Symbols, Metaphors and Personifications in Owl City's Song
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
PROGRESSIVE VOL XI. No. 2 September 2016 SYMBOLS, METAPHORS AND PERSONIFICATIONS IN 2WL C,TY‘S SONG LYRICS BASED ON PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE Krisna Tankaruba Program Study Sastra Inggris STIBA Nusa Mandiri Jl. Ir. H. Juanda No. 39 Ciputat ABSTRACT 0usic and song have become a part of people‘s lifestyle that cannot be separated. Song is a combination of words composition, that has meanings and arranged beautifully, and melody. Personality of a songwriter can be seen in his or her song. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze personality of Owl City through the elements such as symbols, metaphors, and personifications in his songs. The writer uses qualitative descriptive method to collect data and references that related to the topic. Some symbols, metaphors, and personifications are found in two song lyrics of Owl City. One symbol in Fireflies song is —fireflies“, which symbolize inspiration. —0isty eyes“ in Fireflies lyric is categorized as metaphor. In second song, Vanilla Twilight, the writer found three personifications, one of those is —The stars lean down to kiss you.“ Based on psychology perspective, each elements shows the personality of songwriter. Keywords: Owl City‘s Songs, Symbol, 0etaphor, 3ersonification, 3sychological 3erspective I. INTRODUCTION more character and events. In the other hand, Literature is a term used to describe lyric poetry is a genre of poetry that does not written or spoken materials. It represents a attempt to tell a story but instead is of a more language or people: culture and tradition. But, personal nature. Rather than depicting literature is more important than just a characters and actions, it portrays the poet's historical or cultural artifact. The literature own feelings, states of mind, and perceptions. introduces people to new worlds of Song is categorized as lyric poetry. experience. Broadly speaking, literature is Song is a combination of beautiful melody used to describe anything from creative and lyric. Song does not tell a story which writing to more technical or scientific works, portrays characters and actions. The but the term is most commonly used to refer songwriter addresses the reader directly, to works of the creative imagination, portraying his or her own feeling, state of including works of drama, fiction, non-fiction, mind, and perceptions. In order to make the and poetry. Drama is a prose or verse song interesting and express the songwriter‘s composition that intended to represent by feeling, there are elements or substances actors impersonating the characters and which support the song, such as symbol, performing the dialogue and action. Fiction is metaphors, simile, personification, rhyme, and a branch of literature which deals in part or in so on. By using these substances, song whole temporally contra factual events stimulates a listener, or a reader, to imagine (events that are not true at the time of the songwriter‘s feeling and attracts attention writing). In contrast to this is non-fiction, of the listener. A great song is the song that which deals exclusively in factual events can deliver the songwriter‘s feeling and affect (e.g.: biographies, histories). Poetry is a form the listener. of literary art in which language is used for its ,n the writer‘s opinion, Owl City has aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition some of great songs. Owl City is an American to, or a substitute of, its apparent meaning. electronica musical project by singer- According to DiYanni (2000: 409) songwriter (soloist) and multi-instrumentalist —poetry can Ee classified as narrative or lyric.“ Adam Young formed in 2007 in Owatonna, DiYanni tends to say that there are two types 0innesota. Owl City‘s songs are easy of poetry; narrative poetry and lyric poetry. listening. The melody is lovely and the lyrics Narrative poetry is a genre of poetry that tells are simple yet very beautiful. By using some a story. The story may be short, long, elements in the lyrics, the songs not only exciting, funny or sad. In narrative poetry, the represent and express the songwriter‘s feeling poets use various forms, rhyme schemes and very well but also affect the mood of the rhymes to present a story involving one or listener in a good way. ISSN: 1979-4975 21 PROGRESSIVE VOL XI. No. 2 September 2016 There are some elements that can be through composed words. Poetry uses forms analyzed in poetry, such as symbol, metaphor, to suggest differential interpretation to words, simile, personification, rhyme, voice and tone, or to evoke emotional responses. diction, imagery, theme, etc. Here, the writer Pierce (2011: 16) explains that will discuss symbol, metaphor, and —poetry is a careful, inventive, or creative personification in Owl City‘s songs. SymEol, consideration of words written in order to metaphor, and personification help a convey some thought as a literary songwriter to express and represent his feeling composition. Usually, but not always, the through lyrics in unique ways. Symbolism is words written are designed to evoke the way of representing things by symbols, or emotion.