make someone do something without

metal rings”.

In the song, the word “chain” comes after “keep me”. The word “keep me”

can have several meanings in general. In the context of the song, “keep me” is

supporting “chain” to have the transferred meaning. “Keep me” means to make

someone does something. In addition, the word “chain” become the things that is

really strong that cannot be ignored, in this case, chains means “controlling” thus,

Lexical Semantic

Signifier touch

Signified the sense when someone put light hand or finger


44

it will be stay in its place. “Control” in here means doing anything to make someone

happy or to please someone.

The meaning of this metaphor is, the man can control the author without

him even tries to. It is because the word “without”, this prove that even though the

man does not do or order something to the girl, the girl feels being controlled or

ruled by the man. So, the meaning of “You keep me without chain” is to follow the

control of someone even the controller does not ask to.

i. Table 4.19. Lexical Semantics of the Word Chain

ii. Metaphor

Chain a metal rings joined together

Controlling

d. “Drown in your love, not feel your rain”

Lexically, someone cannot drown in “love”. “Love” in literal meaning,

means an affection intense felling. Love cannot be seen, but it can be felt by a

human. For that reason, in the literal meaning, “drown in your love” means

drowning in affection feeling, according to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary

English. In the literal meaning, the phrase is not going to happen in the real life, but

in transferred meaning, it does have another meaning that is possible in the real life.

Lexical Semantic

Signifier chain

Signified a metal rings that joined together


45

“Drown in your love” means that the author is deeply in love with the man. The

word “drown” in general means covered in liquid, so it can be transferred as covered

in love which means all over the lover.

In addition, “not feel you rain” lexically means not feeling the present of the

water fall from clouds in the sky. People will only feel the glimpse or the rain and

soon enough, the part of the body of a human will be dry after getting soaked by

rain. If those explanation is compared to the context of the song, the transferred

meaning will be something that cannot stay for long or someone cannot have it for

permanent.

Thus, if both the transferred meaning is combined, the metaphorical

expression of “Drown in your love, not feel your rain” means that the author is

deeply in love with the men but, unfortunately, the author only have him not for

long. It is supported by the line “I never wanted anything so much”. This show that

the girl really wants to have him, but they cannot be together for a reason.

i. Table 4.20. Lexical Semantics of the Word Love and Rain

Lexical Semantic

Signifier Drown in your love

Signified covered in affection feeling

Lexical Semantic

Signifier not feel your rain

Signified not feel the water fall from sky


46

ii. Metaphor

Drown in your love Covered in affection feeling

Deeply in love with someone

Not feel your rain not feel the water fall from sky

Cannot be with someone

e. “I don’t wanna fall another moment into your gravity”

According to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, “Gravity”

means the force that causes something to fall to the ground or to be attracted to

another. It is naturally exist in daily basis life. The word “Gravity” is usually related

with space and galaxy thing. It makes everything stay in ground and in its place.

Literally, “I don’t wanna fall another moment into your gravity” means someone

does not want to be attached of forces towards the center of the earth.

In the context of the song, “gravity” means attractiveness love of a lover. It

is supported by the context of the song itself. The word “fall” is a verb of being in

a new or different situation, so “I don’t wanna fall another moment into your

gravity” means the author does not want to be attracted to love that the lover offers.

It is supported by the first verse that tells about the author still thinking about the

lover. The second verse also support the meaning of “gravity”, the first verse tells

about what she wants, but in the second verse the author explains the opposite which

she thinks that she does not want the lover at the same moment. Consequently,

“Gravity” is representing as the man affection in the context of the song.


47

i. Table 4.21. Lexical Semantics of the Word Gravity

ii. Metaphor

Gravity a force to be attached in the center of the earth

Someone affection

f. “All my fragile strength is gone”

In literal meaning, “fragile and strength” cannot be together since they have

opposite meaning one to another, but in this song, both words appear together as a

metaphor. In Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, “fragile” means

something that is easily broken such as glass. The word “Fragile” is often used to

show the condition of illness related to human. In the other hand, strength means

the physical power that makes human becomes strong. If both words are combined,

in literal meaning, they will mean “a broken strong”. In literal, they do not make

sense since they are contrast in meaning.