“ ,t means that poetry is part of of investing things with a symbolic meaning literature where some thought are conveyed or character. A symEol is —any oEMect or by creative consideration of words which action that means more than itself, any object usually designed to evoke emotion. or action that represents something beyond Henderson, Day, and Waller (2006: itself“ (DiYanni, 2000: 442). 0etaphor is the 12) state that —unlike essays and short stories, expression of an understanding of one concept poems are written in verse. Their primary in terms of another concept, where there is units are lines and stanzas rather than some similarity or correlation between the sentences and paragraphs.“ The statement two. Personification is a figure of speech that means that poem is different from essay and gives human characteristics to inanimate short story because it is written in verse and objects. The writer also interested in extrinsic its primary units are lines and stanzas. element of five Owl City‘s song and going to DiYanni (2004:524) said —more than analyze it in psychological perspective. fiction, poetry is an art of condensation and DiYanni (2004: 1363) said that implication; poems concentrate meaning and psychological criticism approaches a distill feeling.“ ,t is said that poetry is an art work of literature as a revelation of its of condensation which concentrate meaning author‘s mind and personality. 3sychological and feeling. critics see literary works as intimately linked Other explanations of poetry that the with their author‘s mental and emotional writer took from Wainwraight (2004: 3) who characteristics. Critics who employ a explains that poetry is not really a peculiar, psychological perspective do so to explain demarcated zone out of mainstream of how a literary work reflects its writer‘s language-use, but that language is inevitably consciousness and mental world, and they use and intrinsically ”poetic‘ in the qualities that what they Nnow of writer‘s lives to explain ,‘m calling gestural. However, historically, features of their work. these qualities have been highlighted and Inspired by these, the writer takes formalized for particular uses and occasions. Symbols, Metaphors And Personifications Poetry is a form of special attention and one in Owl City‘s Song /yrics Based on that calls unusual attention to the way it is Psychological Perspective as the title form. It means that poetry is not a special or Statement of Problems weird words that out of mainstream. It is just Based on the title above, the writer would like simply has poetic qualities that inevitable, yet to analyze the following problems: these qualities have been formalized for particular occasions. 1. How is psychology aspect of the Based on the theories above, the songwriter reflected in his song lyrics writer concludes that poetry is a form of through symbols, metaphors, and literature where a collection of words personifications? arranged in such a way so that the feelings 2. What are the implied meanings conveyed that are in these words can be conveyed to by symbols, metaphors, personifications evoke emotion. The words are not really in five lyrics of Owl City‘s songs" peculiar, but inevitably and intrinsically 3. What messages can people get from Owl poetic in the qualities because it contains the City based on psychological perspective? essence of feeling. It is written in verse and its primary units are lines and stanzas. II. THEORETICAL REVIEW B. Lyric Poetry A. Poetry Poetry is one of the most popular Etymologically, poetry comes from forms of literature all over the world. Poetry Greek; poesis, which means —maNing“. 3oetry has some types or genre. One of them is lyric is a form of literature that expresses or reveals poetry. Lyric poetry is the most common form the poet's thoughts and feelings imaginatively of poetry; it does not tell a story as the epic 22 ISSN: 1979-4975 PROGRESSIVE VOL XI. No. 2 September 2016 and narrative forms do; the lyric poem has songs that are heard frequently on the radio. grown into many forms since ancient times. With the exception of the hymn and chant, According to DiYanni (2004: 409) most songs do not achieve the level of true —poetry can Ee classified as narrative or lyric.“ poetry, even though they employ some poetic DiYanni tends to say that there are two types devices. The words to songs are often of poetry; narrative poetry and lyric poetry. inaccurately referred to as —lyrics.“ The entire DiYanni also add that —Narrative poems, for song is the lyric. It means that lyric poetry has example, tell stories & describe actions; lyric many subdivisions. Song, especially the poems combine speech and song to express popular one, is a form of lyric poetry.