In the context of the song the “fragile strength” means a situation when

someone feels they are strong, but in fact they are weak. This is supported by the

first line of third verse which is “you loved me cause I’m fragile, when I thought

that I was strong”. It this clearly stated the situation of the girl. The author use the

metaphor to shorten the phrase. It commonly happens to girl. This metaphor is

followed by the word “gone”, which means the “fragile strength” is no longer there.

Lexical Semantic

Signifier Gravity

Signified a force to be attached in the center of the earth


48

This phrase comes after “but you touch me for a little while” that support the

meaning of the metaphor in the context. If they are combined, the metaphor will

make sense, because according to the song, the man makes the “fragile strength”

will go by his presence in the author’s life. So, “fragile strength” can be a girl

weakness in terms of girl’s feeling.

i. Table 4.22. Lexical Semantics of the Word Fragile Strength

ii. Metaphor

Fragile strength a broken of strong feeling

A situation of feeling strong but actually weak

g. “I live here on my knees”

“On my knees” is one of example of dead meteaphor that is also commonly

used in daily life. “On my knees” is used in song to express about the relationship.

It is often misused with the idiom of “on your knees”. They both have contrast in

meaning. “On your knees” simply means kneeling down to beg something

according to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, while “on my knees”

has more complex meaning. They both are dead metaphor that is commonly used.

“On my knees” means cannot move on from the past experience according

to Urban Dictionary. In literal, on my knees means to stand on the knees according

Lexical Semantic

Signifier fragile strength

Signified a broken of strong feeling


49

to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. If the literal meaning is applied

to the song, it would not make sense. Thus, the meaning needs to be transferred.

In the context of the song, “On my knees” is supporting the song that show,

the author cannot move on from the lover, but she want to be free from him. Even

though she cannot move one, she wants to the lover know that she will be fine

without him. It is stated in the next line of the song, which is “I try to make you see

that you’re everything I need here on the ground”.

i. Table 4.23. Lexical Semantics of the Word On My Knees

ii. Metaphor

On my Knees stand on the knees

Cannot move on

5. Metaphor in “Manhattan”

Manhattan is the second single from her album entitled “The Blessed

Unrest”. It was released on 16th July, 2013. This song tells about the leaving of the

girl because she thinks that is the best for their relationship. She tells the memories

of ups and downs when they are both together and also hopes for the lover in the

Lexical Semantic

Signifier on my knees

Signified stand on the knees


50

future. Even though she is sad to break up, but she is sure that break up is the best

way. This song has six metaphors. Here are the metaphors:

a. “You can have Manhattan”

According to NYC the Official Guide, Manhattan is one of big city in New

York, North America. Manhattan is well-known for its fascination, because

Manhattan is the location of famous Times Square, Central Park, Empire State

Building, high class museum, restaurants and concert halls. According to the

dictionary, Manhattan is an island and borough in the New York Bay between the

Hudson River and East river. In the literal meaning, “You can have Manhattan”

means someone can own the “Manhattan”. This impossible since an island cannot

be owned by a person. An island belongs to a country and Manhattan belongs to the

United States of America.

In the song, Manhattan is stated six times. Some of them come up with

different lines and words. Since Manhattan is a big city and glamour, it could give

good future for those who is seeking. In this song, with comparison of the literal

meaning, “Manhattan” means a good future. It is supported by the next line in first

verse which is “I know it’s for the best”. This means that she wants her ex-lover

has a good future after breaking up with her. It is also supported by third verse.

“You can have Manhattan, the one we used to share”. As a couple, it is common to

share and talk about the future the sake of the relationship. Consequently, the

Manhattan in the context of the song does not mean a specific plce in the world, but

about the bright future that the lover might have after they break up.


51

i. Table 4.24. Lexical Semantics of the Word Manhattan

ii. Metaphor

On my Knees an island in the US

A good future

b. “I’ll gather up the avenues and leave them on your doorstep”

Since the song uses the “Manhattan” as the title, the writer finds some of

“Manhattan” elements in it such as avenue, bustle, building and beach.

Lexically, “avenue” means a broad road in a city that have trees along its

sides. Avenue is a way to enter the approaching a placed. Another meaning of

“avenue” is a way to gain something according to Longman Dictionary of

Contemporary English. In literal meaning, the lyrics means someone will gather up

the broad road of a city, and leave it in someone’s front door. It is not possible in

the real life, since road is really big.

In the context of the song, “avenues” means possibilities. It is supported by

the first and the second line. The previous metaphor (5.a) states that the author

wants to gather the strength to surrender the possibilities of the relationship into the

lover’s decision and see the lover has a good future because she know it is the best

for him. With the intention of the author will give him some opportunity to make

Lexical Semantic

Signifier Manhattan

Signified an island in the US


52

the lover futures good. The next line after the “avenue” is supporting that she want

to give up to the relationship.

i. Table 4.25. Lexical Semantics of the Word Avenue

ii. Metaphor

Avenues a way to enter the approaching a placed

Possibilities

c. “When I was one half of two”

In literal meaning, “one half of two” means one of two equal parts of

something. This is usually used in terms of mathematics to divide a number. In the

mathematic, half of two is one (2:1= 1). “One half of two” is not an idiom, but it is

a live metaphor, so it needs to be compared with the literal meaning.

According to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, “half of”

means the largest part of something. It can be also exactly 50% of an amount, time,

or etc. In literal meaning, it means someone is one half a largest part of two.

Obviously, this is not possible, since two is just a number.

In addition, in the context of the song, “one half of two” means the time that

the author is the half part of the lover. It is supported by the previous verse and

chorus. In the very first verse, the author states, that the lover and her used to be

Lexical Semantic

Signifier Avenue

Signified a way to enter the approaching a placed


53

together, the author decides to break up with the lover. Consequently, “When I was

one half of two” means when the author used to be together and being of the lover’s

life in the past

i. Table 4.26. Lexical Semantics of the Word One Half of Two

ii. Metaphor

One half of two An equal part of two

Being the part of someone’s life

C. Metaphor Contribution to the Theme of the Song

After finding, classifying, discussing the meaning of each metaphor, this

study continues to determine the theme of the song by seeing the meaning of the

metaphor.

1. Theme in “Brave”

The theme of this song is “Be Brave to speak up the truth” because this

song tells people not to just in silent because someone is in low position. The

metaphor “Bow down to the mighty” proves that people are afraid to speak about

the truth because they are afraid with someone that they thought in the higher

position. The phrase “you can turn a phrase into weapon or a drug” reminds people,

to be wise to speak because it might insult or make peace. The chorus is an obvious

Lexical Semantic

Signifier one half of two

Signified an equal part of two


54

hint to conclude the theme of this song. “Say what you wanna say, and let the words

fall out, honestly I wanna see you be brave” is the line that the author creates to

encourage the audience to be brave to speak.

2. Theme in “Love Song”

The theme of this song is “heartache in romance” because this song shows

that the girl is not happy with the relationship and the lover just hurting the girl his

attitude. The line “I’m not gonna write you a love song” is showing that the girl

does not have a reason to love the lover any longer. The line “if you on your own

way” support, that the man is self-centered. The lover does not want to understand

the girl. The line “I’m trying to let you hear as I am” also support that the girl is not

happy with the lover. The line “I’ll walk seven seas” seems like the girl is really

hope that the man will change for her that is why the girl will do anything for that.

3. Theme in “King of Anything”

The theme of this song is “Self-centered lover”. In this song, the lover never

listens to the girl’s opinion. The lover also rules too much about the girl life. The

line “so many things I’d say if only I were able” shows that the girl never gets the

chance to be listened to the lover. This behavior is unacceptable because it is self-

centered. The metaphor “who died and made you king of anything” proves that the

girl feels the man is controlling too much and the girl should obey since “king”

represent a man with absolute power. King’s order must be obeyed. This shows the

bad behavior of the lover also the metaphor “ride off into your delusional sunset”

is one prove that the man has orders to be obeyed by the girl.


55

4. Theme in “Gravity”

The theme of this song is “Failed to move on”. This song is about the girl

who is actually still in love with the lover, but still thinks about the lover. The

metaphor “you hold me without touch” proves that the girl still has the lover in her

mind. The metaphor means the presence while the love is not there. The presence

of the lover is limited in her mind. Therefore, it is clearly that she cannot move on

or cannot get over from the lover even their relationship is over. The metaphor “than

to drown in your love” proves that the girl is still in love with the lover so much.

5. Theme in “Manhattan”

The theme of this song is “giving up in a relationship”. The chorus of the

song is supported to conclude a theme for this song. The metaphor “you can have

Manhattan, because I can’t have you” proves that the girl wants to see her lover has

a great future because she thinks her relationship will not be working out if she

continue it. It is also proved in the line “hang onto the reverie, could you do that

for me?” This line show that the girl really wants the lover has another opportunity

or chasing after the dreams.


56

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

The analysis has done in the previous chapter, and this chapter presents the

conclusion based on the analysis. This present study classifies the metaphor that are

found in the song lyrics. Those classifications are dead metaphors and live

metaphors. Dead metaphor or familiar with idiom are found 5 in lyrics. Live

metaphors are found in 16 lyrics from free metaphors.

The results are this study uses the classification to define the meaning of the

metaphor. The writer found there are 21 metaphors in Sara Bareilles’s songs. As

the analysis in previous chapter, metaphors are classified as two classifications

which are dead and live metaphor. There are 5 dead metaphors in Sara Bareilles’s

songs. The meaning of dead metaphors can be found in several famous dictionary,

and they have fixed meanings because they already became part of English

language in the society because the society has been familiar with them. There are

16 live metaphors that have different meanings in each song. The limitation of the

listeners are when they know a metaphor, they can only guess the meaning and

relate them with another phrase in the songs. As the result, live metaphor meaning

is wide-ranging. This present study used dictionary, online source, and some literal

texts that influence in order to define the meaning of the metaphor. The discussion

of how the meaning of live metaphor are interpreted by comparing the meaning by

the context of the songs. Live metaphor cannot be found in famous dictionary.


57

Dead metaphor and live metaphor have their own contribution to create the

theme of the song. The meaning of live metaphors are found by comparing the

literal meaning in dictionary and the context of the song, so it can be transferred

and transformed new meaning as metaphors. The meaning of them can give some

elements to form an angle of the story of the song, and finally create one theme for

each song. As those metaphors already explained in chapter IV, theme can be

developed by the metaphors contribution and the whole lyrics meaning. The theme

of the songs are the goal for this study. The theme for “Brave” is “Be Brave to speak

the truth”, the theme for “Love Song” is “Heartache in relationship”, the theme for

“king of Anything” is “Self-centered Lover”, the theme for “gravity” is “Failed to

move on”, and the theme for “Manhattan” is “Giving up in a relationship”.

In the end of this study, the writer hopes that the goal of this study has

reached which will make the listeners get clearer meaning of 5 Sara Breailles’s

songs.


58

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McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. The McGraw-

Hill Companies, Inc. 2002

Official Sara Bareilles http://www.sarabmusic.com/main/ (Accessed on March

12th, 2016)

Peckham, Aaron. The Urban Dictionary. 1999.

(http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=On+my+knees)

Accessed on July 1st, 2015

Palmer, F.R. Sematics: Second Edition. New York: Cambridge University Press.

1967.

Rettob, Maria Godeliva. The Metaphor Analysis of Selected Eminem’s Rap Songs.

Yogyakarta: Department Of English Language Education, Faculty of

Teacher Training and Education. Sanata Dharma University. 2015.

Sylvia, Maria Maya. Metaphorical Meaning of Coldplay’s Song Lyrics.

Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata

Dharma University. 2015

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Bareilles (Accessed on March 12th, 2016)


http://www.nycgo.com/boroughs-neighborhoods/manhattan

http://www.nycgo.com/boroughs-neighborhoods/manhattan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Bareilles

60

APPENDICES

Gravity

Something always brings me back to you

It never takes too long

No matter what I say or do

I'll still feel you here 'till the moment I'm gone

You hold me without touch

You keep me without chains

I never wanted anything so much than to drown in your love

And not feel your reign

Set me free, leave me be

I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity

Here I am, and I stand

So tall, just the way I'm supposed to be

But you're on to me and all over me

Oh, you loved me 'cause I'm fragile

When I thought that I was strong

But you touch me for a little while

And all my fragile strength is gone

Set me free, leave me be

I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity

Here I am, and I stand

So tall, just the way I'm supposed to be

But you're on to me and all over me

I live here on my knees as I try to make you see

That you're everything I think I need here on the ground

But you're neither friend nor foe though I can't seem to let you go

The one thing that I still know is that you're keeping me down

You're keeping me down, eh ooh

You're on to me, on to me, and all over

Something always brings me back to you

It never takes too long


61

Brave

You can be amazing

You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug

You can be the outcast

Or be the backlash of somebody's lack of love

Or you can start speaking up

Nothing's gonna hurt you the way that words do

And they settle 'neath your skin

Kept on the inside and no sunlight

Sometimes a shadow wins

But I wonder what would happen if you

Say what you wanna say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say



I just wanna see you



I wanna see you be brave





Everybody's been there, everybody's been stared down

By the enemy

Fallen for the fear and done some disappearing

Bow down to the mighty

Don't run, stop holding your tongue

Maybe there's a way out of the cage where you live

Maybe one of these days you can let the light in

Show me how big your brave is





62




Innocence, your history of silence

Won't do you any good

Did you think it would?

Let your words be anything but empty

Why don't you tell them the truth?














See you be brave







You can have Manhattan

I know it's for the best

I'll gather up the avenues

And leave them on your doorstep

And I'll tip toe away

So you won't have to say

You heard me leave


63

Manhattan


I know it's what you want

The bustle and the buildings

The weather in the fall

And I'll bow out of place

To save you some space

For somebody new


'Cause I can't have you

Ah


The one we used to share

The one where we were laughing

And drunk on just being there

Hang on to the reverie

Could you do that for me

'Cause I'm just too sad to



And so it goes

One foot after the other

'Til black and white begin to color in

And I know

That holding us in place is simply fear

Of what's already changed

Ah


I'll settle for the beach

And sunsets facing westward with

Sand beneath my feet

I'll wish this away

Just missing the days

When I was one half of two




64

Love Song

Head under water

And they tell me to breathe easy for a while

The breathing gets harder, even I know that

You made room for me but it's too soon to see

If I'm happy in your hands

I'm unusually hard to hold on to

Blank stares at blank pages

No easy way to say this

You mean well, but you make this hard on me

I'm not gonna write you a love song

'Cause you asked for it

'Cause you need one, you see


'Cause you tell me it's

Make or breaking this

If you're on your way

I'm not gonna write you to stay

If all you have is leaving I'm gonna need a better reason to write you a love song

today

I learned the hard way

That they all say things you want to hear

And my heavy heart sinks deep down under you

And your twisted words, your help just hurts

You are not what I thought you were

Hello to high and dry

Convinced me to please you

Made me think that I need this too

I'm trying to let you hear me as I am



'Cause you need one, you see


'Cause you tell me it's

Make or breaking this




65

If all you have is leaving I'm gonna need a better reason to write you a love song

today

Promise me that you'll leave the light on

To help me see with daylight, my guide, gone

'Cause I believe there's a way you can love me because I say

I won't write you a love song


'Cause you need one you see


'Cause you tell me it's make or breaking this

Is that why you wanted a love song


'Cause you need one you see


'Cause you tell me it's make or breaking this



If your heart is nowhere in it

I don't want it for a minute

Babe, I'll walk the seven seas when I believe that there's a reason to

Write you a love song today

King of Anything

Keep drinking coffee, stare me down across the table

While I look outside

So many things I'd say if only I were able

But I just keep quiet and count the cars that pass by

You've got opinions, man

We're all entitled to 'em, but I never asked

So let me thank you for your time,

And try not to waste anymore of mine

And get out of here fast

I hate to break it to you babe, but I'm not drowning

There's no one here to save

Who cares if you disagree?

You are not me

Who made you king of anything?


66

So you dare tell me who to be?

Who died and made you king of anything?

You sound so innocent, all full of good intent

Swear you know best

But you expect me to jump up on board with you

And ride off into your delusional sunset

I'm not the one who's lost with no direction

But you'll never see

You're so busy making masks with my name on them in all caps

You got the talking down, just not the listening

And who cares if you disagree?

You are not me




All my life I've tried to make everybody happy

While I just hurt and hide

Waiting for someone to tell me it's my turn to decide


You are not me





You are not me




Let me hold your crown, babe


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